Funeral reading
On Death, from The Prophet
Kahlil Gibran
“On Death, from The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran is a prose reading read at a funeral or memorial service. It takes about 50 seconds read aloud, usually by the officiant. It is in the public domain, so the full text is printed on this page and goes straight into a ceremony script.
The full text
You would know the secret of death. But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life? For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one. In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond; And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring. Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity. Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb. And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.
Public domain, so these words can be printed in a ceremony script or an order of service.
What it is about
Claims no particular afterlife, which is why it works for a mixed-faith room.
Read at a funeral or memorial service. Themes: the river and the sea · interfaith · no specific afterlife claimed · a mixed-faith family · a spiritual but not religious family.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “On Death, from The Prophet” take to read aloud?
“On Death, from The Prophet” takes about 50 seconds read aloud at a ceremony pace, which is slower than conversation — roughly 130 words a minute. That is the figure the run-sheet uses when it works out the timing for the whole service.
Who usually reads “On Death, from The Prophet”?
Usually the officiant rather than a guest reader. “On Death, from The Prophet” runs about 50 seconds, which sits inside the part of the service the officiant is already leading, and keeping it there means it is carried by the person who has rehearsed it.
Can “On Death, from The Prophet” be printed in a ceremony script?
Yes. It is in the public domain, so the full text is on this page and can be printed in a script or an order of service.
Where this text was checked
Checked word for word against a full-text edition that is itself the authority — a Project Gutenberg or Wikisource transcription, a publisher’s own edition, or the issuing body’s page.
Checked
A reading is two minutes of the hour.
The rest is the welcome, the life, the remembrances, the committal — and knowing what comes next. Answer some questions about them and get the whole service, written out, with this reading in its place.
Other readings that suit the same service
- Death Is Nothing At Alla minute and a halfHenry Scott Holland
- Gone From My Sight — the shipa minute and a halfAttributed to Luther F. Beecher; widely printed as Henry Van Dyke
- No Man Is an Island (Meditation XVII)35 secondsJohn Donne
- The Body of B. Franklin, Printer — his own mock epitaph25 secondsBenjamin Franklin
- Rumi, on death and reunion40 secondsJalāl al-Dīn Rūmī
- Ruth 1:16–17a30 secondsKing James Bible