Kahlil Gibran Books

As you read, Gibran's poetry brings spiritual and visual beauty to life within you. Gibran is justly famous for rich metaphors that brilliantly highlight the pursuit of Truth and Goodness amidst all the darkness and light of human nature.

Gibran Khalil Gibran was born in 1883 in what is now Northern Lebanon. In 1909 he went to Paris to study, but he did not like the strict education, and so he traveled, eventually moving to New York. Gibran became both an artist and a writer, and in 1923 he published "The Prophet", which is generally considered to be his greatest work. He died of cancer in a New York hospital at the very young age of 48.

The Prophet is a story about Almustafa (The Prophet) who after living 12 years in Orphalese is about to depart aboard ship to return to his home. Before he goes, a group of people stop him, and to them he teaches the secrets of life. Gibran writes in a very poetic manner, and it is wonderful to read.

I've never read a book that touched me so much! Gibran writes in vivid figurative language and lots of imagery. He strums strings of the heart with his insight into situations and stories. Also, if you like this, you'll love Broken Wings.

A man Who Thinks and Writes like Gibran Khalil Gibran can not die - his soul is always alive in the world and his home town Bcharre, Lebanon...

I find myself since the age of 19 referring to this book for guidance and refocusing to keep my soul on the right path. It rings as true now as it did then 40 years later.

I read this book about a year ago, and was struck by the beautiful langiage, and imagery. Gibran writes what the soul sees. I have an extensive collection of his work, and I am very pleased to have this one now in my collection. I would recomend it for anyone interested in how beautifully words can be arranged and written down.

If you have ever loved and lost, either by death or other unbearable circumstance, if you have ever longed for your lover's touch, if you have ever seen the most awesome vision, if you have ever found happiness in your despair and tears, if you have ever seen death at your doorstep, and called for it, if you have ever wondered if anyone has ever felt these things you do, this book is certainly for you. There is a vast amount of symbology used cleverly and yet, obvious. My favorite passage is Have Mercy My Soul. In this, he keeps asking his soul how long it intends to torment him. Enjoy.

"I saw no poverty; neither did I encounter excess. I saw fraternity and equality prevailing among man."
-Kahlil Gibran, A Glance At The Future, page 70

Kahlil Gibran's "A Glance At The Future" was not a prophetic vision. If nothing else, it may have been the expression of some of his deepest wishes for humanity. Gibran envisioned a world where ignorance had been defeated and mankind would rise above confusion. He saw a world as beautiful as people who, "understand the meaning of the flower's breath and the cadences of the nightingale." Above all else perhaps, he hoped that mankind would see itself as the cornerstone of creation and that Light would triumph.

According to Anthony R. Ferris in the Preface to Thoughts And Meditations, Kahlil Gibran became somewhat disappointed in the world we live in. Gibran began to see that governments can by tyrannical, that honest men are forced into deceit, and that the people have been, "led into narrow, separated faiths and suspicious, unfriendly, separated nations". Ferris points out that Kahlil Gibran's life was an example of the belief in the authority of the great mind, and that he imagined a place illumined by reason and understanding. It is from this disappointed, yet hopeful, view of the world that Thoughts And Meditations has been compiled.

Of the twenty-nine short stories and poems in this book, there are many that stand out as living up to the high and beautifully-poetic standards that what we have all come to expect from the writings of Kahlil Gibran. In the poem "Perfection", Gibran gives an answer to the question of when someone will reach perfection, in much the same way he did in his book, The Prophet. The poem is divided into two parts, the first being what is required to reach the halfway point. To reach this halfway point, the requirement is only for someone to "feel" certain things, such as:

"A calm wind or a raging tempest,
a thundering sky or a rainy heaven,
A singing brook or a wailing rivulet,
a tree abloom in Spring,
or a naked sapling
in Autumn"

The second requirement to perfection is to perceive, experience, and understand things such as:

"A nun suffering between the flowers of her faith and the thistles of her loneliness."

There are also poems and stories where Gibran expresses a more critical view, as in, "Mr. Gabber" where he asserts from the beginning that he is, "bored with gabbers and their gab." Perhaps it was beyond the tender heart of Gibran to be hateful or truly spiteful, towards those whom he saw as conducting, "loose talk, empty of meaning but stuffed with hypocrisy" because "Mr. Gabber" is quite humorous at times. In addition to describing them individually, Gibran goes so far as to say that, "Gabbers are innumerable. They can be divided into clans and tribes." One such tribe Gibran describes are those who belong to a family of gnats: "They hover around our heads and make tiny devilish noises."

Despite the fact that Kahlil Gibran may have been occasionally disappointed with the world and the people in it, he always remained hopeful. He never fails to deeply express his love and genuine concern for mankind. We are all sorrowed at times by this world we live in. The greed, the corrupt governments, and the absolute suffering exist for us today, as they did for Gibran. He provides us with his ever-caring spirit and always seems to uplift us with his words. Thoughts And Meditations will appeal to Gibran fans everywhere because in it he gives us his own standards for writing:

"Poetry, my dear friends, is a sacred incarnation of a smile. Poetry is a sigh that dries the tears. Poetry is a spirit who dwells in the soul, whose nourishment is the heart, whose wine is affection. Poetry that comes not in this form is a false messiah."
-Kahlil Gibran, Poets and Poems, page 82

Brian Douthit
Editor of Eyes Of The Poet: Love and Passion in Lasting Splendor

"I know that the principles upon which I base my writings, are echoes of the spirit of the great majority of the people of the world..." (656)
-Kahlil Gibran in a letter to his cousin, Nakhli Gibran, in 1908.

"The Treasured Writings of Kahlil Gibran", is a compilation of three other books of Gibran's treasury of writings, that each contained several books in one volume. They were: "A Treasury of Kahlil Gibran" (1947), "A Second Treasury of Kahlil Gibran" (1957), and "A Third Treasury of Kahlil Gibran" (1965). A total of ten books in all, this volume contains earlier books by Gibran such as, "Tears And Laughter", and more mature and widely acclaimed books such as, "The Broken Wings." In addition to the beautiful prose, verse, and imaginative stories, there is also biographical information and letters written by, and to Gibran. This is perhaps the most comprehensive book of Kahlil Gibran's writings, and one of the most informative about the man himself.

Philosopher, artist, and poet; these are some of the titles that are used to describe Kahlil Gibran. In order to fully describe this remarkable man, and this book, "The Treasured writings of Kahlil Gibran", one must reach beyond a mere title and use words such as passion, purity, and even divinity. To read this book is to realize this was a mortal man who sincerely understood the difficulties of being human, and yet often looked into the tender eyes of the divine, and shares his belief that he can see this light in the eyes of others.

"The riches of the spirit beautify the face of man and give birth to sympathy and respect. The spirit, in every being is made manifest in the eyes..." (488)

To absorb the depth of Gibran is to discover your own soul's longing for light and life, for beauty and joy. It is to hear the cries of your own heart's ecstasy as a friend, companion, and lover. With his writings, Gibran seems to gently take us by the hand, and listen with us, for our own whisper of echoing spirit.

Brian Douthit
Editor of Eyes Of The Poet: Love and Passion in Lasting Splendor

The famous sculptor Rodin was a good friend of Gibran's at the time these drawings were executed (first published in 1919). Rodin called Gibran's drawings "poetry." I can only agree. The beautifully written introduction by Alice Raphael offers insight and history on the spiritual in art and reflects her participation in a circle of artists who celebrated the dawning of a new century with the creation of modern art.