Two sequels to The Prophet were intended. The Garden of the Prophet, which addresses man’s relation to nature, was completed by Barbara Young and published posthumously, but The Death of the Prophet, concerning man’s relation to God, never materialised.
Kahlil Gibran’s life has been recorded by many doting friends, and his work has claimed critical attention from a variety of scholars, but The Prophet speaks for itself. It is infinitely accessible, can be appreciated on various levels and is open to individual interpretation. After The Prophet, Gibran published five more works in English and many poems and articles in Arabic before his untimely death in 1931. In general there has been little adverse criticism of his work, though Naimy cites critics who accuse him of opting out by addressing only spiritual problems. [17] Ultimately this has to be seen as his strength, for such questions are ever relevant, and The Prophet remains an enduring touchstone of spiritual writing offering solace to all. Mikhail Naimy saw Gibran, if not as a prophet, certainly as heaven-sent:
Thus the all-seeing eye perceived our spiritual drought and sent us this rain-bearing cloud to drizzle some relief to our parching souls. [18]
Arabic names are always significant and, as Barbara Young observes, the author of The Prophet seems to have been peculiarly aptly named. ‘Kahlil’ [19] means ‘the chosen one, the beloved friend’ and ‘Gibran’ means ‘the healer or comforter of souls’.
Christine Baker
Notes to the Introduction
1. See Suheil Bushrui, Kahlil Gibran of Lebanon: A re-evaluation of the life and works of the author of The Prophet, Gerrard’s Cross, 1987.
2. Rodin apparently recommended the works of William Blake to Gibran.
3. See Blue Flame: The Love Letters of Kahlil Gibran to May Ziadah, trans. and ed. Suheil B. Bushrui and Salma H. al Kusbari, Burnt Mill, Longman, 1983.
4. Published in Beloved Prophet : The Love Letters of Kahlil Gibran and Mary Haskell and Her Private Journal, ed. and arranged by Virginia Hilu, New York, AAK, 1972.
5. Recorded in Mary Haskell’s journal (Hilu, op. cit.).
6. Barbara Young took over from Mary Haskell as Gibran’s amanuensis. See Barbara Young, This Man from Lebanon: A Study of Kahlil Gibran, New York, Alfred Knopf, 1945.
7. Mary Haskell to Kahlil Gibran (Hilu, op. cit.).
8. Mikhail Naimy, Kahlil Gibran: His Life and his Work, Khayats, Beirut, 1964.
9. Barbara Young, This Man from Lebanon: A Study of Kahlil Gibran, New York, Alfred Knopf, 1945.
10. Kahlil Gibran to Mary Haskell (Hilu, op. cit.).
11. Mikhail Naimy, op. cit.
12. See Hilu, op. cit.
13. See Bushrui and al Kusbari, op. cit.
14. Kahlil Gibran to Mary Haskell (Hilu, op. cit.). For a full discussion of the influence of Blake on all aspects of Gibran’s oeuvre, see Suheil Bushrui, Kahlil Gibran of Lebanon: A re-evaluation of the life and works of the author of The Prophet, op. cit.
15. For all references to Blake’s poems see The Works of William Blake, Wordsworth Editions Ltd, London, 1994.
16. Mary Haskell to Kahlil Gibran (Hilu, op. cit.).
17. Mikhail Naimy, op. cit.
18. Ibid.
19. Originally written as ‘Khalil’, the spelling of the author’s name was altered to a more obviously phonetic one when he attended school in Boston, America. Barbara Young, op. cit., claims that the young Gibran altered the spelling himself when still in Lebanon because he found the name more beautiful written thus. It is interesting to note that the name ‘Almustafa’ also means ‘chosen’, and was one of the many appellations of the prophet Mohammed.
Biographical Note
Gibran Khalil Gibran was born on 6 December 1883 in the town of Bisharri at the foot of Cedar Mountain in North Lebanon. His father, a tax collector, was also a drinker and gambler, but he came from a scholarly line of intellectuals and Maronite churchmen on his mother’s side. Kahlil had no formal education, but learned English, French and Arabic simultaneously, and showed early promise as an artist, developing a passion for Leonardo da Vinci by the age of six. When he was eleven all his family except his father emigrated to America and settled among a community of expatriate Lebanese in Boston’s Chinatown. His mother worked as a seamstress and his older brother, Boutros, opened a grocery store. Gibran attended school where the spelling of his name was changed to Kahlil. He was sent to drawing classes and was soon introduced to the photographer Fred Holland Day, who used him as a model, and commissioned designs from him.
In 1898, Gibran was sent home to attend the Al Hikma school in Beirut. He studied French Romantic and Arabic literature. In 1902 he returned to his family via Paris. His sister Sultana died of tuberculosis before his arrival, to be followed shortly after by his brother, Boutros. Within another few weeks, his mother died of cancer, leaving him with just his youngest sister, Mariama. Gibran sold the grocery store and earned his living as a painter.
Gibran had an affair with journalist Josephine Peabody, who introduced him to Mary Haskell, a teacher who became his sponsor and collaborator. His career as a painter was established when he began to write for the Arab émigré newspaper, Al Mohajer. In 1905 his first book, Al-Musiqah, was published. More articles and books followed, mostly criticising state and church, and in 1908 his book of prose poems, Al-Arwah al Mutamarridah, was banned by the Syrian Government, and he was excommunicated from the Syrian Church. Mary Haskell then financed a two-year stay in Paris, where Gibran studied painting at the Ecole des Beaux Arts and the Académie Julien. He exhibited there in 1910.
Back in America, after Mary Haskell declined his offer of marriage, he moved to New York and worked as a portrait painter. He exhibited regularly, and a book of his drawings was published. In 1912 the publication of his novel Broken Wings brought him into a life-long correspondence with May Ziadah, a young Lebanese woman living in Cairo. Mary Haskell encouraged him to write in English and in 1915 a poem, The Perfect World, appeared, followed by his first English book, The Madman, in 1918. During these years he continued to write in Arabic and continued to work as an artist. In 1920 Gibran became the founder of a literary society called Arrabitah or The Pen-Bond. His careers as both painter and writer were flourishing but his health was failing and he began to drink heavily to counteract cardiac pains. He was frequently invited to address liberal church congregations. An exhibition of his pen and wash drawings opened in Boston in 1922, and in 1923 his masterpiece, The Prophet, was published. It was an instant success and sales have never flagged. He published several more works in both English and Arabic, the most notable being Jesus Son of Man (1928), before dying of liver failure and incipient tuberculosis on 10 April 1931. Gibran never lost his passion for his native Lebanon, where he is buried and where he has acquired legendary status.