Background
Gibran was born on January 6, 1883 in Bsharri (modern day Lebanon), into a Maronite Catholic family. His mother was Kamila, daughter of a priest; his father, Khalil, was her third husband.
Self-portrait c. 1911
Young Kahlil Gibran
Gibran was born on January 6, 1883 in Bsharri (modern day Lebanon), into a Maronite Catholic family. His mother was Kamila, daughter of a priest; his father, Khalil, was her third husband.
Kahlil went to Beirut, Lebanon, in 1898 to attend Madrasat-al-Hikmah, a Maronite college where he studied Arabic literature and cofounded a literary magazine.
Returning to Boston in 1902, he experienced family tragedy. During 1902 and 1903 his sister Sultana, brother Peter and his mother died of cancer. During that time Gibran was an accomplished artist, especially in drawing and watercolor. Gibran held his first art exhibition of his drawings in 1904 in Boston at Day's studio.
While most of Gibran's early writings were in Arabic, most of his work published after 1918 was in English. His first work in English appeared in 1918 when The Madman was published by the American firm of Alfred A. Knopf. Gibran also took part in the New York Pen League, also known as the "immigrant poets" (al-mahjar), alongside important Lebanese-American authors such as Ameen Rihani, Elia Abu Madi, and Mikhail Naimy.
In 1919 Knopf published Gibran's Twenty Drawings; in 1920 The Forerunner appeared. Each book sold a few hundred copies.
In October 1923 The Prophet was published; it sold over 1, 000 copies in three months. The slim volume of parables, illustrated with Gibran's drawings, is one of America's all-time best selling books; its fame spreads by word of mouth. By 1986, however, almost eight million copies - all hard-bound editions - had been sold in the United States alone.
Gibran bequeathed his royalties to Besharri; ironically, the gift caused years of feuding among village families. His later works were influenced by legends and biblical stories handed down for generations in the scenic region near the ancient Cedars of Lebanon. By 1931 The Prophet had been translated into 20 languages.
Gibran died in New York City on April 10, 1931, at the age of 48. The causes were cirrhosis of the liver and tuberculosis due to prolonged serious alcoholism.
Gibran was born into a Maronite Christian family and raised in Maronite schools. He was influenced not only by his own religion but also by Islam, and especially by the mysticism of the Sufis. Many of Gibran's writings deal with Christianity, especially on the topic of spiritual love. But his mysticism is a convergence of several different influences: Christianity, Islam, Judaism and theosophy.
Gibran opposed Ottoman Turkish rule and the Maronite Church's strict social control.
Quotations: He wrote: "You are my brother and I love you. I love you when you prostrate yourself in your mosque, and kneel in your church and pray in your synagogue. You and I are sons of one faith - the Spirit. "
He was president of Arrabitah, a literary society founded in New York in 1920 to infuse "a new life in modern Arabic literature."
Gibran started drinking seriously during or after publication of The Prophet, that caused his death.
Kahlil Gibran and Mary Elizabeth Haskell loved each other during all their life, but never married because Haskell's family objected. Gibran and Haskell were engaged briefly but Gibran called it off. Gibran didn't intend to marry her while he had affairs with other women. Haskell later married another man, but then she continued to support Gibran financially and to use her influence to advance his career.