4umi Khalil Gibran : The Madman / The Two Learned Men

The two learned men

Once there lived in the ancient city of Afkar two learned men who hated and belittled each other's learning. For one of them denied the existence of the gods and the other was a believer.

One day the two met in the market-place, and amidst their followers they began to dispute and to argue about the existence or the non-existence of the gods. And after hours of contention they parted.

That evening the unbeliever went to the temple and prostrated himself before the altar and prayed the gods to forgive his wayward past.

And the same hour the other learned man, he who had upheld the gods, burned his sacred books. For he had become an unbeliever.

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 Khalil Gibran Introductory biography Spirits Rebellious The Broken Wings A Tear and a Smile The Madman How I Became a Madman God My Friend The Scarecrow The Sleep Walkers The Wise Dog The Two Hermits On Giving and Taking The Seven Selves War The Fox The Wise King Ambition The New Pleasure The Other Language The Pomegranate The Two Cages The Three Ants The Grave-Digger On the Steps of the Temple The Blessed City The Good God and the Evil God "Defeat" Night and the Madman Faces The Greater Sea Crucified The Astronomer The Great Longing Said a Blade of Grass The Eye The Two Learned Men When My Sorrow Was Born And When My Joy Was Born "The Perfect World" 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