Breathe free

Let me sleep, for my soul is intoxicated with love
Let me rest, for my spirit has had its bounty of days and nights
Light the candles and burn the incense around my bed
Scatter leaves of jasmine and roses over my body
Dry your tears, my friends, and raise your heads as the flowers
Look at the bride of Death standing like a column of light
Between my bed and the infinite;
Let the virgins come close and see the shadow of God in my eyes,
And hear the echo of His will racing with my breath.

The Ascending

I have passed a mountain peak and my soul is soaring in the firmament of complete and unbound freedom;
I am far, far away, my companions, and the clouds are hiding the hills from my eyes.
The valleys are becoming flooded with an ocean of silence,
And the hands of oblivion are engulfing the roads and the houses;
The prairies and fields are disappearing behind a white specter
That looks like the spring cloud, yellow as the candlelight and red as the twilight.
The songs of the waves and the hymns of the streams are scattered,
And the voices of the throngs reduced to silence;
And I can hear naught but the music of eternity In exact harmony with the spirit's desires.
I am cloaked in full whiteness; I am in comfort; I am in peace.

The Remains

Lament me not, but sing songs of youth and joy;
Shed not tears upon me, but sing of harvest and the winepress;
Utter no sigh of agony, but draw upon my face with your finger the symbol of love and joy.
Disturb not the air's tranquility with chanting and requiems,
But let your hearts sing with me the song of eternal life;
Mourn me not with apparel of black, but dress in color and rejoice with me;
Talk not of my departure with sighs in your hearts;
Take me not to the crowded burying ground lest my slumber be disrupted by the rattling of bones and skulls.
Carry me to the cypress woods and dig my grave where violets and poppies grow not in the other's shadow;
Take from me all earthly raiment and place me deep in my mother earth; and place me with care upon my mother's breast.

Leave me then, friends - leave me and depart on mute feet,
As the silence walks in the deserted valley;
Go back to the joy of your dwellings and you will find there that which death can't remove from you and me.
Leave me.

---Kahlil Gibran