4umi Khalil Gibran

Gibran Khalil Gibran

* Bsharri, Lebanon, 6 January 1883 - † New York, 10 April 1931
Poet, painter, philosopher.
Khalil Gibran.Variations on the spelling of this Arabic name include Jubrãn, Gubran, Jibran, Kahlil and Kalil. It is written جبران خليل جبران from right to left.

Merging Eastern and Western philosophies, Gibran was influenced by his Lebanese childhood, his adopted America, and the time he spent studying art with Auguste Rodin in Paris. Read how he lost his first name, made his first fame, and more in a short biography. Shorter still, but no less illustrative of the artist is this quote

“In one drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans; in one aspect of You are found all the aspects of existence.”

Lebanon had been convulsed by religious violence only twenty years before his birth, but for Gibran the underlying unity beneath the various forms of religion overruled all differences. As a student he even drew up plans for a opera house to be built in Beirut with two domes symbolizing the reconciliation of Christianity and Islam. The dream eventually bore fruit, albeit only on paper, in Almustafa, "the chosen and the beloved", who is the main character in his best known work. The Prophet is said to be the second best selling book in the United States, after the Bible.

Gibran's influence on popular culture in the twentieth century cannot be overestimated. When the American president John F. Kennedy in his Inaugural Speech famously cautioned his fellow countrymen

“Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”

he was quoting from The New Frontier which Gibran had written thirty six years earlier:

“Are you a politician asking what your country can do for you or a zealous one asking what you can do for your country?”

Selected works

1905Al-Musiqa   (The Music)
1906Ara'is Al-Murudj   (Nymphs Of The Valley)
1907Stonefolds
1907On The Treshold
1908Al-Arwah Al-Mutamarridah   (Spirits Rebellious)
1910Daily Bread
1912Fires
1912Al-Ajniha Al-Mutakassirah   (The Broken Wings)
1914Dam'ah Wa Ibtisamah   (A Tear and a Smile)
1918The Madman   (35 parables and aphorisms)
1919Al-Mawakib   (The Procession, ode in classical Arabic)
1920The Forerunner
1920's You Have Your Lebanon And I Have My Lebanon
1923The Prophet   (28 short stories and poems)
1925The New Frontier
1926Sand And Foam
1928Jesus, The Son Of Man   (79 testimonies)
1931The Earth Gods
1932The Wanderer   (52 parables and sayings)
1933The Garden Of The Prophet
1933Lazarus And His Beloved
1933The Death Of The Prophet
1947Tears And Laughter
1947Satan
1994The Vision, Reflections on the Way of the Soul
1997The Beloved, Reflections on the Path of the Heart
I Believe In You
My Countrymen
Your Thought and Mine

Picture Gallery



I am alive like you, and now I stand beside you.
Close your eyes and look around, you will see me in front of you.

(Gibran's epitaph)

- --oOo-- -
 Khalil Gibran Introductory biography Spirits Rebellious The Broken Wings A Tear and a Smile The Madman The Forerunner The Prophet The New Frontier Sand and Foam Jesus, The Son Of Man The Earth Gods The Wanderer Al-Nay The Garden of the Prophet Lazarus and His Beloved Satan My Countrymen I Believe In You Your Thought And Mine You Have Your Lebanon History and the Nation The Vision Visual art