It is not without a certain hesitation that I add this book to
my list. When I first read it as a teenager, I quickly dismissed
it as romantic nonsense dressed up as profound wisdom; the kind
of pretty phrases that would turn the heads of young girls. And
even today, if you look for it in a bookshop, you are likely to
find it under "Esoterica", "New Age" or something
along those lines. -
Groucho Marx once joked that he would not want to belong to any
club that would accept him as a member. In his case it was a humorous
expression of self-deprecation, but I, too, am reluctant to have
my name associated with the wrong kind of people :-)
The book sounded to me like a pastiche of the Bible with its solemn
language and reverence for desert-tribe sages. I heartily dislike
the Old Testament, even when admittedly there are passages of great
wisdom and beauty there. I cannot stand the jingoism, the claims
of being "God's chosen people", the xenophobia ("smite
the heathen"), the imposed sacrifices of animals, the aborted
sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis
22) and similar pettiness attributed to the Lord, the rigid
and irrational rules of comportment, or describing joy as similar
to how "men rejoice when dividing the plunder" (Isaiah
9:3). - It did not help that the author also was an artist,
and that to me his drawings seemed as fuzzy and romantic as his
texts.
Still, when I revisited the book at the age of forty, I was pleasantly
surprised to find a wealth of intelligent observations and good
advice. Many of the teachings seem surprisingly modern despite their
form. Not "modern" in the sense of "trendy";
I mean "modern" in being highly applicable to our present
society. Just take this passage on marriage:
When one considers that this was published in 1923 by a man who
was raised in a culture not generally considered to be in the vanguard
of female emancipation, one has to admit that it reflects a remarkably
fresh view of what marriage should ideally be like. It is not surprising
that this passage is widely used at present-day weddings.
Likewise, the following passage on children is often quoted:
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Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)
Self-portrait.
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The first line should of course be understood: "Your
children are not your children." The passage is
a moving reminder that children are not the property of their
parents (although nowadays it may be just as important to
point out that nor are they the property of their government).
Perhaps under the influence of this verse, I realized even
before my children were born, that I was looking forward to
getting to know them, rather than have them getting
to know me. All parents know that each child has its
own unique personality, but all too many of us (and our relatives!)
act as if this was something to be rectified rather than celebrated!
Kahlil Gibran (originally spelled Khalil) was
born in 1883 in a small village in Lebanon, at that time a
part of Syria under Turkish rule. His impoverished family
was Arabic and Christian. At the age of twelve he migrated
to the United States with his mother, a brother and two sisters.
They lived in poverty in Boston. He completed his studies
in Lebanon during three years before returning to Boston.
He lost his mother, his brother and one sister to illness
in 1902-03. From that time onwards he made his living from
his art and from his writing, helped by several female American
admirers. His best-known work, The Prophet, was published
in 1923. He died from cancer in 1931. - Here is a detailed
biography.
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The Prophet describes the last day of Almustafa,
"the chosen and the beloved", before he leaves
the town of Orphalese, where he has been waiting for twelve years
for the ship that will carry him back to his native island. The
people ask him to share his truths with them before his departure.
- Although his teachings on Marriage and Children are the most quoted
parts from The Prophet, there are 26 sermons, and there are
many passages there that merit our attention. Here are just a few
samples:
On giving:
On crime and punishment:
On teaching:
On religion:
The final sentence of the book:
A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind, and another
woman shall bear me.
Gibran summarised his book thus: "The whole Prophet
is saying one thing: You are far greater than you know, and all
is well".
The
complete text can be found here.
Although I am sure that fundamentalists of all creeds
will find Gibran's book to be too soft, lenient and "washed
out", I find his faith to be that of a true humanist, and his
vision of God to be much more in line with the Islamic motto Allah
akbar (God is greater) than with the petty tyrant depicted
in the Old Testament.
For
Swedish readers, I can recommend the translation by C-G Rosén
and Johan Wretman from 1977. I find it to be better than the original:
a simpler, clearer language. Unfortunately, it does not seem to
be freely accessible on the Internet. It was published by Proprius,
ISBN 91-7118-214-4.
"Books"
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