Gibran , Prophet or Demon?

have always had mixed feelings about this man. I liked him so much, and then barely supported him. His work and life are so mingled in my mind i can't separate one from the other. Up to this day, I don't know what to say about him. He is not one of those people who are easily reduced to one or two adjectives. Judging him is a terrible balancing act. The more I know about him, the greater my misery.

Could you, literary maniacs, help me out with your views on him and his work? please do!

Khalil Gibran?? Well, I haven't read much about him (just the beginning of his The Prophet and than I stopped. I don't really know why though And dad -a teacher of Arabic- didn't recommand him so I didn't give him much importance

Hi aspire! I would first thank you for giving us such an opportunity.
Well, I really like him I know that he is a Lebanese-American artist, poet, and writer born into a Christian family. Many of Gibran's writings deal with Christianity, especially on the topic of spiritual love. But his mysticism is a convergence of several different influences: Christianity, Islam, Sufism, Hinduism and theosophy. He wrote: "You are my brother and I love you. I love you when you prostrate yourself in your mosque, and kneel in your church and pray in your synagogue. You and I are sons of one faith—the Spirit." (his ideas are quite strange)

For his works, I haven't read the Prophet. In fact, I have read these three novels :
al-Arwah al-Mutamarrida (Spirits Rebellious, 1908)
al-Ajniha al-Mutakassira (Broken Wings, 1912)
Dam'a wa Ibtisama (A Tear and A Smile, 1914)

the one I liked more is al-Ajniha al-Mutakassira

This book can be termed as an autobiography of first and last love of Kahlil Gibran the great philosopher who met a girl named Selma Keremy at Beirut, Lebanon. This was love at first sight. Selma is a young beautiful girl of Beirut who is as still as a Pond, as deep as an Ocean, as lively as Life.

Broken Wings also illuminates many of his central concerns: the plight of Eastern women; wealth as an impediment to happiness; the greed and corruption of the clergy; and the overwhelming power of love to transport us into a transcendent texts adds a fresh dimension to our understanding of his whole philosophy and career.

he wrote:
".ليس الجود أن تعطيني ما أنا أشدّ منك حاجة إليه ، وإنما الجود أن تعطيني ما أنت أشدّ إليه حاجة مني"

he's mysterious but I like him

Wow, sabine your post makes me eager to read for this writer, although my father's Arabic library doesn't contain it, but I think I'll try that of AL AJNIHA ALMOTAKASSIRA, because I'd heard about it whenI was yong that is awesome. Thank you guys.

Salam dear ones! and thank you for the precious response!!

It seems only girls like Gibran.
Do you all come from educated families with big libraries at home, lucky you!!! No farm girl here? ::laughs::

Sassy, how i like you to tell me what your dear father recommended. So nice that you respect his preferences (rabbi ykhellihlek, amen!)

Sabine, waaaaaaaw! a real Gibran fan, and very versed about his life and work. I'm impressed!

Princessa, i bet you devoured that library (not only the Arabic one). your words remind me of a skeletal wooden frame that shaped my childhood and inflamed my imagination.

As to Gibran, I liked him all the way long till five six years ago. I enjoyed most of his work (didn't read Dam3a wa Ibtissama, though) but not his surrealistic drawings. his poetry (Almawaakib for instance) used to send me away to enchanted islands and dreamlands where people are angelic, and nature is serene and everything is sublime and airy-fairy. his essays, stories, etc are jewels of expression and treasures of emotion. his humanism i still highly appreciate,

but then....

research ( mainly in America) revealed that Kahlil (the American spelling) was hedonistic charlatan and womanizer. i felt sorry for May Ziedeh who went mad partly because of his love, and for Mary Huskell who financed his trip to Paris to study art, financed him when poor and obscure(the way Gertrude Stein did to Hemingway), and drank his lies about his aristocratic past and grandeur with relish. i thus realised why Ameen Rihany was at loggerheads with him, why his contemporary compatriots thought low of him.

Well, another hero demystified for me.

Yet, his writings resonate in me still

I believe that u remember his exquisite pieces we studied in the primary school ( azzanbaka attamouh, The ambitious violet, for instance) and the reference to him in Armah's Beautiful Ones.

If one day i go to Lebanon, i will visit Bsharry and his museum and the Kadisha river that comes straight from the sacred cedar in the mountain he made so famous in his writings.

hope i haven't smeared him for you::smiles::

Hi again! having a farm girl here!!!!!!! lol I don't think so

Indeed, I come from an educated family and we have a big library at home mainly containing French novels (Aghata Christie, Jules verne, Victor Hugo, yassmina Khadra,....) and religious books. Now I'm adding some Arabic and English ones to it ( I adore reading in Arabic especially Ahmed Chawki, Ahlem Mostaghanemi, al Faqui and Gibran)

Knowing more about Gibran's life and beliefs , make me wondering if I still like him!!!!
Oh yes, I still like him (not as a person but I just adooooooore his art)
we cannot deny that he's such a great writer and poet

Hahahahaha Aspire want a pic of our library??!!! You'll be amazed!!!heheheheh

Well mainly Mohamed Al Ghazali, Ibn al Mokafaa and many many others

It's a very conservative taste actually and this is not like blind obedience coz I'm very stubborn by nature, but it's just that I always come to the conclusion that he is right about so many authors and so on....
So was he about Yasmine Khadra, though I didn't admit it at first

@ Sabine: SAHA SAHA!!!! My doll is sooooooooooo amazing

OHHHHHH I made a post about May Ziadeh Aspire here!!!!! I Just can't find it!!! Do you still remember Sabine???

ooooh yeah! I do remember it dear

here it is
https://blida-english.bbactif.com/t1983-hey-girls-do-you-know-may-ziadeh

WOUHOU! Thanks Sabine!! I looked everywhere and here it is!! Bless you!

Where is Aspire and Karim ????!!! We got used to them so quickly!

cheers mates!

so nice to hear of you in this thread!
I assume Sabine that you r one of those privileged young girls who r refined and accomplished and hard to get, like Mr Darcy's sister (though your pseudo reminds me of a french actress in Mr Bean's last movie) ::chuckles:: and yes Gibran is OK!! it's just US who wish our heroes to be perfect and immaculate and flawless like a Roman Statue.
Sassy!!! very few people admit of their stubborness! U r just unique vraiment! and full of surprises. I 'll read your post on sweet May Ziady right now. she charmed many of our macho writers (fohool) from Al Akkad to Arraafi'i . her writings are truly feminine and tickling. Both Egypt and Lebanon proclaim she is theirs. i think Khalil didn't deserve her fragile and honest feelings. but that's the nature of men may be.

aspire wrote:
Sassy!!! very few people admit of their stubborness! U r just unique vraiment! and full of surprises.

hehehehe I do admit but unfortunately can't correct my defects lol

aspire wrote: i think Khalil didn't deserve her
fragile and honest feelings. but that's the nature of men may be.

Well, that's the most incomprehensible thing in men lol