Sunday, 13 May 2007 ;
22:52
IthacaWhen you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the angry Poseidon – do not fear them:
You will never find such as these on your path
if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
emotion touches your spirit and your body.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter,
if you do not carry them within your soul,
if your heart does not set them up before you.
Pray that the road is long.
That the summer mornings are many, when,
with such pleasure, with such joy
you will enter ports seen for the first time;
stop at Phoenician markets,
and purchase fine merchandise,
mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and sensual perfumes of all kinds,
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
visit many Egyptian cities,
to learn and learn from scholars.
Always keep Ithaca in your mind.
To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is better to let it last for many year;
and to anchor at the island when you are old,
rich with all that you have gained on the way,
not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.
Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you would never have set out on the road.
She has nothing more to give you.
And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.
Wise as you have become, with so much experience,
you must have already understood what Ithaca means.
Constantine Cavafy (1863-1933)Read The Zahir yet? By Paulo Coelho. According to Jorge Luis Borges (writer), the idea of the Zahir comes from the Islamic tradition and is thought to have arisen at some point in the eighteenth century. Zahir, in Arabic, means visible, resent, incapable of going unnoticed. It is someone or something which, once we have come into contact with them of it, gradually occupies our every thought, until we can think of nothing else. This can be considered either a state of holiness or of madness. (Faubourg Saint-Peres, Encyclopedia of the Fantastic (1953)) so... who's the Zahir of ur life? :)
oR sO sHe sAys..-
Kaiyan