Anakku : Kahlil Gibran

Anakmu bukanlah milikmu,
mereka adalah putra putri sang Hidup,
yang rindu akan dirinya sendiri.
Mereka lahir lewat engkau,
tetapi bukan dari engkau,
mereka ada padamu, tetapi bukanlah milikmu.

Berikanlah mereka kasih sayangmu,
namun jangan sodorkan pemikiranmu,
sebab pada mereka ada alam pikiran tersendiri.

Patut kau berikan rumah bagi raganya,
namun tidak bagi jiwanya,
sebab jiwa mereka adalah penghuni rumah masa depan,
yang tiada dapat kau kunjungi,
sekalipun dalam mimpimu.

Engkau boleh berusaha menyerupai mereka,
namun jangan membuat mereka menyerupaimu,
sebab kehidupan tidak pernah berjalan mundur,
ataupun tenggelam ke masa lampau.

Engkaulah busur asal anakmu,
anak panah hidup, melesat pergi.
Sang Pemanah membidik sasaran keabadian,
Dia merentangkanmu dengan kuasaNya,
hingga anak panah itu melesat jauh dan cepat.

Bersukacitalah dalam rentangan tangan Sang Pemanah,
sebab Dia mengasihi anak-anak panah yang melesat laksana kilat,
sebagaimana dikasihiNya pula busur yang mantap.


Teks asli dalam bhs Inggris :
On Children
Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let our bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.