Gibran Kahlil Gibran - the inner eye of poesy
It is a veritable tryst of destiny that Kahlil Gibran never became an American citizen. He never belonged to any country, to no one. His was a free life lived by the breath of divinity; hence his words ring true to all Men and Women of every class, clime and status - A quintessential outsider to himself and society; dipping his poetic mind in the burning embers of inner solitude and fire, fructifying itself into some of the finest prose verses the language has ever seen or understood :- verses that direct ones fragile intellect into new directions, verses that cut through the heart like a gilded sword, verses that caress our souls like a gentle cool wind on a full moon night, verses that illumine the mundane with a light celestial, verses that act as a balm to hurt, famished lives whose destiny is to wander in doubt and perilous confusion. Such is the power of his writings, that even after nearly hundred years, they still reverberate in our hearts and minds as verses immortal. Let us then dip a little into Gibran’s masterpiece - The Prophet…
The clearest enunciation of Gibran’s notion of divinity are found in twenty six prose verses that constitute “The Prophet”. His was a God that was unnamed, formless, ever present - more of an inner sense of beatitude and grace reflecting itself in the mirror of the Universe; than any outward manifestation. Deeply versed in the esotericism of the Bible and the serene flamboyance of Sufism, Gibran pours out his heart, his philosophy, his life view in the magnificent setting of the Prophet. It is symbolical as well: The book starts with Alumustafa, the fictional mystic, sequestered in an Island for twelve years, and now waiting for the return of his ship to take him back. Like the Buddha, he is faced with a momentous decision of casting away his mortal concerns and plunge all at once into the eternal spirit; or to be waylaid by his fellow Islanders, who had nourished, sustained and given him the space to touch the truth within himself. He stands at the crossroads of existence: the pull of the infinite dragging him to its bosom; and the compassionate, love infused faces of his adopted land beckoning him to stay. Almitra, the seeress breaks the dilemma for him. She intuits the cosmic need for him to withdraw and dissolve, but then humbly requests the vacillating Prophet to address a few questions for his people, to share his wisdom on the conduct of daily life. And thus begins the wonderful insights of the mystic, pouring out spontaneously like a fountain, refreshing every aspect of Human endeavor from birth to Death; Joy to sorrow, Reason to passion, friendship and prayer, Good and evil, eating and drinking - all of these, tethered to the infinite center that dwells as life in us.
Gibran’s God is daily life and living. Rooted to the present and complete acceptance of one’s vocation is the cornerstone of his vision. Hear him on religion:
‘Who can separate his faith from his actions, or his belief from his occupations?
Who can spread his hours before him, saying, "This for God and this for myself;
This for my soul, and this other for my body?"
All your hours are wings that beat through space from self to self. ‘
Or on Death:
‘And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?
Only when you drink form the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.’
Verse after Verse of such limitless depth and profundity. Gibran was an artist, and to such a one every aspect of life throbs with grace and beauty. In his brief forty eight years if mortal existence, he allowed life to penetrate him without a hindrance, and his physical form danced to the tunes of Universal music bringing forth Sketches, paintings, letters, poems and stories that captured life in its different hues. His faith and religion was a convergence of different influences and he tied them together in a unity that goes beyond dogmatic and theological interpretations... He knew that words cannot do justice to the deep feelings that coursed through his veins, yet he continued to express. In his most notable statement on his own writings Gibran says: - “Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it so that the other half may reach you". Such was the humility of the man.
God bless….
The clearest enunciation of Gibran’s notion of divinity are found in twenty six prose verses that constitute “The Prophet”. His was a God that was unnamed, formless, ever present - more of an inner sense of beatitude and grace reflecting itself in the mirror of the Universe; than any outward manifestation. Deeply versed in the esotericism of the Bible and the serene flamboyance of Sufism, Gibran pours out his heart, his philosophy, his life view in the magnificent setting of the Prophet. It is symbolical as well: The book starts with Alumustafa, the fictional mystic, sequestered in an Island for twelve years, and now waiting for the return of his ship to take him back. Like the Buddha, he is faced with a momentous decision of casting away his mortal concerns and plunge all at once into the eternal spirit; or to be waylaid by his fellow Islanders, who had nourished, sustained and given him the space to touch the truth within himself. He stands at the crossroads of existence: the pull of the infinite dragging him to its bosom; and the compassionate, love infused faces of his adopted land beckoning him to stay. Almitra, the seeress breaks the dilemma for him. She intuits the cosmic need for him to withdraw and dissolve, but then humbly requests the vacillating Prophet to address a few questions for his people, to share his wisdom on the conduct of daily life. And thus begins the wonderful insights of the mystic, pouring out spontaneously like a fountain, refreshing every aspect of Human endeavor from birth to Death; Joy to sorrow, Reason to passion, friendship and prayer, Good and evil, eating and drinking - all of these, tethered to the infinite center that dwells as life in us.
Gibran’s God is daily life and living. Rooted to the present and complete acceptance of one’s vocation is the cornerstone of his vision. Hear him on religion:
‘Who can separate his faith from his actions, or his belief from his occupations?
Who can spread his hours before him, saying, "This for God and this for myself;
This for my soul, and this other for my body?"
All your hours are wings that beat through space from self to self. ‘
Or on Death:
‘And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?
Only when you drink form the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.’
Verse after Verse of such limitless depth and profundity. Gibran was an artist, and to such a one every aspect of life throbs with grace and beauty. In his brief forty eight years if mortal existence, he allowed life to penetrate him without a hindrance, and his physical form danced to the tunes of Universal music bringing forth Sketches, paintings, letters, poems and stories that captured life in its different hues. His faith and religion was a convergence of different influences and he tied them together in a unity that goes beyond dogmatic and theological interpretations... He knew that words cannot do justice to the deep feelings that coursed through his veins, yet he continued to express. In his most notable statement on his own writings Gibran says: - “Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it so that the other half may reach you". Such was the humility of the man.
God bless….
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