in Paris.
1911:
Settles in New York where he starts
an intimate correspondence with May
Ziadeh, a Lebanese intellectual living
in Cairo.
1918:
The Madman, Gibran’s first book writ-
ten in English, is published.
K A H L I L G I B R A N ’ S L I T T L E B O O K O F L I F E
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1920:
Together with other Arab and
Lebanese writers and poets living
in the United States, he founds a
literary society called Al Rabita al
Qalamiyyah (The Pen Bond).
1923:
The Prophet published with immedi-
ate success. Begins friendship with
Barbara Young who later becomes his
new muse and editor.
1928:
Jesus The Son of Man published.
1931:
Dies in a hospital in New York at
the age of 48, due to cirrhosis of the
liver. As was his wish, his body is
transferred in 1932 to Lebanon and is
buried in his native town of Bsharri.
An old monastery is purchased, which
becomes a museum in his memory.
These bare facts belie the complexity and
turbulence of Kahlil Gibran’s life, both inner and
outer. As one of his biographers, Suheil Bushrui,
writes:
A B O U T T H E AU T H O R
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The more that has been written about
Gibran, the more elusive the man himself
has tended to become, as critics, friends,
and biographers have built up a variety of
unconnected pictures. Gibran himself is
partly to blame. He wrote very little about
his own life, and in recurrent moments of
insecurity and “vagueness,” particularly dur-
ing his first years of recognition, often fabri-
cated or embellished his humble origins and
troubled background. This self-perpetuation
of his myth—a tendency followed by other
literary figures such as Yeats and Swift—was
not intellectual dishonesty, but a manifesta-
tion of the poetic mind’s desire to create its
own mythology (Bushrui, 1998).
A good online biography can be found at
the website of the Gibran National Committee:
www.gibrankhalilgibran.org.
As Bushrui notes, the many biographies and
biographical studies of Gibran do not agree on
many points. They are very much like the differ-
K A H L I L G I B R A N ’ S L I T T L E B O O K O F L I F E
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ent voices presented in Gibran’s book Jesus The
Son of Man, each reporting various facets of a
person who embraced both the highs and lows,
the lights and shadows of a fully human life.
A selection of the biographies and collec-
tions of Gibran’s letters is below.
Bushrui, S., and J. Jenkins. (1998). Kahlil
Gibran: Man and Poet. Oxford: Oneworld.
Bushrui, S., and S. H. al-Kuzbari (eds. and
trans.). (1995). Gibran: Love Letters. Oxford:
Oneworld.
Gibran, J., and K. Gibran. (1974). Kahlil
Gibran: His Life and World. Boston: New
York Graphic Society.
Hilu, V. (1972). Beloved Prophet: The Love Letters
of Kahlil Gibran and Mary Haskell and Her
Private Journal. New York: Alfred Knopf.
Naimy, M. (1950). Kahlil Gibran: A Biography.
New York: Philosophical Library.
A B O U T T H E AU T H O R
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Waterfield, R. (1998). Prophet: The Life and
Times of Kahlil Gibran. New York: St.
Martin’s Press.
Young, B. (1945). This Man from Lebanon:
A Study of Kahlil Gibran. New York:
Alfred Knopf.
K A H L I L G I B R A N ’ S L I T T L E B O O K O F L I F E
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About the Compiler
Neil Douglas-Klotz, PhD
is a renowned writer
MatheiuA.
in the fields of Middle
illiam W
Eastern spirituality and
y b
the translation and
Photo
interpretation of the
ancient Semitic languages of Hebrew, Aramaic,
and Arabic. Living in Scotland, he directs the
Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Learning an
for many years was cochair of the Mysticism
Group of the American Academy of Religion.
A frequent speaker and workshop leader,
he is the author of several books. His books
on the Aramaic spirituality of Jesus include
Prayers of the Cosmos, The Hidden Gospel,
Original Meditation: The Aramaic Jesus and
the Spirituality of Creation, and Blessings of
the Cosmos. His books on a comparative view
Douglas_Klotz_forthpages.indd 197
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of “native” Middle Eastern spirituality include
Desert Wisdom: A Nomad’s Guide to Life’s Big
Questions and The Tent of Abraham (with
Rabbi Arthur Waskow and Sr. Joan Chittister).
His books on Sufi spirituality include The Sufi
Book of Life: 99 Pathways of the Heart for the
Modern Dervish and A Little Book of Sufi Stories.
His biographical collections of the works of his
Sufi teachers include Sufi Vision and Initiation
(Samuel L. Lewis) and Illuminating the Shadow
(Moineddin Jablonski). He has also written a
mystery novel set in the first century C.E. Holy
Land entitled A Murder at Armageddon.
For more information about his work, see the
website of the Abwoon Network www.abwoon
.org or his Facebook page https://www.facebook
.com/AuthorNeilDouglasKlotz/.
K A H L I L G I B R A N ’ S L I T T L E B O O K O F L I F E
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Hampton Roads
Publishing Company
. . . for the evolving human spirit
Hampton Roads Publishing Company publishes
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For a copy of our latest trade catalog, call
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Do
About the Author
ugl
Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) was a
as
Timeless Wisdom to Feed the Spirit
-K
For the past eighty years, the beautiful
words of the Lebanese-American poet
Lebanese-American artist, poet, and writer
lo
Kahlil Gibran have graced everything from
t
and Nourish the Soul
of the New York Pen League. A native of
z
what is now Lebanon, he immigrated with
inspirational wall hangings and corporate
his family to the United States, where he
motivational literature. By one account,
studied art and began his literary career,
Kahlil Gibran’s Little Book of Life
Gibran is the third bestselling poet of all
writing in both English and Arabic. In
time, after Shakespeare and Lao Tzu.
Th e Valu e of Ti m e
the Arab world, Gibran is regarded as a
In Kahlil Gibran’s Little Book of Life,
literary and political rebel. He is chiefl y
we discover the essential wisdom of what
They deem me mad because
known in the English-speaking world for
it means to be alive. For Gibran, life is that
I will not sell my days for gold.
his 1923 book The Prophet, an early exam-
energy that saturates all we see and feel—
And I deem them mad because
ple of inspirational fi ction that includes a
they think my days have a price.
as well as what we can only imagine. Here
series of philosophical essays written in
are over one hundred fables, aphorisms,
poetic English prose.
They spread before us their riches
parables, stories, and poems in that vision-
of gold and silver, of ivory and ebony,
ary voice of comfort, love, and tolerance.
About the Compiler
and we spread before them
Sections include Listening to Nature’s Life,
Neil Douglas-Klotz (Saadi Shakur Chishti),
our hearts and our spirits.
Beauty and the Song of Life, Life’s Human
PhD, is a world-renowned scholar in reli-
gious studies, spirituality, and psychology.
And yet they deem
Kahlil Gibran’s Journey, and Life as a Journey.
The words in this charming little book
themselves the hosts
Living in Edinburgh, Scotland, he directs
are infused with wisdom and joy. It is
and us the guests.
the Edinburgh Institute for Advanced
indeed an ideal book for every season of
Learning and for many years was the
one’s life.
cochair of the Mysticism Group of the
L i t t l e B o o k o f L i f e
American Academy of Religion. He is also
the cofounder of the International Network
www.redwheelweiser.com
for the Dances of Universal Peace.
I S B N 978-1-57174-830-0
U.S. $15.95
5 1 5 9 5
Neil Douglas- Klotz
9 7 8 1 5 7 1 7 4 8 3 0 0
Document Outline
Cover
Inside front flap
Copyright
Contents
Introduction
1. Listening to Nature's Life The Law of Nature
Said a Blade of Grass
Three Dogs
Shadows
Song of the Rain
A Hyena and a Crocodile
Two Oysters
Trees are Poems
The Red Earth
The Full Moon
The Supreme Act
The Pomegranate
Solitude
Living Water
Other Seas
The River
Contentment and Thrift
The Lotus-Heart
The Shadow
The Serpent and the Lark
Frogs: On the Nature of Disturbance
Song of the Flower
Spring in Lebanon
2. Beauty and the Song of Life Life's Purpose
Singing
The Poet
Art and Life
Pleasure is a Freedom Song
SInging
Before the Throne of Beauty
The Flute
Beauty
Soul of the Dancer
An Hour Devoted to Beauty and Love
3. Life's Human Journey Your Daily Life is your Temple
Burying Dead Selves
Giving Up a Kingdom
Possessions
Treasure
The Value of Time
With Senses Continually Made New
Work is Love
Builders of Bridges
Renown
Life is a Procession
Song of Humanity
Singing in the Silence
Modesty
Between
Ignorance
When You Meet a Friend
Strangers to Life
Life is a Resolution
Longing
To American Immigrants from the Middle East (1926)
4. Seasons of Life Changing with the Seasons
No Miracles Beyond the Seasons
Youth and Knowledge
Seasons
Autumn and Spring
Time
All Your Hours are Wings
Be Dark
Day and Night
Shell-Life
Tides of Breath
Shoreless Without a Self
Finding Fault
Every Year I Had Waited for Spring...
5. Paradoxical Life Life Comes Walking
Talk
A Tale of Two Tales
Confession
Yesterday and Today
Gifts of the Earth
Giving and Gaining
High and Low
Seeking
Freedom
Limits
Owl Eyes
Voices
Ocean and Foam
Blessing Darkness
Agreement
Jesus and Pan
6. The Life of the Soul Resurrection of Life
A Fragment
The Greater Sea
Truth is Like the Stars
Have Mercy on Me, My Soul
Trust the Dreams
The Greater Self
Rising
Children of Space
Leave Me, My Blamer
The Forerunner
Walk Facing the Sun
Soul's Dewdrop
Roots Between
Self is a Sea
The Longing of the Giant Self
Angels and Devils
Blessed Mountain
Song of the Soul
Sources of the Selections
Selection Notes
About the Author
About the Compiler
Inside back flap
Backcover