Pity the Nation

By Kahlil Gibran

I though it would be a good idea to share a few words of wisdom from the Lebanese-American writer Kahlil Gibran, He is considered by many people to have been a philosopher, although he himself rejected this title. Gibran is best known as the author of The Prophet, which was first published in the United States (his adopter homeland) in 1923 and has since become one of the bestselling books of all time,

Kahlil Gibran was born on 6 January1883 in Bsharri, Lebanon. He moved with his mother and siblings to the USA in 1895, and died in New York USA on April 10, 1931 (aged 48)

Pity the Nation

Pity the nation that is full of beliefs and empty of religion.
Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave
and eats a bread it does not harvest.

Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero,
and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful.

Pity a nation that despises a passion in its dream,
yet submits in its awakening.

Pity the nation that raises not its voice
save when it walks in a funeral,
boasts not except among its ruins,
and will rebel not save when its neck is laid
between the sword and the block.

Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox,
whose philosopher is a juggler,
and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking

Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpeting,
and farewells him with hooting,
only to welcome another with trumpeting again.

Pity the nation whose sages are dumb with years
and whose strongmen are yet in the cradle.

Pity the nation divided into fragments,
each fragment deeming itself a nation.

From The Garden of The Prophet (published posthumously in 1933).

It is a poem that today should be carefully read, and reread many times; by every British Citizen.

I write this regardless of skin colour, or place of birth. For truly it is, behaviour, beliefs, culture and feelings deep inside the soul; that makes you a British citizen.

• There are people who have left the country of their birth to live in the UK, who are true British citizens. They should be welcomed if we have sufficient jobs, houses and infrastructure for them.

• There are people who have left the country of their birth, who are not true British citizens. We should deport them.

• There are people who were born here who are not true British citizens. If we can possibly deport them we should; eg if they hold dual citizenship.

PS. Starting off your journey to British citizenship by entering the country illegally and/or with no papers of any kind is not good!

Tags: philosophy, religion, spirituality