« Original Blog Interview with Glenn Sulmasy
Is “Christian” marketing the kiss of death for “Christian” bands? »
Kahlil Gibran : Remembering A Lebanese – American
As thousands of refugees move out of Lebanon, I am reminded of a Lebanese family that left its home for the United States of America more than 100 years ago to escape the tyranny of the Ottoman authorities.
At the time, the second largest Lebanese-American community was in Boston’s South End, so the Gibrans decided to settle there in 1895. Because boy Khalil Gibran had no formal schooling in Lebanon, he was placed in a special class for immigrants to learn English. Gibran’s English teacher suggested that he Anglicise the spelling of his name in order to make it more acceptable to American society. Kahlil Gibran was the result.
Poet, philosopher, artist, prophet and writer, Kahlil Gibran was born in Bsharri, Lebanon in 1883. He died in New York City on April 10, 1931 leaving an amazing legacy in the form of his writings and drawings which have soothed and inspired millions.
To many he is a genius whose philosophical and prophetic style convey important messages about life and humanity in a simple, yet beautifully eloquent manner, that are as fresh and meaningful in today’s world as when they were first written.
Let me share a few quotations from the works of this Lebanese/American man whose genius flowered in the United States of America, but who wished that on his death he should be buried in Lebanon:
He who does not seek advice is a fool. His folly blinds him to Truth and makes him evil, stubborn, and a danger to his fellow man.
My brothers, seek counsel of one another, for therein lies the way out of error and futile repentance. The wisdom of the many is your shield against tyranny. For when we turn to one another for counsel we reduce the number of our enemies.
Seek ye counsel of the aged, for their eyes have looked on the faces of the years and their ears have hearkened to the voices of Life. Even if their counsel is displeasing to you, pay heed to them.
Oh Jesus, they have built these churches for the sake of their own glory, and embellished them with silk and melted gold…They left the bodies of Thy chosen poor wrapped in tattered raiment in the cold night…They filled the sky with the smoke of burning candles and incense and left the bodies of Thy faithful worshipers empty of bread…They raised their voices with hymns of praise, but deafened themselves to the cry and moan of the widows and orphans. Come again, Oh Living Jesus, and drive the vendors of Thy faith from Thy sacred temple, for they have turned it into a dark cave where vipers of hypocrisy and falsehood crawl and abound.
The obvious is that which is never seen until someone expresses it simply.
Selfishness, my brother, is the cause of blind superiority and superiority creates clanship, and clanship creates authority which leads to discord and subjugation.
Madness is the first step towards unselfishness. Be mad and tell what is behind the veil of sanity. The purpose of life is to bring closer to those secrets and madness is the only means.
I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from those unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to those teachers.
Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.
Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy. I wash my hands of those who imagine chattering to be knowledge, silence to be ignorance, and affection to be art.
You may chain my hands and shackle my feet; you may even throw me into a dark prison, but you shall not enslave my thinking because it is free.
I love you my brother, whoever you are – whether you worship in your church, kneel in your temple or pray in your mosque. You and I are all children of one faith, for the diverse paths of religion are fingers of the loving hand of the Supreme Being, a hand extended to all, offering completeness of spirit to all, eager to receive all.
3 Responses to “Kahlil Gibran : Remembering A Lebanese – American”
Swaraaj
Great Post …
My maternal grandparents were from Damascus and immigrated to Boston’s South End (Hudson Street was the center of Arab community) … After their fourth child, my grandfather wanted better living conditions and moved across the river to Cambridge …It was presicent as the government would later demolish most of Hudson Street and the Arab community to make way for the Southeast Expressway (which, as many know, has now been replaced by the crumbling Big Dig)
Hudson Street and the Arab neighborhood bordered Boston’s Chinatown and my Aunt would tell stories of all the old Arabs and Chinese, sitting on the stoops smoking opium …
I can remember, vividly, as a young child spending my Saturdays with my Aunt and cousins, shopping in the South End, going from store to store (My Aunt – “Can’t buy everything in one store … You have to give them all alittle business …”; Also, her way of getting all the gossip) and ending the trek at a Syrian cafe and bakery
Virtually all those stores and cafes are gone now …
Peace
JTD
I enjoyed this post so much I read it to my mother who is very ill at this time. Her mother was Lebanese and she was born in the South end of Boston. As a small child I remember going to all those small stores which sold the ingredients for Lebanese food. I was always intrigued by the huge oak cask which was used to store the grape leaves. Then there was the Lebanon Baking Company where you could get the loves hot out of the oven as well as meat and spinach pies.
The South End of Boston became run down and drug infested back in the 1970s. It has recently become one of the hottest housing markets in Boston. I purchased a condo there for my family so that we could enjoy a few nights and weekends in the city without having to fight the traffic after a long day . That condo costs more than a few city blocks not too long ago.
Work is Love? Sounds like this guy was getting some side pay from Andrew Carnegie or one of his Pinkerton union breakers. “Better to beg alms than complain about your work”…what utter BS.
Don’t forget we had child labor during this man’s life. A child laborer’s life expectancy was 18 years of age. We literally worked people to death under the conservative Social Darwinist ideology. Work is love, how insulting.
Sounds like he found a soft gig where he didn’t have to work. Didn’t work, he died young anyway.
I am not impressed by someone whom copies the bible and is called a philosopher. And I am sure as hell not impressed by someone who calls themselves a profit.