Selbsterkenntnis | Eure Herzen wissen, ohne etwas zu sagen

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by Khalil Gibran (1883 - 1931)

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann

Self knowledge

Language: English

Our translations: GER

Your hearts know in silence
 the secrets of the days and the nights.
But your ears thirst for the sound
 of your heart's knowledge. 
You would know in words
 which you have always know in thought.
You would touch with your fingers
 the naked body of your dreams.
And it is well you should.
Your soul must needs rise
 and run murmuring to the sea;
And the treasure of your infinite depths 
 be revealed to your eyes.
But let there be no scales to weigh your unknown treasure;
And seek not the depths of your knowledge 
 with staff or sounding line.
For self is a sea boundless and measureless.
Say not, "I have found the truth," but rather, 
 "I have found a truth."
Say not, "I have found the path of the soul." 
Say rather, "I have met the soul walking upon my path."

Note: this is a prose text. Line breaks were added arbitrarily.

Text Authorship:

by Khalil Gibran (1883 - 1931), appears in The Prophet [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Steven Ebel , "Self knowledge", 2012-2014 [ soprano and piano ], from Cycle eternal, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Selbsterkenntnis", copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2019-03-20
Line count: 21
Word count: 144

Selbsterkenntnis

Language: German (Deutsch) after the English

Eure Herzen wissen, ohne etwas zu sagen,
 um die Geheimnisse der Tage und der Nächte. 
Doch eure Ohren dürsten
 nach dem stummen Wissen eurer Herzen.
Ihr wollt in Worten wissen,
 was ihr unausgesprochen schon immer wisst. 
Ihr wollt mit Fingern
 an die Nacktheit eurer Träume rühren.
So soll es sein!
Der verborgene Urquell muss aus eurer Seele empor dringen
 und murmelnd dem Meere zufließen. 
Die Schätze eurer tiefsten Tiefe
 würden euch dann offenbar. 
Doch legt eure unerkannten Schätze nicht auf die Waage
und lotet die Tiefen eurer Erkenntnis nicht
 mit allen Mitteln aus!
Denn das Ich ist wie ein Meer, unendlich weit und unergründlich. 
Sagt nicht: „Ich habe die Wahrheit gefunden“, sagt vielmehr:
 „Ich habe eine Wahrheit gefunden“.
Sagt nicht: „Ich habe den Weg der Seele entdeckt“, 
sagt vielmehr: “Ich bin der Seele begegnet, als sie auf meinem Wege ging“.

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2021 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Bertram Kottmann. Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in English by Khalil Gibran (1883 - 1931), appears in The Prophet
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2021-02-26
Line count: 21
Word count: 140