AlMustafa the chosen and beloved, waited 12 years in the city of Orphalese before his ship finally returned to take him back to his birth isle. Before departing, he held audience with the townspeople who seeked his knowledge... 

Then Almitra said, Speak to us of love. And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them. and with a great voice he said:
When love beckons to you, follow him, though his ways are hard and steep. and when his wings enfold you yield to them, though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you. and when he speaks to you believe in him, though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden. for even as love crowns you so shall he crucify. even as he is your growth so is he your pruning. even as he ascends to your height, so shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth..all these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart. but if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasures, then it is better for you that you pass out of love's threshing-floor into the seasonless world where you shall laugh but not all your laughter and weep, but not all of your tears.

And a woman spoke and said, Tell us of pain. And he said:
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding...and could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than our joy, and you would accept the seasons of your heart, and you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief. 

Then Almitra said, And what of marriage? And he answered saying:
You were born together and together you shall be forevermore. but let there be spaces in your togetherness and let the winds of the heavens dance between you. love one another, but make not a bond of love; let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. fill each other's cups but drink not from one cup. give one another of your loaf but eat not from the same loaf. sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each of you be alone, even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.and stand together yet not too near together, for the pillars of the temple stand apart, and the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each others' shadow.

Then Almitra spoke, saying We would now ask of death. And he said:
You would know the secret of death. but how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life? the owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of the night. if you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life. for life and death are one, even as the river and sea are one. in the depths of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond; trust your dreams for in them is hidden the gate to eternity. your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honor...what is it to die, but to stand naked in the wind, and to melt into the sun. and what is to cease breathing but to free the breath from its restless tides that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered.

And a woman said, Speak to us of joy and sorrow. And he answered:
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. and the selfsame well from which your laughter rises is oftentimes filled with your tears. and how else can it be? the deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain...when you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find that it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. when you are sorrowful look again into your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight...