Day 9 of my writing challenge

“Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
Which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday…”

“Words of wisdom” – These were the first words to come to mind.

Maybe because I revel in the fact that one of the greatest writers of all time comes from my home country.

Maybe I am fascinated that a man born over a century ago had such a brilliant forward-thinking mind.

Or maybe because I can’t think of more fitting words of wisdom for our generation in this part of the world – especially my home. Where every day is a struggle to erase the rotten and expired sectarian divide marking our parents’ generation and seeping its way into ours.

I think Gibran Khalil Gibran’s intention was to address parents when he wrote this but don’t you think that the appropriate audience is in fact the children themselves? The younger generation? Isn’t that where authentic change lies after all?

.أولادكم ليسوا لكم
.أولادكم أبناء الحياة المشتاقة إلى نفسها, بكم يأتون إلى العالم, ولكن ليس منكم
.ومع أنهم يعيشون معكم, فهم ليسوا ملكاً لكم
.أنتم تستطيعون أن تمنحوهم محبتكم, ولكنكم لا تقدرون أن تغرسوا فيهم بذور أفكاركم, لأن لهم أفكارأً خاصةً بهم
.وفي طاقتكم أن تصنعوا المساكن لأجسادكم
.ولكن نفوسهم لا تقطن في مساكنكم
.فهي تقطن في مسكن الغد, الذي لا تستطيعون أن تزوروه حتى ولا في أحلامكم
.وإن لكم أن تجاهدوا لكي تصيروا مثلهم
.ولكنكم عبثاً تحاولون أن تجعلوهم مثلكم
…لأن الحياة لا ترجع إلى الوراء, ولا تلذ لها الإقامة في منزل الأمس