Khalil Gibran was born on January 6, 1883, to the Maronite family of Gibran in Bsharri, in Northern Lebanon. The people of Mount Lebanon had struggle for several years to gain independence from the Ottoman rule, a cause Gibran was later to adopt and become an active member in.
Later in his life, Gibran was to seek and unite the various religious sects, in a bid to abolish the religious snobbery, persecution and atrocities witnessed at this time.
His mother Kamila Rahmeh was thirty when she begot Gibran from her third husband Khalil Gibran, who was an irresponsible husband leading the family to poverty. Gibran had a half-brother six years older than him called Peter and two younger sisters, Mariana and Sultana, whom he was deeply attached to throughout his life, along with his mother. Kamila’s family came from a prestigious background, which imbued the uneducated mother with a strong will and later on helped her raise up the family on her own in the U.S. Gibran proved to be a solitary and pensive child who relished the natural surroundings of the cascading falls, the rugged cliffs and the neighboring green cedars, the beauty of which emerged as a dramatic and symbolic influence to his drawings and writings. Because of poverty, he did not receive any formal education or learning, which was limited to regular visits to a village priest who doctrined him with the essentials of religion and the Bible, alongside Syriac and Arabic languages. Recognizing Gibran’s inquisitive and alert nature, the priest began teaching him the rudiments of alphabet and language, opening up to Gibran the world of history, science, and language.
At the age of ten, Gibran fell of a cliff, wounding his left shoulder, which remained weak for the rest of his life. To relocate the shoulder, his family strapped it to a cross and wrapped it up for forty days, a symbolic incident reminiscent of Christ’s wanderings in the wilderness which remained etched in Gibran’s memory. At the age of eight, Gibran’s father, was accused of tax evasion and was sent to prison as the Ottomon authorities confiscated the Gibran’s property and left them homeless. The family went to live with relatives for a while; the strong-willed mother decided that the family should migrate to the U.S., seeking a better life and following in suit to Gibran’s uncle who immigrated earlier. His father was released in 1894, but being an irresponsible head of the family, he remained in Lebanon.
SCHOOLING
A registration mistake altered his name forever by shortening it to Khalil Gibran, which remained unchanged till the rest of his life despite repeated attempts to restore his full name. Gibran entered school on September 30, 1895, merely two months after his arrival in the U.S. Having no formal education, he was placed in an ungraded class reserved for immigrant children, who had to learn English from scratch.Gibran was in the eye of his teachers with his sketches and drawings, a hobby he started during childhood in Lebanon.
The financial strains of the family and the distance from home brought the family, together, with Kamila, providing both financial and emotional support to her children, especially to her introverted son Gibran. During this difficult period, Gibran’s remoteness from social life and his pensive nature were deepened, and Kamila was there to help him overcome his reservedness. The mother’s independence allowed him to mingle with Boston’s social life and explore its thriving world of art and literature.
A VOYAGE TO AMERICA
On June 25, 1895, the Gibrans started on a voyage to the American shores of New York, and settled in Boston’s South End, which at the time hosted the second largest Syrian community in the U.S. following New York. The culturally diverse area felt familiar to Kamila, who was comforted by the familiar spoken Arabic, and the widespread Arab customs. Kamila, now the bread-earner of the family, began to work as a peddler on the impoverished streets of South End Boston. At the time, peddling was the major source of income for most Syrian immigrants, who were negatively portrayed due to their unconventional Arab ways and their supposed idleness.
Gibran was to recall the pain of the first few years, that prompted him to reinvent his childhood memories, dispelling the poverty and the slurs. Gibran was the only member of his family to pursue scholastic education. His sisters were not allowed to enter school, thwarted by Middle Eastern traditions as well as financial difficulties. Later on in his life, Gibran was to champion the cause of women’s emancipation and education and surround himself with strong willed, intellectual and independent women.
MARRIAGE
Meanwhile, Josephine Peabody, the twenty-four year old Bostonian beauty who caught Gibran’s attention during one of Day’s exhibitions, was intrigued by the young Syrian artist who dedicated a sketch to her, and began corresponding with Gibran throughout his stay in Lebanon. Soon, he became romantically involved with Josephine, and they kept exchanging letters until the relationship fell apart, following the rebuffal of Gibran’s marriage proposal and Josephine’s eventual marriage in 1906.
Gibran finished college in 1902, learning Arabic and French and excelled in studies, especially poetry. His relationship with his father became strained over Gibran’s advanced erudition, driving him to move in with his cousin and to live an impoverished life he detested and was ashamed of until the rest of his life. The poverty in Lebanon was compounded with news of illness striking his family, with his half- brother’s consumption, his sister Sultana’s intestinal trouble and his mother’s developing Cancer. Upon receiving news of Sultana’s dire illness, Gibran left Lebanon in March of 1902.
DEATH IN FAMILY AND THE RETURN TO THE U.S.
Unfortunately, Gibran arrived too late; Sultana died at the age of fourteen on April 4th 1902, the first in a series of three family deaths, which fell upon him in the following months. Gibran was very fond of his sisters and of his family as a whole. At the time of mourning, both Day and Josephine provided distractions for him, in form of artistic shows and meetings at Boston’s artistic circles. Gibran’s artistic talents and unique behavior had tempted earlier the interest of the Bostonian society.
Josephine, who slowly won Gibran’s heart, became an inflectional person in his life, the Bostonian poet constantly referring to Gibran as “her young prophet”. Greatly intrigued correspondences and conversations. Josephine’s care and attention were the inspiration behind his book The Prophet, the title of which is based on an eleven-stanza poem Joesphine wrote in December of 1902 describing Gibran’s life in Bsharri as she envisaged it. Later on, when Gibran was to publish The Prophet, he dedicated it to Josephine, whose care and tenderness helped him advance his career.
Illness struck again, when his mother underwent an operation in February to remove a Cancerous tumor. To compound his misery, Gibran was forced to take on the family business and run the goods store, which was abandoned by his half-brother Peter. This new burden weighed on Gibran’s spirit, depriving him from dedicating his time to artistic pursuits. During this time, Gibran tried to shy away from the house, to escape the atmosphere of death, poverty and illness. In the following month, Peter returned to Boston from Cuba fatally sick only to die days later on March 12 of consumption. His mother’s Cancer contributed to spread and she died later that year on June 28, a scene which left Gibran fainting and foaming blood from the mouth.
Following the three family deaths, Gibran sold out the family business and began immersing himself in improving both his Arabic and English writings, a twin task which he was to pursue for the rest of his life. Meanwhile, Day and Josephine were helping him launch his debut art exhibition, which was to feature his allegorical and symbolic charcoal drawings that so fascinated Boston’s society. The exhibition opened on May 3. 1904, and proved a success with the critics.
Josephine, through her future husband, invited a schoolmistress called Marry Haskell to examine Gibran’s drawings. This introduction to the schoolmistress was to mark the beginning of a lifetime relationship, which greatly influenced Gibran’s writing career. Gibran had sought Josephine’s opinion about his Arabic writings, translating them into English. With the language barrier, Josephine could only provide criticism over ideas and thoughts, leaving Gibran alone to tackle linguistic problems. Josephine’s role was to be taken over by Mary Haskell.
Mary Haskell, who was thirty at the time and ten years older than Gibran, financed Gibran’s artistic development and encouraged him to become the artist that he aspired to be. Mary was the reason behind Gibran’s decision to explore writing in English, as she persuaded him to refrain from translating his Arabic works to English and concentrate instead on writing in English directly. Mary’s collaboration and editing of his various English works polished Gibran’s work, most of which first underwent Mary’s editing before going to the publishers. She spent hours with Gibran, going over his wording, correcting his mistakes and suggesting new ideas to his writings.
SECOND MARRIAGE
While Gibran was enjoying modest success with his Arabic publication, his love relationship with Josephine came to an end in 1906 when she married an acquaintance of Mary Haskell, a move which brought Mary closer to Gibran’s life. Since she had met him, Mary invited Gibran to her classes to display his drawings and mingle with Boston’s society. Gradually, Gibran and Mary began to share events and conversations, she taking an interest in his artistic development. She offered money in return to his painting sessions at the school she was teaching in, and persuaded him to take her offer and travel to Paris to study drawing at the French artistic school of Academie Julien.
TRAVELLING TO PARIS AND THE MOVE TO NEW YORK
On July 1, 1908, Gibran left Boston, heading to Paris to study at the Arts School. Gibran was fascinated by the French cultural scene, and he indulged his time examining paintings at the various museums and exhibitions. Gibran’s travel to France revealed his lack of artistic training, a sore point which left him critical of his drawings. Earlier, Gibran had refused receiving a formal training, relying solely on his talents and feel for objects. In June 1909, Gibran received news of his father’s death, and he was comforted by the thought that his father had blessed him before dying, softening his domineering attitude towards his son.
On December 10th of that year, Gibran proposed marriage to Mary and was yet again met by another refusal, this time due to the ten-year age difference. The issue of age had stood between the development of a love relationship between the two, with Mary worried about the social reaction to her courting of such a young person.
In 1911, Gibran switched writing in Al-Mouhajer to the immigrant newspaper Mir’aat Al-Gharb (The Mirror of the West), to which he continued to contribute articles until 1912. On April 26 of the same year, Gibran moved to New York to seek a new artistic life, boosted by Mary’s letters of introduction, which promised to raise his contacts.
The story of Selma Karameh was linked to Gibran’s love affair with a Lebanese widow, Sultana Tabit, during his education in Lebanon. Gibran was to tell Mary of his story with this young widow of twenty-two, with whom he exchanged love, poetry and books, only to die and leave him mementos of herself in form of jewelry and clothes. Another influence is revealed in Josephine’s one-act play called The Wings, written in 1904 during Gibran’s close relationship with her.
In 1911, Gibran drew a portrait of the Irish poet W.B. Yeats, one in a series of portraits, which Gibran was to call the Temple of Art series.
Gibran’s political activity began to capture his attention as he joined the Golden Links society, a group of young immigrant Syrian men, who worked for the improvement in the lifestyle of Syrian citizens everywhere.
Gibran’s dreams of a free Syria were fueled when he met the Italian general Giuseppe Garibaldi, the grandson of the grand Italian general. With Garibaldi, Gibran fantasized about him heading a legion of immigrant Syrians to overthrow the Ottoman rule. Later on, during the World War I Era, Gibran was to become a great advocate and instigator of a unified Arabic military action against the Ottoman rule.
Gibran began to enjoy the new attention in New York, especially with Mary’s financial backing to him with a secret source of income, in addition to Mary’s artistic contacts, which worked to promote Gibran’s works. Gibran was great a socializer and an intriguing personality who won the attention of his hosts. In 1913, Gibran joined the newly founded Arab émigré magazine Al-Funoon, a periodical published by the advancement of literary and artistic issues. The magazine’s reflection of Gibran’s liberal approach to style and taste led him to contribute several articles, which formed the basis of his first English book, “The Madman.”
Meanwhile, the love relationship between Gibran and Mary dwindled as quarrels over money, sex and marriage led to an interesting development. Soon Mary was to become Gibran’s mentor and editor, initiating a tutorial course which was aimed at improving his English writing and developing his cultural education.Gibran had started working in 1913 on The Madman, a subject which fascinated him ever since he learned about the history of treating the mad in Lebanon; in his hometown of Bsharri, he heard how the mad were thought to be possessed by the spirit of the Jinn (the devil), with the church in charge of exorcising the devil out of the possessed people.
In 1908, when Gibran wrote Spirits Rebellious, tried translating his Arabic works to English, in order to attain Josephine’s opinion. In 1913, Gibran attempted to translate his works, now for Mary to read and edit. Gibran was frustrated with the difficulties of translating and the language barrier, which prevented Mary from helping him improve his writings.
Mary was encouraging Gibran to drop translating his Arabic works and concentrate instead on writing directly in English. Gibran took a liking to Nietzsche’s style and his will-to-power concept, which went against Gibran’s interpretation of Christ. To Gibran, Christ was not the weak person portrayed by Nietzsche, but an admirable mortal to whom he dedicated his longest English writing Jesus, The son of Man. Meanwhile, Mary and Gibran worked together on editing and revising The Madman. In 1914, Gibran published his fifth Arabic book Kitab Dam’ah wa Ibtisamah (A Tear and A Smile), an anthology of his works based on his column in Al-Mouhajer newspaper. The relationship between Mary and Gibran took an interesting twist, when the issue of sex was raised again. During a poignant moment, Mary undressed in front of Gibran as he assured that she has a beautiful body. He tenderly kissed her breast, but they did not have sex, admitting that a physical relationship would only complicate things.
SUFFERED FROM HEART TROUBLE
In 1922, Gibran complained about heart trouble, which was later attributed to his nervous psychological state, and he personally admitted: “But my greatest pain is not physical. There’s something big in me… I’ve always known it and I can’t get it out. It’s a silent greater self, sitting watching a smaller somebody in me do all sorts of things.” With the near completion of work on The Prophet, Mary and Gibran acknowledged Nietzsche’s great influence on the book, which is reminiscent of Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Mary had advised Gibran about the style of The Prophet, covering issues such as the use of capitalization, use of punctuation marks and the form of paragraphs. Gibran insisted that he wanted his paragraphs to remain short, almost of one line. Mary always pointed out that Gibran was a man of few words, who limited his letters to a minimum of words. “The whole Prophet is saying one thing: you are far greater than you know – and all is well.”
THE LAST YEARS OF GIBRAN'S LIFE AND THE HOMECOMING
By 1921, Gibran had received Mary’s picture and they were to continue corresponding until the end of his life. As a writer, Gibran relished controversy, and his writings reflected this spirit. His limited success in the Arab world drove Gibran to abandon the cause of gaining acceptance as an Arabic writer and he concentrated his efforts instead writing in English. Slowly, Gibran was getting to grips with his writing, creating a style of language, as he revealed to Mary that he wished to write small unified books, which could be read in one sitting and carried in one’s pocket.
Mary had always handled Gibran’s financial affairs, ever present to extricate him from bad financial keeping.However, Gibran continued to confide in Mary, and told her about the second and third parts of The Prophet which he intended to write. The second part was to be called The Garden of the Prophet and it recounted, the time, the prophet spent in the garden on island talking to his followers. The third part called The Death of the Prophet and it described the prophet’s return from island and how he is imprisoned and freed only to be stoned to death in the market place.Gibran’s project was never to be completed due to the deterioration of health and his reoccupation with writing longest English book, “Jesus, The Son of Man”. As Mary slipped slowly out of his life, Gibran hired a new assistant Henrietta Breakenridge, who later played an important role, following his death. She organized his works, helped him edit his writings and managed his studio. By 1926, Gibran had become a well-known international figure, a stance which was to his liking.
In May of 1926, Mary married the Southern Landowner Florance Minis. Mary’s journals reveal Gibran’s perception with the writing of “Jesus, The Son of Man”. To Gibran, Jesus appeared as human acting in natural surroundings and he often had dreams about meeting his ideal character in the natural scenery of Bsharri.
By 1928, Gibran’s health began to deteriorate, and the pain in his body due to his nervous state was on the increase, driving Gibran to seek relief in alcohol. Soon Gibran’s excess drinking turned him into an alcoholic at the height of the prohibition period in the U.S. That same year, Gibran was already thinking of the post-life and he began inquiring about purchasing a monastery in Bsharri, which was owned by Christian Carmelites. In November of 1928, “Jesus, Son of Man” was published and received good review from the local press, who delighted in Gibran’s treatment of “Jesus, the Son of Man”. By that time, the artistic circles thought it was high time that Gibran be honored; by 1929 the society sought to give him a tribute. In honor of his literary success, a special anthology of Gibran’s early works was issued by Arrabitah under the title As-Sanabil.
Gibran’s mental health, however, and alcohol addiction drove him in one evening to burst out crying, lamenting the weakness of his mature works. “I have lost my original creative power,’ he lamented to an audience during a reading of one of his mature works. By 1929, doctors were able to trace Gibran’s physical ailment to the enlargement of his livers. To avoid the illness, Gibran ignored all medical care, relying instead on heavy drinking. To distract himself, Gibran turned to an old work about three-earth gods written in 1911.
By 1930, Gibran’s excessive drinking to escape the pain in his liver aggravated his disease, and hopes of finishing the second part of The Prophet, The Garden of the Prophet, dwindled. Gibran revealed to Mary his plans of building a library in Bsharri and soon he drew the last copy of will. To his pen pal May Ziadeh, Gibran revealed the fear of death as he admitted, “I am, May, a small volcano whose opening has been closed.”
A GREAT CREATOR DEPARTS
On 10th April 1931, Gibran died at the age of forty-eight in a New York hospital, due to spreading cancer in his liver that left him unconscious. Thousands came to say their farewell in Boston, where his body lay in state for two days and was then taken to a vault to await the journey to Lebanon. In July the body sailed to Beirut, was then carried to his native Bsherri for final rest. The New York streets staged a two-day vigil for Gibran’s honor, whose death was mourned in the U.S. and Lebanon. His will left large amounts of money to his country, since he wanted his Syrian citizens to remain in their country and develop it rather than immigrate. Mary, Mariana and Henrietta all attended to Gibran’s studio, organizing his works, sorting out books, illustrations and drawings. To fulfill Gibran’s dream, Mariana and Mary travelled in July of 1931 to Lebanon to bury him.
Gibran in his hometown of Bsharri. The citizens of Lebanon received his coffin with celebration instead of mourning, rejoicing his homecoming, in death. Upon Gibran’s return, The Lebanese Minister of Arts opened the coffins and honored his body with a decoration of Fine Arts. Marianna and Mary started negotiating the purchase of the Carmelite monastery was bought and Gibran moved to his final resting-place. Upon Mary’s suggestion, his belongings, the books he read, and some of his works and illustrations were later shipped to provide a local collection in the monastery, which turned into a Gibran museum.
With Gibran’s death, he rose to the post of his fans, who shed his mortal image. His close friend Naimy started writing a personal biography, which was not well received due to misleading image of Gibran as a womanizer, a drunkard, along with the saintly image. Even his secretary Henrietta idolized Gibran to the point of refusal of handling over his personal letters, for fear that their personal content may tarnish the saintly image she was building around him.
The only rational being remained was Mary, who handled the dilution of the New York studio, which could no longer afford to keep. She sorted out his real estate, properties and put on a posthumous art exhibition, according to his wishes. Following his death, Mary edited his remaining works, and his last book “The Wanderer” was published in 1932. Mary also took care of Mariana, Gibran’s only surviving relative. However, Mary’s greatest posthumous contribution to Gibran was the publication of her diaries, which provided to critics with personal insights into his thoughts and ideas. Both Mary and Mariana were to spend the last years of their lives at nursing homes, with Mary’s death in 1964 and Mariana’s in 1968.
A FAMOUS PERSONALITY
By 1923, Gibran had a well-established reputation in Arab world through his Arabic articles, which contributed to the various local and émigré Arabic newspapers. Gibran was gradually depending less on Mary as a financier and an editor. He agreed earlier with Mary to pay off his loans by sending several of his paintings, an agreement which settled down their quarrels over money. And as Gibran’s confidence in English writings grew, his dependence on Mary’s face remained an inspiration in his illustrations. The Prophet finally came into print in October of 1923, with a modest success in the U.S.
FIRST STEP IN THE WORLD OF ART
Gibran’s curiosity led him to the cultural side of Boston, which exposed him to the rich world of the theatre, Opera and artistic Galleries. Prodded by the cultural scenes around him and through his artistic drawings, Gibran caught the attention of his teachers at the public school, who saw an artistic future for the Syrian boy. They contacted Fred Holland Day, an artist and a supporter of artists who opened up Gibran’s cultural world and set him on the road to artistic fame.
Giberan met Fred Holland Day in 1896, and since then, his road to recognition was reached through Day’s artistic unconventionality and contacts in Boston’s artistic circles. Day introduced Gibran to Greek mythology, world literature, contemporary writings and photography, ever prodding the inquisitive Syrian to seek self-expression. Day’s liberal education and unconventional artistic exploration influenced Gibran.
Other than working on Gibran’s education, Day was instrumental in lifting his self-esteem, which had suffered under the immigrant treatment and poverty of the times. Not surprisingly, Gibran emerged as a fast learner, devouring everything handed over by Day, despite weak Arabic and English. Gibran uttered his first religious beliefs, when he declared “I am no longer a Catholic: I am a pagan”, after reading one book given by Day.During one of Fred Holland Day’s art exhibitions, Gibran drew a sketch of a Miss Josephine Peabody, an unknown poet and writer whom later on, Gibran was to propose marriage and be met with refusal, the first blow in a series of heartaches to Gibran by the women he loved.
Continually encouraging Gibran to improve his drawings and sketches, Day was instrumental in getting Gibran’s images printed as cover designs for books in 1898. Gibran began to develop own technique and style, encouraged by Day’s enthusiasm and support. Gradually, Gibran entered the Bostonian circles and his artistic talents brought him fame at an early age.
His family decided that early success could cause him future problems, and with Gibran’s approval, the young artist went back to Lebanon to finish his education and learn Arabic.
BACK IN LONDON
In 1898, Gibran arrived in Beirut speaking poor English and could speak Arabic fluently, but could not read nor write it. To improve his Arabic, Gibran chose to enroll in the school Madrasat-al-Hikmah, a Maronite-founded school which offered a nationalistic curriculum partial to church writings, history and liturgy.
Gibran’s strong-willed nature refused to abide by the parochial curriculum, demanding an individual curriculum catering to his educational needs and aimed at a college level, a gesture indicative of Gibran’s rebellious and individualistic nature; his arrogance boarded on heresy. As a student, Gibran left a great impression on his teachers and fellow students, who were impressed with his outlandish and individualistic behavior, self-confidence, and his unconventional long hair.
His Arabic teacher saw in him “a loving but controlled heart, an impetuous soul, a rebellious mind, an eye mocking everything it sees”. However, the school’s strict and disciplined atmosphere was not to Gibran’s liking, who flagrantly flouted religious duties, skipped classes and drew sketches on books. At the school, Gibran met Joseph Hawaiik, with whom he started a magazine called Al-Manarah (The Beacon), both editing while Gibran illustrated.
EFFORTS TO ADVANCE ARABIC LITERATURE
In Fatat-Boston, Gibran developed a close relationship with an Arab immigrant writer Mikhail Naimly, whom he had met earlier in 1914.Naimy, a critical thinker, was among the first Arab writers to acknowledge Gibran’s efforts at advancing the Arab language, and correctly making use of Arab customs and background. He treated Gibran’s The Broken Wings as an example of the universal language of literature, pointing out that Selma Karameh could easily come from a Russian, English or Italian background. Following Gibran’s death, Naimy immortalized Gibran.
With Naimy, Gibran formed in April of 1911 a ten-member Arab émigré organization called Arrabitah Al-Qalamyiah, which promoted the publication of Arab writings and the transmission of world literature. Throughout its life, Arrabitah was led by Gibran’s call for greater artistic freedom, ever encouraging writers to break the rules and seek individual styles. During the time, Gibran’s involvement in Arabic writings distracted him from completing The Prophet. Gibran vacillated between resuming work on The Prophet or embarking on a lecture tour, as his spreading popularity demanded more artistic presence from him. He continued to view himself as a spokesman of both the Arab and English worlds.
Gibran’s political ideas were incensing local politicians in Syria, reacted against his article, which stated, “You have your Lebanon and I have my Lebanon.” Gibran disapproved of the way the Syrian territories were being managed, and he wrote extensively on the identity of the emerging Arab countries, as the Greater Syria region began to be divided into Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. On the emerging countries, Gibran called on politicians to adopt the positive aspects of the Western culture and refrain from importing the surface values of guns and clothes. His political thought sooner gave way to general view on the cultural makeup of countries and the way citizens ought to lead their lives.
By 1920,The Prophet was done while Gibran’s Arab writings continued to occupy time, in poignant letter written to Mary, Gibran confessed that he resolved the identity problem and has balanced the East and West influences, admitting that, “I know now that I am a part of the whole – a fragment of a jar… Now I’ve found out where I fit, and in a way I am the jar – and the jar is I.”
WORKS
The Prophet Ending with everlasting philosophical and moral teachings, The Prophet is an outstanding piece of literature. It tells lot about ecstasy of love. Gibran used Almitre as a spokesman, to whom he advised:
"Love one another, but make not a bond of love,"
as "And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart."
When asked to speak about children, he said: "They are the sons and daughters of life's longing for itself."
You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow.
Replying to a rich man about 'Giving', he said: "And what is fear of need itself: These are those who give little of the much which they have-and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome. And there are those who have little and beauty of life and their coffer is never empty." The author advised: "For in truth it is life that gives, are but a witness."
In his dialogue with an old inn. keeper, speaking about Eating and Drinking:
'And let there be in the song a remembrance for the autumn days, and for the vineyard, and for the winepress." To a ploughman Gibran said: "And to love life through labor is to be is to be intimate with life's inmost secret."
Saying to a woman about joy and sorrow, Khalil Gibran held: "When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy." Khalil Gibran advised to a mason: "For that which is boundless in you, abides in the mansion of the of the sky, whose door is the morning mist, and whose windows are the songs."
To a weaver he hold: "And forget not that the earth delight to feel your base but and the winds long to play with your hair." Satisfying to a merchant, he said: "Involve then the master spirit of the earth, to come into your midst and and sanctify the scales and the reckoning that weighs value against value." "And suffer not the barren-handed to take part in your transactions, who would sell their words for your labor."
He talked to a city judge about crime and punishment and to a lawyer about his profession and disclosed: "You delight in laying down laws, yet you delight more in breaking them like children playing by the ocean who build sand towers with constancy and then destroy them with laughter."
And to an orator, he said about freedom: And when the shadow fades and is no more, the light that lingers becomes a shadow to another light.
And thus your freedom when it loses its betters becomes itself the fetter of a greater freedom." In his talk to the pristos he advised: about Reason and Passion: "Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in mid seas. For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction.
Therefore let your soul exalt your season to the height passion, that it may sing. And let it direct your passion with season, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix rise above its own ashes." Satisfying to a woman about pain, he said, "your pain in the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding". About self-knowledge he said: "Your heart know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights.
Regarding Friendship, he talked to a youth: "And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For us the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed." To a priestess, Gibran said: "For what is prayer but the expansion of your self into the living ether?''
God listens not to your words save when I do himself utters them through your lips. And to a poet he said: "And beauty is not a need but an ecstasy. But rather a heart inflamed and a soul flock of angels for ever in flight. People of Orphalese, beauty is life when unveils her holy face. But you are life and you are the veil. Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror. But you are the eternity and you are mirror."
Khalil Gibran, on the subject of Death said to Almitra: "Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountaintop, then you shall begin to climb. And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance. And so on in Prophet, Khalil Gibran has marveled of his philosophy of life and universe, from within and without of it, depicting all aspects and actions and situations, none of which is without problem, dilemma incompleteness and quest. The philosopher offers very lucidly, poetically, lightly, though vehemently preachings in most convincing and acceptable style.
HIS FAVORITES
And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart; For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unclaimed.And let there be no purpose in friendship, save the deepening of the spirit.For love that seeks naught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth and only the unprofitable is caught.
ON LOVE
When love beckons to you, follow him, though his ways are hard and steep.
All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; For love is sufficient unto love.
When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart, "but rather, "I am in the heart of God.
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and medicate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.
And he answered, saying: You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance. For what is prayer but the expansion of yourself into the living ether?
Our God, who art our winged self, it is thy will in us that willeth.
It is thy desire in us that desireth.
It is thy urge in us that would turn our nights, which are thine, into days which are thine also.
We cannot ask thee for ought, for thou knowest our needs before they are born in us:
Thou art our need; and in giving us more of thyself thou givest us all.
Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity. Humanity is a river of light running from the ex-eternity to eternity.
Strange, the desire for certain pleasures is a part of my pain.
There is a space between man's imagination and man's attainment that may only be traversed by his longing
Paradise is there,
behind that door,
in the next room;
but I have lost the key.
Perhaps I have only mislaid it.
How I can lose faith
in the justice of life,
when the dreams of those
who sleep upon feathers are
not more beautiful than
the dreams of those
who sleep upon the earth?
My loneliness was born when men praised my talkative faults and blamed my silent virtues.
A truth is to be known always, to be uttered sometimes.
The real in us is silent; the acquired is talkative.
The voice of life in me cannot reach the ear of life in you; but let us talk that we may not feel lonely.
Our mind is a sponge;
our heart is a stream.
Is it not strange that
most of us choose sucking
rather than running?
If winter should say,
"Spring is in my heart",
who would believe winter?
How noble is the sad heart
who would sing a joyous song
with joyous hearts.
My house says to me,
"Do not leave me,
for here dwells your past."
And the road says to me,
"Come and follow me,
for I am your future."
And I say to both
my house and the road,
"I have no past,
nor have I a future.
If I say here,
there is a going in my staying;
and if I go
there is a staying in my going.
Only love and death
will change all things."
Trees are poems that
the earth writes upon the sky.
We fell them down and
turn them into paper that
we may record our emptiness.
If you sing of beauty though alone
in the heart of the desert
you will have an audience.
Inspiration will always sing;
inspiration will never explain.
Poetry is not an opinion expressed. It is song that rises from a bleeding wound Or a smiling mouth.
Turtles can tell more about roads than Hares.
Faith is an oasis in the heart Which will never be reached
By the caravan of thinking.
When you reach the end of
What you should know,
You will be at the beginning of
What you should sense.
A shy failure is nobbler
Than an immodest success.
Sadness is but a wall
Between two gardens.
We choose our joys and our sorrows Long before we experience them.
The devil died the very day
You were born.
Now you do not have to
Go through hell to meet an angel.
Even the most winged spirit
Cannot escape physical necessity.
How stupid is he
Who would patch
The hatred in his eyes
With the smile of his lips.
Only those beneath me
Can envy or hate me.
I have never been envied nor hated;
I am above no one.
If you reveal your secrets to the wind You should not blame the wind
For revealing them to the trees.
He who listens to truth is not
Less than he who utters truth.
I long for eternity
Because there I shall meet
My unwritten poems
And my unpainted pictures.
The most pitiful among men is he Who turns his dreams into silver and gold.
Death is not nearer to the aged
Than to the new-born; neither is 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.
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
Say not, I have found the truth,"but rather, "I have found a truth." Say not, "I have found the path of soul." Say rather, "I have met the soul walking upon my path." For the soul walks upon all paths. The soul walks not upon a line; neither does it grow like a reed.
The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.
Therefore let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion; that it may sing; And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own ashes.
And since you are a breath In God's sphere, and a leaf in God's forest, you too should rest in reason and move in passion.
I am forever walking upon these shores, Betwixt the sand and the foam, The high tide will erase my foot-prints, And the wind will blow away the foam. But the sea and the shore will remain forever.
The bitterest thing in our today's sorrow is the memory of our yesterday's joy.
Remembrance is a form of meeting. Forgetfulness is a form of freedom.
How shall my heart be unsealed unless it be broken?
Lovers embrace that which is between them rather than each other.
"I existed from all and,behold, I am here; and I shall exist till the end of time, for my being has no end."
‘‘I have learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers."
‘‘We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them."
‘‘Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit."
‘‘Rebellion without truth is like spring in a bleak, arid desert."
‘‘Life without liberty is like a body without spirit."
‘‘Safeguarding the rights of others is the most noble and beautiful end of a human being."
‘‘Hallow the body as a temple to comeliness and sanctify the heart as a sacrifice to love; love recompenses the adorers."
‘‘The person you consider ignorant and insignificant is the one who came from God, that he might learn bliss from grief and knowledge from gloom."
‘‘A poet is a bird of unearthly excellence, who escapes from his celestial realm arrives in this world warbling. If we do not cherish him, he spreads his wings and flies back into his homeland."
‘‘Progress lies not in enhancing what is, but in advancing toward what will be."
‘‘Wisdom stands at the turn in the road and calls upon us publicly, but we consider it false and despise its adherents."
‘‘Art is a step from what is obvious and well-known toward what is arcane and concealed."
‘‘Knowledge cultivates your seeds and does not sow in you seeds."
‘‘Coming generations will learn equality from poverty, and love from woes."
‘‘Knowledge of the self is the mother of all knowledge. So it is incumbent on me to know my self, to know it completely, to know its minutiae, its characteristics, its subtleties, and its very atoms."
‘‘The significance of man is not in what he attains but rather in what he longs to attain."
‘‘Half of what I say is meaningless; but I say it so that the other half may reach you."
‘‘Government is an agreement between you and myself. You and myself are often wrong."
‘‘Fame is the shadow of passion standing in the light."
‘‘There lies a green field between the scholar and the poet; should the scholar cross it he becomes a wise man; should the poet cross it, he becomes a prophet."
‘‘Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need."
‘‘The bitterest thing in our today’s sorrow is the memory of our yesterday’s joy."
‘‘Faith is an oasis in the heart, which will never be reached by the caravan of thinking."
‘‘Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror."
‘‘Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolutions."
FIRST PUBLICATION IN ARABIC
In 1904, Gibran contributed articles to the Arabic-speaking newspaper called Al-Mouhajer (The Emigrant), his first published written work. It was named “Vision”, a romantic essay that portrayed a caged bird amid an abundance of symbolism. Despite spending four years in Lebanon learning Arabic, Gibran’s written Arabic left something to be desired. To master Arabic, Gibran relied on his ear for capturing traditional vocabulary, depending heavily on the Arabic stories narrated in his hometown of Bsharri. According to Gibran, rules of language were meant to be broken and he went on to advocate Arab émigré writers to break out of tradition and seek an individual style. Throughout his life, Gibran’s Arabic writings did not receive the critical acclaim his English books had, leading him later on to concentrate on his English writings.
Gibran’s first Arabic written work came out in 1905 with the publication of Nubthah fi Fan Al-Musiqa (Music), a book inspired by his brother’s ‘oud playing and Day’s several invitations to the Opera. During that year, Gibran started a column in Al-Mohajer called “Tears and Laughter”, which was to form the basis of his book “A Tear and A Smile”. Gibran published several Arabic poems and wrote in newspapers, about various subjects relating to love, truth, beauty, death, good and evil. Most of his writings had a romantic edge to them, with bitter and ironic tones.
In 1906, Gibran published his second Arabic book called Arayis Al-Muruj (The Nymphs of the Valley), a collection of three allegories, which take place in Northern Lebanon. The allegories- ‘Martha’, ‘Yuhanna the Mad’, and ‘Dust of Ages and the Eternal Fire’- dealt with issues relating to prostitution, religious persecution, reincarnation and pre-ordained love.
What characterized Gibran’s early Arabic publications was the use of the ironic, the realism of the stories, the portrayal of second-class citizens and the anti-religious tone, all of which contrasted with the formalistic and traditional Arabic writings.
Gibran was to later recall to Mary the dark period in which Spirits Rebellious was written, during a time when he was haunted by death, illness and loss of love. The anti-clerical content of the book threatened Gibran with excommunication from the church, with the book censored by the Syrian government.
THE WAR YEARS AND PUBLICATION OF THE PROPHET
In 1914, an American architect, Albert Pinkam Ryder, paid an unexpected visit to the exhibition, leaving an impression on Gibran who decided to write an English poem in his honor. The poem, which was first edited by Mary, became Gibran’s first English publication, when it went out into print in January 1915.
Gibran became more involved in the politics of the day, with the onset of World War I. To Gibran, the war suggested hope of liberating Ottoman-ruled Syria. In fact, Gibran fantasized about becoming a fighter and a romantic political hero, who is able to lead his country to liberation. When he actually suggested to Mary going over to Lebanon to fill a post of fighter, she adamantly refused. During the war years, Gibran went into a depression that distracted his thoughts and debilitated his health. Gibran felt helpless, contributing whatever money he spared to his starving Syria. Gibran tried to seek further recognition in New York, boosting his social life and joining in 1916 the literary magazine The Seven Arts.
By 1918, Gibran began to tell Mary of an Arabic work he had been working on which he called ‘my island man,’ the seeds of his most famous book .The Prophet. Based on a Promethean man’s exile to an island, The Prophet evoked the journey of the banished man called Al Mustafa, or the Chosen One.In her diary, Mary recounted Gibran’s musings about the book, which he later called “the first book in my career –my first real book, my ripened fruit.” Soon Gibran added to the work the title of the Commonwealth, a separate work he had attached to the story of Al Mustafa. Gibran was to later link the seeds of The Prophet to an Arabic work he did when he was sixteen years old, where a man at an inn discussed with the rest of the attendants various subjects. Gibran still worried about English writing and he sought Mary’s advice constantly. Gibran had always been fascinated by the language of the Syriac Bible, which reflected Gibran’s views on the creation of ‘an absolute language’, a task he tried to achieve through his various English writings, through the creation of a unified universal style.
Mary was crucial to the development of The Prophet, for she advised Gibran to adopt the English language for this book. Gibran was further encouraged to pursue writing in English following the attention given to the published book The Madman. The conversation Gibran had with Mary over the issues of marriage, life,death,love…infiltrated his chapters in The Prophet and various other works. Mary was against the title of The Prophet, which Gibran came up with in 1919, preferring the title ‘The Counsels,’ the name which she continued to use after the publication of the book. By the fall of 1918, Gibran was preparing to publish his English book, and another Arabic poem called ‘Al-Mawakib’ (The Processions), his serious attempt at writing a traditional Arabic poem with rhyme and meter.
THE MADMAN
Gibran’s the Madman came out in 1918 and received good reviews from the local press, who compared him to the Indian writer Tagore, famous for bridging the gap between East and West, and the English poet William Blake. The Madman, a collection of parables illustrated by Gibran, revealed the influence of Nietzsche, Jung and Tagore. Following the success of The Madman, Gibran’s popularity began to soar and gradually he started losing touch with old acquaintances, Day, Josephine, and he dissolved his relationship with Rihani. Gibran relished the aura of mystery, which evoked among people, given his undisclosed accounts of his oriental background and personal reserve.
In 1919, Gibran published Arabic poem “Al-Mawakib”, which received little success from the Arab press. During the same year, Gibran joined the board of yet another local magazine Fatat Bostan, to which he contributed several Arabic articles. Throughout his life, Gibran joined societies and magazines such as Al-Mouhajer, Al-Funnon, The Golden Links Society and Fatat-Boston, to create a mouthpiece for avant-garde Arabic writing and unite Arabic literature abroad. Gibran’s success as Arabic writer remained limited. Ironically, his Arabic language was not up to standards and received little success in the Arabic press.
THE WANDERER
Khalil Gibran adopted for the preaching to all class of people a lucid, easy and simple to understand, the subtle philosophy of life, nature, universe and Almighty, known as parables, continuing touchy stories pregnant with minutest thinking, reality and above all more guidelines, giving solutions of all problems and situations. The best example we have is, his "The Wanderer".
He peculiarly revealed man and woman through the similies of ugliness and beauty in his parable named "Garments" The Wanderer is a beautiful collections of parables and sayings, he discloses "Hypocrite and liars." His 'Tear and laughter,' at the fair, tell us of deep understanding of life from nearest angel, is of course educative, critical, interesting but to far from cynical expression.
The dilutes used by the poet are of lighthearted wit sarcastic and humor without malice. It is an out come of a genius. Depiction of nature and awareness of human instincts are mingled, focusing the virtues, good qualities and moral values. It is a fine story telling with purposeful teaching in prose. It pokes fun at snobbery, untruthfulness and vices, short-comings in human behavior ridiculously. Khalil Gibran's very popular third great work is "Sand and Foam."
''I am forever walking upon those shores,
Betwixt the sand and the foams.
The high tide will erase my footprints,
And the wind will blow away the foam.
But the sea and the shore will remain Forever."
Poetic and rhyming, rhythming the author herein depicts mortality of being and immortality of nature.
In another saying, he says:
''The first thought of God was an angel. The first word of God was a man."
How nicely he weighs human significance. His solitude is packed with commune with the spirit of Almighty. He says: "Humanity is a river of light running from extremity to eternity." Gibran's sayings are often so subtle, that at first sight for a common man, it becomes difficult to understand, e.g. "our mind is a sponge; our heart is a stream.
Is it not strange that most of us choose sucking rather than running?' Further,
"It takes two of us to discover truth: one to utter it and one to understand it."
In his own words: "Poetry is wisdom that enchants the heart wisdom is poetry that sings in the mind.
If we could enchant man's heart and at the same time sing in his mind. Then in truth he would live in the shadow of God."
Khalil Gibran's another superb collection is parables and poems is "The Madman". It is a fine story telling style. In one parable 'God' the author says.
''Master, I am thy slave. Thy hidden will is my law and I shall obey thee for ever more" - how he surrender with greatest understanding. His imagination is at its best. And the reality of omnipresence of God at all times and everywhere is explicated magnificently.
In his, this collection various subjects are touched philosophically with sharp and intelligent, though interesting and easy to understand story and poem form. Anyway, his prophetic version of life is typical to grasp.
''The Forerunner" is another masterpiece collection of Gibran's parables and poems. The peculiar beginning starts as: "You are your own forerunner, and the towers you have builded are but the foundation of your giant self. And that self too shall be a foundation. In his poem 'love' the poet sings:
'O Love, whose lordly hand
Has bridled my desires,
And raised my hunger and my thirst
To dignity and pride.--
In another parable, he says: "O my faith, I am in chains behind these bars of silver and ebony, and I cannot fly with you.
Yet out of my heart you rise skyward, and it is my heart that holds you rise skyward, and ebony, and I cannot fly with you.
Yet out of my heart rise skyward, and it is my heart you rise skyward, and it is my heart that holds you, and I shall be content."
In his "The Earth Gods", Khalil Gibran, through first God, Second God and Third God narrates vividity and bountiful nature. He discloses completeness
And unique perfection of nature and its usefulness to humanity.
Khalil Gibran's another prose marvel is: "Nymphs of the Valley." It is covering moral teaching stories, with beautiful characterization, sharp, and subtle dialogues. The story of Martha gives an account of calamities of life and sustenant role of nature. The implied moral teaching is exposed by: "We are carried along on the current of modern civilization.
We have forgotten - or so we tell ourselves - the philosophy of that beautiful and simple life of purity and spiritual cleanliness. If we turned and looked we could see it smiling in the spring, drowsing with the summer sun; harvesting in the autumn, and in the winter at rest; like our mother nature in all her moods. We are richer in material wealth than those villagers; but their spirit is a nobler spirit than ours."
How closely the author has observed the life, so also narrated the substance in his peculiar philosophic and metaphysical language.
In another story: "Dust of the Ages and the Eternal fire"
Khalil Gibran said: "Centuries passed and the feet of time obliterated the work of the ages.
The Gods went from the land, and other Gods came in this stead Gods of anger wedded to destruction and ruin." Such is clarity of thought.simple and precious.
Gibran's very very popular eighth book: "Tears and laughter" is a treasure of beautiful thoughts, passions, sentiments and imagination running in lyrical prose and fantastic dialects:
"Only those return to Eternity
Khalil Gibran's ninth significant work is "Between Night & Moon." In this work, the author narrated Nature at its best, and sang in lucid prose the lyric of solitude:
"I sought solitude because I never obtained kindness from a human unless I paid the full price with my heart."
His, 'The Tempest' is differentiating between the slavery and liberty. Use of sarcastic language with deep understanding of life is at its best.
In "The Mermaids" the author has coupled the story with a love letter. It is a unique composition out-bursting passions of love and infinite element lying in it.
'We and You' is a nice song and a model lyrical poem, pregnant with thoughts of sorrows.
'The lonely Poet' and 'Ashes of the Ages and Eternal fire' reveal the authors philosophy of love and life. And 'Between Night and Morning' the poetic Khalil Gibran suggestively says:
"Silence is more eloquent than speech."
Khalil Gibran's landmark piece of literature is: 'Secret of the Heart.' It is a poetic prose work. The preaching spirit and purpose of moral commitment is self-explanatory. God's omnipresence, and miraculous strength and power of infinite love, backed by Nature's dominance rule over the hearts of readers Khalil Gibran's "Dead are my people", 'The Ambitious Violet' are superb story - tell.
Khalil Gibran's eleventh work in "Spirits Rebellious", in which he philosophizes: "If those high and impregnable buildings scanted the odor of hatred, deceit and corruption, they would have cracked and fallen. The poor villager looks upon those residences with tearful eyes, but when he finds that pure love that exists in the heart of his wife and fills its domain, he will smile and go back to his fields contended."
And the twelfth masterpiece that Khalil Gibran created is: "The Broken Wings." It begins as: "Selma Karamy was the one who taught me to worship beauty by the example of her own beauty and revealed to me the secret of love by her affection; she was the one who first sang to me the poetry of real life".
The author has developed his best work on this truth with philosophy, love for life, faith in eternity, infiniteness of nature and above all, personal touch of poetic prophecy.
