Gibran Academy of Arts

Kahlil Gibran

Gibran's full name in Arabic was Gibran Khalil Gibran, the middle name being his father's. It is a convention among the Arabs to use the father's name after one's first name. He always signed his full name in his Arabic works. In his English writings, however, He dropped the first name and changed the correct spelling of "Khalil" into "Kahlil" - this at the instigation of his teacher of English at the Boston school he attended between 1895 and 1897.

Like many Lebanese, Gibran retained a warm affection for the mountainous region of his birth, and though he spent the greater part of his life in the United States, he never forgot that he was a Lebanese, drawing emotional and intellectual sustenance from the countryside and cultural traditions of his homeland. Therefore, though scholars have traced in his writings the influence of the German philosopher Nitzsche, French Symbolist poetry, and the English poet-painter William Blake, and in his paintings have acknowledged the inspiration of the French sculptor Auguste Rodin, one must also recognise the influence of the great mystical poets of the East and of the Lebanese countryside. He wrote in both English and Arabic, and though the topography of much of his characteristic verse is the timeless, insubstantial world of the mystic philosophers, it is almost as frequently the tangible rocks, stones and trees of the Lebanese landscape.

For Gibran, his homeland did not exist for him simply as a repository of picturesque rural images which he could use to add local colour to his writings. True, his senses responded to moonrise over Mount Sannin, the view of Byblos from the sea, the Cedars covered with snow, a shepherdess sitting beside a stream “that wound its way through rocks like a silver thread”, and he described such scenes in his writings. But his intellect was stimulated, also, by the historical and legendary associations of Lebanon, as revealed to him in a simple, white rock Phoenician temple, the towering columns of Ba’albeck and the massive ruins of the Crusader castle at Byblos. As Gibran expressed it:”Lebanon is a poetical expression and not the name of a mountain.”

Gibran’s literary career can be divided into two phases, the first beginning in 1905, the date of the publication of his first Arabic work, and extending to 1918; the second beginning in 1918, the date of the publication of his first English work, and continuing to the time of his death in 1931. During the first phase, Gibran wrote exclusively in Arabic, but from 1918 onwards his work was mainly in English. His eight English books were either published or written between 1918 and 1931, two books appearing posthumously.

In his early years Gibran published five books in Arabic: al-Musiqah (1905), Aara’is al-Muruj (1906), al-Arwah al-Mutamarridah (1908), al-Ajnihah ‘l-Mutakassirah (1912), Dam’ah wa’Ibtisamah (1914). Between 1918 and 1931, during his second phase, he brought out three additional Arabic books: a mystical poem al-Mawakib (1919) and two collections of previously published work, al-‘Awasif (1920) and al-badayi’wa’l-Tarayif (1923).

His Arabic writings in the first phase of his literary career are characterised by a strong sense of bitterness and disillusionment; Gibran’s main purpose here is to reform society. He criticises, for example, injustice inflicted upon women; directs a scathing attach against ecclesiastical avarice and cupidity; and expresses his rebellion against the strictures of a bigoted and prejudiced society.

These early works, however, contain the basic themes of his later writings. As early as 1906, for example, he deals in “Dust of the Ages and the Eternal Fire” with the idea of reincarnation, and idea which he developed through the years into one of the strongest elements of his thought. Moreover, his belief in the healing power of the Universal Love and in the Unity of Being are evident in al-Ajnihah ‘l-Mutakassirah and Dam’ah wa’Ibtisamah.

In his Arabic works Gibran used the short narrative to express his ideas, but this was gradually replaced by the parable, the didactic essay, the aphorism, the allegory and the “prose epigram”, all of which became distinctive features of his English works. But in both English and Arabic works Gibran’s peculiar style is reminiscent of the Song of Solomon and the Psalms, with strong echoes of Isaiah and the parables of Jesus, the whole betraying the strong Biblical influence that permeates his work.

The second phase of Gibran’s career saw the publication of the Madman (1918), the Forerunner (1920), the Prophet (1923), Sand and Foam (1926), Jesus, the Son of Man (1928), The Earth Gods (1931), The Wanderer (1932) and the Garden of the Prophet (1933). The last two were published posthumously; The Garden of the Prophet, left unfinished at Gibran’s death, was completed by Barbara Young, who pieced it together from scattered manuscript materials and added many words of her own, utilising passages from Gibran’s Arabic works such as “Nafsi Muhamalatun bi Athmariha” from al-Badayi’wa’l Tarayif (1923).

The Garden of the Prophet, which was supposed to be the second book of a trilogy beginning with The Prophet and ending with the unwritten but planned The Death of the Prophet, lacks Gibran’s clarity of vision and sincerity. It is of doubtful literary value, though there are in it unmistakable echoes of Gibran’s style and thought.

During this second phase, Gibran published his first and only collection of drawings. In 1919, Twenty Drawings appeared with and introduction by Alice Raphael; many consider that this book contains Gibran’s finest art-work up to that date. He had been painting since 1905 and had exhibited his drawings and paintings before 1919, but this book stressed Gibran’s mystical bent. It emphasised the direction he was to follow in his paintings and drawings as well as in his writings.

Gibran’s message found ample expression in his English works, especially in The Prophet, which shows his view of life through the relation of man to man, and reflects his ideas on a variety of topics such as marriage, law, crime and punishment, freedom, generosity, religion, death, pain and pleasure. His message in The Prophet can be summarised as a passionate belief in the healing power of Universal Love and the Unity of Being. According to the mystic tradition which Gibran followed, the key to all things is love; once that is possessed it frees one from greed, ambition, intellectual pride, blind obedience to custom, and awe of persons of higher social rank. This is also the theme of The Earth Gods and, to a certain extent, it influenced his portrait of Jesus In Jesus, the Son of Man; and it shaped the hero of his Wanderer, which crystallises Gibran’s whole message of life, and captures the mood and atmosphere of his homeland, Lebanon, as well as his native mode of thought and phraseology.

Gibran willed the contents of his studio to Mary Haskell. There she discovered her letters to him spanning 23 years. She initially agreed to burn them because of their intimacy, but recognizing their historical value she saved them. She gave them, along with his letters to her which she had also saved, to the University of North Carolina Library before she died in 1964. Excerpts of the over six hundred letters were published in "Beloved Prophet" in 1972.

This biography of Gibran was cited from the book, Love Letters, by Suheil Bushrui and Salma Haffar Al-Kuzbari. For further reading please refer to that book.

If you are caring to share your thoughts about Gibran: his books, life, poetry, paintings, and influence, please do not hesitate to email us. We are looking forward to share you our impressions.

To the Memorial Garden

Navigation

Contact us

For a full inquiry, click here

Suggested links

Kahlil Gibran

The Gibran artistic postcards

artistic webdesign