Gibran Khalil Gibran is one of the pioneers of the Arab cultural renaissance in the modern era (Getty)
Gibran Khalil Gibran is a Lebanese poet, storyteller, writer, and painter. He was born in 1883 to a poor family, but he lived a wealthy life after leaving his mark in the various fields in which he excelled. He assumed the leadership position of Arab diaspora poets and writers, which made him one of the pioneers of the renaissance in the Arab region. He died in 1931 and left a rich legacy attested by major libraries around the world, embodied by the “Gibran Museum,” which was established in Lebanon in his memory. He is considered the third most sold poet in the world, after William Shakespeare and the Chinese poet Lao Tzu.
Birth and upbringing
Gibran bin Khalil bin Mikhail bin Saad was born on January 6, 1883 in the town of Bcharre, northern Lebanon. His upbringing was divided between his birthplace in Lebanon and the city of Boston in the United States of America, after he immigrated there as a child at the age of 13.
Study and scientific training
Gibran Khalil Gibran’s academic path was affected by his deprivation of receiving formal education, his constant movement with his family, and his overwhelming desire to burn through the stages.
At the age of 5 years, he joined a school known as “Under the Oak” or Elisha School in the town of Bcharre, his birthplace, where he studied the foundations of the Syriac, French, and Arabic languages.
In 1895, he immigrated with his family to Boston in the United States of America, where he joined a popular school and studied the principles and foundations of the English language. In his new city, he was also able to learn drawing techniques.
After 3 years, he returned to Lebanon to study, and joined the Al-Hikmah Institute in the capital, Beirut, where he was able to develop his knowledge and skills in the Arabic language, but after 3 years he returned again to the city of Boston.
In 1908, he traveled to the French capital, Paris, to study the art of drawing, and in June of the same year he joined the “Julien” Academy, from which great artists such as the French Henri Matisse, Pierre Bonnard, and Fernand Logier graduated, and he joined the Faculty of Fine Sciences as a listening student.
At the beginning of February 1909, he met a new professor whom Gibran described as “the great artist, the wonderful painter, and the mystic,” namely Pierre Marcel Peron. He also frequented the Colarossi Academy, which specialized in model drawing, but he preferred to work alone in his studio and visit exhibitions and museums, especially the Louvre Museum.
He visited the Palace of Versailles and admired the painting “Mona Lisa.” He then began a new journey of painting: drawing celebrities, studying the geniuses of English, French, and German literature, developing his artistic techniques, and obtaining a degree in the arts of photography (late 1910).
He stayed in Paris for nearly two years, then returned to New York in 1911, where the most fertile and creative phase in his life as a painter began.
Diverse experience
Despite constant movement with his family between Lebanon and the United States of America (1895-1908), Gibran was able to learn Arabic and English, and excelled in writing in them, and in studying literature, history, philosophy, art of drawing, and others.
At the beginning of 1900, with the artist Youssef Al-Howayek, he published “Al-Manara” magazine in Lebanon, and they edited it together for two years. He was also able to break into the circles of the intellectual and cultural elites, whether in Boston and New York in the United States of America, or in the French capital, Paris (1908-1911), which was considered one of the centers of the intellectual and cultural renaissance of his time, which made his experience diverse and rich.
Gibran Khalil Gibran in his youth (Getty)
Literary experience
Modern Arabic literature was influenced by the literature of Gibran Khalil Gibran, as he inaugurated a new school of rhetoric, and is considered one of the symbols of the era of the “Renaissance of Modern Arabic Literature,” especially in prose poetry. His literary experience offers several advantages, including:
He has many styles, as he adopted several methods to express his thoughts, such as short stories, proverbs, and meditation.
The romantic tendency that rose in the face of capitalism, and of which the Arabs are considered one of its pioneers.
Symbolism (the use of suggestion to express the inner self), as most of his works are full of symbols, myth, and imagination.
Humanism (places humanity and human values above all else), and one of its pioneers was among those known as the “writers of the Pen League.”
Authoring experience
Gibran began his career with his book “Music,” which he wrote in Arabic in 1905, and concluded it with two books published after his death: “The Wanderer,” published in 1932, and “The Garden of the Prophet,” published in 1933. The number of books he wrote is estimated at 18, of which 8 are in Arabic and 10 in Arabic. English. His book "The Prophet" has been translated into approximately 110 languages.
He also wrote 11 plays that were printed after his death - including 3 unfinished ones - 6 of which he wrote in English and 5 in Arabic.
Poetic experience
Gibran left behind more than a thousand poems. He is considered one of the first creators who practiced change in a new experience that eliminated the “single subject” (purpose) and absorbed a complete life experience presented in poetic language, deriving all its artistic energy from the text and the aesthetic dimensions it provides based on its internal relationships and movements. He used symbolism in a strong way, making it tighten the joints of the text and avoiding breakage and disintegration.
Translations of the book “The Prophet” by Gibran Khalil Gibran in several languages in his museum in his birthplace in Lebanon (French)
But the most important thing that distinguished his poetic experience was the revolution he brought about in this expressive color. The areas covered by that revolution can be summarized in the following elements:
In his new poetry, Gibran violated the form of the classical poem. He sought to dislodge the old poetic system based on the two-part system, and manipulated the lengths of the parts and the syllabic poetry structure.
In his poetry, he adopted poetic images that go beyond the limits of ancient Arabic rhetoric through their exoticism that reaches the point of irony, while the ancients wanted poetry that was easy to produce and close to the point of approach.
In his poetry, he adopted the language of everyday life, seeking to dislodge the system written by the ancients, which was based on luxurious, exuberant language.
He revolted against the old poetic pattern that dominated Arabic poetry, represented by sensual flirtation poetry, which seeks to satisfy the poet’s material instincts from women. In his view, love is a romantic love that honors and sanctifies women.
He displaced the prevailing style in ancient Arabic poetry, which was based on describing nature from the outside, and called for a new poetic style that represented the romantics’ vision of nature. He and his fellow romantics sanctified nature and saw in it a mother that embraced them and a refuge in which they found safety.
Meditate on the human soul and delve into it in order to uncover its secrets.
Artistic experience
Gibran studied many art schools, visited many art exhibitions, then created his own artistic style and produced many drawings that were sold as covers for published books or paintings that he presented at exhibitions.
On March 8, 1898, he opened the first private exhibition in which he displayed his plastic paintings in Boston.
In 1904, he held an exhibition of his drawings and paintings at the Fred Day studio in the same city.
On November 12, 1904, Gibran received a major shock when his forty paintings burned after he had participated in the Harko Stud exhibition.
In March 1905, he organized an exhibition of paintings filled with symbolism in Boston, which attracted many visitors and won the admiration of many critics.
During his visit to Paris (1908-1911), he succeeded in reaching the French capital's most famous annual exhibition, the Spring Exhibition, and was able to display a painting entitled Autumn.
After that, he prepared the paintings that were officially invited to be exhibited at the International Union of Fine Arts Exhibition in Paris.
Gibran's artistic experience was distinguished by the fact that most of his paintings depicted naked bodies, but not for the purpose of sexual arousal, as the nudity of his drawings resembled the nudity of the "bodies of angels" in ancient religious church paintings.
He reveals his philosophy in this regard by saying, “Life was created naked, and the naked body is its truest expression. If you see me drawing something, a mountain, a waterfall, or something else in the form of naked bodies, I mean that I see everything of this as part of naked life.”
"Pen League"
After his star shone in the worlds of literature and painting, his creativity continued after he moved to New York in 1912, where he became a destination for diaspora writers, with whom he founded the “Pen League” in 1920, and was its dean. It included: Mikhail Naima, William Katseflis, Nadra Haddad, Elijah Abu Madi, Wadih Bahout, Rashid Ayoub, Elias Atallah, Abdel Masih Haddad, and Naib Arida.
The association was concerned with encouraging Arabic books and literature, and its members published Arabic newspapers and newspapers in the diaspora, including:
Al-Funoun magazine, which was concerned with literature, was published by Nasib Arida.
"Al-Sayeh" newspaper, which was concerned with immigrants' affairs and was published by Abdel Masih Haddad.
“Al-Samir” magazine, whose publisher was Elijah Abu Madi, was devoted to Arab affairs in America.
This association helped Gibran Khalil Gibran greatly through its connections and fan base, and he was one of its most active members until it disintegrated in 1932, immediately after his death.
Gibran began his diverse creative path poor, seeking support and assistance, and he ended it having attained two riches: intellectual and moral wealth with a rich collection of books, poems, drawings, and plays, and a respectable social position, and material wealth from the proceeds of his diverse creative work, which generated huge sums of money that were the subject of a dispute in the courts between his heirs.
Members of the Pen League in 1920, including Gibran Khalil Gibran, second from left (University of Florida)
Writings and achievements
He wrote it
Among his most famous books written in Arabic are:
Brides of the Meadows (1906).
Rebellious Spirits (1908).
Broken Wings (1912).
A Tear and a Smile (1914).
The novel The Storms (1920).
Among his most famous books written in English are:
The Prophet (1923).
The Madman (1918).
Earth Gods (1931).
The Prophet's Garden (1933).
Jesus, Son of Man (1928).
Sand and Foam (1926).
His plays
Among his plays:
“Lazarus and His Beloved” (published in English in 1973).
"The Blind" (published in English in 1981).
“The Invisible Man” (published in Arabic in 1993).
“Between Night and Morning” (published in Arabic in 1993).
"Colored Faces" (published in Arabic in 1993).
“The Beginning of the Revolution” (published in Arabic in 1993).
“The King of the Country and the Shepherd of Sheep” (published in Arabic in 1993).
hair
Gibran Khalil Gibran left behind a large poetic legacy of more than a thousand poems on various topics that reflect his intellectual and philosophical orientations.
Among his most famous poems:
“Peace be upon Al-Quds Al-Sharif and those in it.”
“Turn around in your sky, O judge, for it will be affected.”
“I stood at the grave where you are descending.”
“Oh, the loss of an only child, I am amazed.”
"Al-Kinana Neighborhood the day after its independence."
"He cries over your youth."
A statue of Gibran Khalil Gibran in his memorial park on Massachusetts Avenue in Washington (Getty)
His fees
His painting productions are estimated at approximately 700 paintings, ranging from drawings to watercolor paintings, most of which were returned to Lebanon after his death. There are 440 paintings in the “Gibran Khalil Gibran Museum” in his hometown of Bcharre, in addition to original drawings and manuscripts.
Death
Gibran Khalil Gibran died in a New York hospital on April 10, 1931 due to tuberculosis and cirrhosis of the liver. He was buried in the Mont Benedict cemetery 3 days after his death, before his wish to be buried in Lebanon was fulfilled, where his remains were transferred on July 23, 1932, and he was buried in his hometown of Bcharre in what is known as the “Gibran Museum.”
He left a will that says: A word I want to be written on my grave: “I am alive like you, and I am standing next to you now, so close your eyes and turn around and you will see me in front of you”!
Source: websites