Khalil Gibran (1883-1931)
Biography

Lebanese-American philosophical essayist, novelist, mystical poet, and artist.

Gibran's works were especially influential in the American popular culture in the 1960s. Khalil Gibran was born in Bsharri, Lebanon.

He immigrated with his parents to Boston in 1885, and studied Arabic literature in Beirut between 1897 and 1899.
In 1904 Gibran had his first art exhibition in Boston. From 1908 to 1910 he studied art in Paris with August Rodin. In 1912 he settled in New York, where he devoted himself to writing and painting.

Click here to read one of his
best-known works
"The Prophet"

Gibran's early works were written in Arabic, and from 1918 he published mostly in English. His first poem appeared in The Spectator in 1887. In 1920 he founded a society for Arab writers, Mahgar (al-Mahgar).

Among its members were Mikha'il Na'ima (1889-1988), Iliya Abu Madi (1889-1957), Nasib Arida (1887-1946), Nadra Haddad (1881-1950), and Ilyas Abu Sabaka (1903-47). Gibran died in New York on April 10, 1931.
Among his best-known works is THE PROPHET, a book of 26 poetic essays, which has been translated into over 20 languages. The Prophet, who has lived in a foreign city 12 years, is about to board a ship that will take him home. He is stopped by a group of people, whom he teaches the mysteries of life.

Selected works:

• ARA'IS AL MURUDJ, 1906

• STONEFOLDS, 1907

• ON THE THRESHOLD, 1907

• AL-ARWAH AL-MUTAMARRIDA, 1908

• DAILY BREAD, 1910

• FIRES, 1912

• AL-AJNIHA AL-MUTAKASSIRAH [The broken wings], 1912

• DAM'AH WA-IBTISAMAH [A Tear and a Smile], 1914

• THE MADMAN, 1918

• AL-MAWAKIB [The Procession], 1919

• THE FORERUNNER, 1920

• SPIRITS REBELLIOUS, 1920

• THE PROPHET, 1923

• SAND AND FOAM, 1926

• JESUS, THE SON OF MAN, 1928

• THE EARTH GODS, 1931

• GARDEN OF THE PROPHET, 1933

• THE DEATH OF THE PROPHET, 1933

• TEARS AND LAUGHTER, 1947

• NYMPHS OF THE VALLEY, 1948

Click her to read about his faith
in the Syrian American Community