Kahlil Gibran
Kahlil Gibran was a Lebanese-American writer, poet, and artist, best known for his philosophical and spiritual works, particularly "The Prophet." Born in 1883 to Maronite Christian parents in a small Lebanese village, Gibran's early life was marked by limited resources but rich cultural and spiritual influences from his surroundings. In 1895, he emigrated with his family to Boston, where he faced numerous hardships, including the death of his mother and siblings.
Despite these challenges, Gibran thrived in the artistic community, receiving support from influential figures such as Florence Pierce and Mary Haskell, which allowed him to develop his artistic talents and literary voice. He studied in Paris, where he was influenced by prominent artists and writers. Gibran's work blends Eastern and Western philosophies, exploring themes of love, beauty, and human connection while often critiquing authority.
His writings, characterized by their poetic parables and aphorisms, have resonated with readers across cultures and generations, particularly during the 1960s among youth in both Arab countries and the United States. Gibran passed away in 1931 but remains a significant figure in literature, reflecting the interconnectedness of human experiences through his art and prose.
Kahlil Gibran
Lebanese poet and author of nonfiction.
- Born: January 6, 1883
- Birthplace: Besharri, Lebanon
- Died: April 10, 1931
- Place of death: New York, New York
Biography
Born of Maronite parents and baptized Gibran Kahlil Gibran (joob-RAHN)—his name was later shortened—the oldest child of Kahlil Gibran and his wife, Kamila Rahme, spent his childhood in an isolated village beneath Mount Lebanon. His childhood left him with few material comforts and little formal education, but it did provide him a rich spiritual heritage. Gibran’s work bears the influence of legends and biblical stories handed down for generations in the scenic lands near the ancient Cedars of Lebanon.
Seeking a better future, the family, except for the father, emigrated to Boston in June of 1895, joining relatives in a tenement in South Boston, Massachusetts. His mother sold lace to support her four children and opened a small dry-goods store; she died when Gibran turned twenty.
Gibran’s life changed when Florence Pierce, a settlement-house art teacher, noticed his artistic skills. With Jessie Fremont Beale, a philanthropist, she introduced Gibran to Fred Holland Day, a Boston art patron, art photographer, and patron of literature and the fine arts. Day used Gibran and his brother and sisters as models, and in 1898 Day helped Gibran return to Beirut to study Arabic literature at the Madrasat Al-Hikmat (the school of wisdom), founded by Maronite bishop Joseph Debs. After graduation, he traveled in Syria and Lebanon, visiting historic places. On his return to Boston in April of 1902, two of his sisters and his half-brother died from disease. Marianna, Gibran’s surviving sister, sewed to support both her brother and herself, and he resumed working at his art and renewed his friendship with Day.
In 1903 Josephine Preston Peabody, a poet and friend, arranged for an exhibition of Gibran’s work at Wellesley College. In 1904, while exhibiting his work at Day’s Boston studio, Gibran met Mary Elizabeth Haskell, who became his patron and tutor in English. Haskell, the owner of Miss Haskell’s School for Girls and, later, headmistress of the Cambridge School, helped him with his first essay, “al-Musiqa” (1905), published by the Arabic immigrant press of New York City, and provided funds for him to study in France between 1908 and 1910. Gibran studied art with Auguste Rodin in Paris at the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1912 he returned to New York, where he became founder and president of the Arabic P.E.N. Club.
Gibran is best known for his poetic parables and aphorisms contained in such works as The Prophet and Sand and Foam. Translated into numerous languages, The Prophet teaches the seeker how to achieve mastery of life. Gibran opposed authority, which he saw represented by Ottoman Turkish rule and by the Maronite Church, and was influenced by Friedrich Nietzsche as well as Ralph Waldo Emerson and William Blake, though he was also highly religious. The scope of his subjects and the sentimentality with which he presents them have been criticized, but these features are also the source of his popularity. He also wrote poetry in Arabic and was a skillful artist, producing drawings similar in style and feeling to those by the mystic English poet-illustrator Blake.
Gibran influenced youth both in Arab countries and in the United States—particularly college students of the 1960s—by preaching a religion of love, beauty, and redemption. He died of cancer of the liver in New York City on April 10, 1931, and was buried in Besharri in September, 1931, having never become an American citizen.
Author Works
Poetry:
‘Arā’is al-Murūj, 1906 (Nymphs of the Valley, 1948; Spirit Brides, 1998)
Al-Arwāh al-Mutamarridah, 1908 (Spirits Rebellious, 1948)
Kitāb Dam’ah wa Ibtisāmah, 1914 (Tears and Laughter, 1946; also known as A Tear and a Smile, 1950)
The Madman: His Parables and Poems, 1918
Al-Mawākib, 1919 (The Procession, 1947)
Twenty Drawings, 1919, 1974
The Forerunner: His Parables and Poems, 1920
The Prophet, 1923
Sand and Foam, 1926
The Earth Gods, 1931
The Wanderer: His Parables and His Sayings, 1932
The Garden of the Prophet, 1933
Prose Poems, 1934, 1962, 1971
The Secrets of the Heart, 1947
A Treasury of Kahlil Gibran, 1951 (Anthony Rizcallah Ferris, translator; Martin L. Wolf, editor)
Mirrors of the Soul, 1965 (Joseph Sheban, translator and editor)
Sculpture, 1970
Kahlil Gibran: A Prophet in the Making, 1991 (based on manuscript pages of The Madman, The Forerunner, The Prophet, and The Earth Gods)
Fiction:
Al Ajnịḥwah al-Mutakassirah, 1912 (The Broken Wings, 1957)
The Storm: Stories and Prose Poems, 1993 (John Walbridge, translator)
Nonfiction:
Twenty Drawings, 1919
Al-’Awāṣif, 1920
Jesus, the Son of Man, 1928 (religious)
The Voice of the Master, 1958 (Ferris, translator)
Kahlil Gibran: A Self-Portrait, 1959
Thoughts and Meditations, 1960 (Ferris, translator)
Spiritual Sayings, 1962 (Ferris, translator)
Wisdom of Kahlil Gibran, 1966
Beloved Prophet: The Love Letters of Kahlil Gibran and Mary Haskell and Her Private Journal, 1972
Between Night and Morn: A Special Selection, 1972
Shu’lah al-Zarqa’, 1983 (Blue Flame: The Love Letters of Kahlil Gibran to May Ziadah, 1983)
The Book of Giving: A Tribute to Mother Teresa, 1990
L'Oeil du prophète, 1991 (Albin Michel, translator; The Eye of the Prophet, 1995, Margaret Crosland, translator)
The Beloved: Reflections on the Path of the Heart, 1994
The Vision: Reflections on the Way of the Soul, 1994
Visions du prophète, 1995 (Jean-Pierre Dahdah, translator; Visions of the Prophet, 2013, Margaret Crosland, translator)
Letters of Kahlil Gibran to Josephine Peabody, 2009
Plays:
Lazarus and His Beloved: A One-Act Play, 1973
Bibliography
Bushrui, Suheil B., and Joe Jenkins. Kahlil Gibran, Man and Poet. Boston: Oneworld, 1998. A biography of the poet and philosopher with a critical study of his writings. Bushrui, an authority on Gibran, and Jenkins, a research fellow at the University of Maryland, rely on new sources gathered during a ten-year study to capture Gibran’s life. Includes bibliographical references and index.
Daoudi, M. S. The Meaning of Kahlil Gibran. Secaucus, N.J.: Citadel Press, 1982. This study is divided into three parts: The first contains biographical information, the second provides critical commentary on Gibran’s works, and the third discusses his politics. An appreciative look at Gibran, noting that he was a prodigious author, not just the author of a single work as commonly supposed, and a philosopher of substance. The book concludes with an interesting essay, “Gibran and Arab Nationalism.” Includes a useful select bibliography.
Naimy, Mikhail. Kahlil Gibran: A Biography. New York: Philosophical Library, 1950. An intimate biography by Gibran’s close friend and associate. Naimy dispels much of the myth that surrounded Gibran during his last years and reveals instead the human being who struggled and pulsated with life. Includes some hitherto unpublished writings and sayings by Gibran as well as his last will and testament. An important biography for Gibran scholars.
Otto, Annie Salem. The Parables of Kahlil Gibran: An Interpretation of His Writings and His Art. New York: Citadel Press, 1963. This study concerns itself with those parables that Gibran wrote directly in English. Includes a description of his life, singling out the experiences that formulated his ideas on humankind and society and which are reflected in his writings and art. A useful addition to the Gibran scholarship.
Sheban, Joseph, and Joseph P. Ghougassian. A Third Treasury of Kahlil Gibran. Edited by Andrew Dib Sherfan. Secaucus, N.J.: Citadel Press, 1975. A full-length study of Gibran that looks at his formative years, his philosophy, his views on love—both poetic and analytical—and his political outlook. Included in the second book are extracts from Gibran’s writings. Particularly noteworthy is Ghougassian’s essay, “Love, the Quintessence of Human Existence,” in which he explores Gibran’s theory of love and relates it to those of other philosophers.
Waterfield, Robin. Prophet: The Life and Times of Kahlil Gibran. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998. Complete biography with bibliographic references and an index.