Biography of Kahlil Gibran - Case Study Example

Biography of Kahlil Gibran Kahlil Gibran was a Lebanese American artist and he is considered as the third most admired poet in record. More so, he is one of the most successful Arab American writers globally. Gibran was born in 1883 as Gibran Khalil Gibran in the town of Bsharri, which is known as Lebanon in the contemporary world. His father was Khalil ben Gibran and Kamila Rahmeh, who was the daughter of a Maronite priest, was his mother and his siblings were Peter, Mariana and Sultana, and the family was part of the Maronite Catholic Church. Because of his family’s insufficiency, Gibran did not obtain formal education during his youth, but the local priests taught him Arabic and Syriac and the bible (Layton 13). Although he was born in an underdeveloped and deprived family, Gibran worked hard to achieve his ambition and this enabled him to become of the most famous artists in the world. This essay explores the life of Kahlil Gibran, his early life, work, death and legacy. In 1891, Gibran’s father was detained and jailed for fraud and as a result, the authorities took control of the family property and this even left the family poorer. Thereafter, Gibran and his family moved to the U.S. After his father’s release in 1895, his mother was still determined not to return back to Lebanon and so she moved to New York taking with her, Gibran and his siblings. They settled in Boston’s South End, which was the second largest Lebanese American community in the United States (Maleh 75). Gibran attended Quincy school in 1895 and was placed in a special class for immigrants in order to learn English, and here is where he was mistakenly registered as Kahlil Gibran (Oweis 135). Gibran joined an art school at a nearby settlement house, and his teachers introduced him to one of the artists, photographer and publisher called Fred Holland. Fred was optimistic with his efforts and so he gave him enough support and helped him to pursue his dreams. His support for Gibran’s creative efforts was seen when he included some of his drawings on his book covers in 1898. Gibran’s mother and brother were not comfortable with his effort to learn the Western culture. Therefore, they pushed him to go back to his motherland and learn his own culture and heritage and at fifteen years, went back home and studied at a Maronite-run preparatory school and higher education institute in Beirut known as Al-Hikma. In 1902, he returned to Boston but was faced with many challenges as his younger sister died of tuberculosis two weeks before he arrived. A year later, his brother died of the same disease and mother died of cancer (Oweis 135). He only remained with his sister, Marianna who never stopped to work hard to support herself and her brother, Gibran. In 1904, Khalil held his first art exhibition of his drawings in Boston at Fred’s studio where he met Mary Elizabeth Haskell (McCullough 184). The two became best friends until his death, and Haskell played a significant role in his personal and professional life. She gave Gibran enough support and introduced him to other useful friends who supported him in his art and poetry career. In 1908, Gibran travelled to Paris to study art and he spent two years there. Notably, Gibran’s previous works were not written in English but in his own language after 1918, he began to write his works in English. Gibran helped in establishing and leading the New York Pen League, famous as the immigrant poets, which mainly addressed the cultural diversity in literature works. In this league, there were also other famous Lebanese American authors including Mikhail Naimy and Ameen Rihani among others (Layton 15). Mikhail Naimy was among the best Arabic literature writers and she was one of Gibran’s close friends. Most of Gibran’s writings dealt with spiritual and visionary themes specifically using Christian imagery. More so, in his works, Gibran used formal language and provided brief hints of topics of life using spiritual terms. The Prophet was one of the most famous books of Gibran and it was published in 1923 (McCullough 184). It served as a good example of motivating literature and Gibran incorporated many essays written in poetic English prose. Notably, The Prophet comprised of twenty-six poetic essays and it was one of the most popular books during the 1960s. In this book, Gibran addressed a series of universal issues including good and evil, and the essence and meaning of human existence among others (İmanquliyeva 190). Since its first publication, there have been several translations of this book in more than forty languages. In addition, this was one of the bestselling books during the 20th C in the U.S. Because of this, Gibran was recognized as one of the best-selling poets in history. Overall, many people were proud of him especially those individuals from Arabic region mainly because of his inspirational work. More so, his fame and work extended beyond the Arab world and he was recognized as the most important figures in literature and art. Politically, Gibran was not a politician and he considered the whole world his homeland and everybody his fellow citizens. Gibran supported and wanted Arabic to be adopted as Syria’s national language. He admired `Abdul-Bahá mainly because of his teachings on peace and supported the idea that nations like Syria be freed from Ottoman control. This motivated him to write another famous poem called Pity the Nation. When the Ottoman finally set Syria free, Gibran’s happiness was manifested in a sketch known as Free Syria. More so, Gibran expressed great hope for national independence and this showed how he believed in Syrian nationalism. Khalil Gibran died in 1931 in New York City after a long struggle of being terminally ill with tuberculosis and liver cirrhosis and it was believed that the disease was because of his excessive drinking habit. He was buried in Lebanon upon his wish in 1932 as “Mary Haskell and his sister Mariana arranged for his burial in Mar Sarkis Monastery in Lebanon which has since become the Gibran Museum” (Layton 14). In his will, the content of his studio was given to Haskell and in the studio; she discovered the letters she had written to Gibran and those that he had written to her. After identifying their historical value, she kept them and decided to donate them to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library before she passed away in 1964. The excerpts of over six hundred letter were published in Beloved Prophet in 1972. Haskell also donated her personal art collection to the Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah, Georgia (Oweis 135). Again, in his will, Gibran noted that his hometown of Bsharri be given the future American royalties to his books to and he said should be used for good causes. In conclusion, Kahlil Gibran remains one of the popular Arab American writers in the world, and he been ranked third as the most popular poet in history. Although Gibran failed to receive formal education because his family was poor, the local priests taught him Arabic and Syriac and the Bible. Later on, he relocated to the United States where he went to school and developed his literary career. He was mistakenly registered as Kahlil Gibran and he decided to use this thenceforth. Notably, most of his writings were about spirituality particularly on Christianity. The Prophet is one of his famous writings and it was one of the bestselling books in the U.S during that era and it make Gibran famous as the best-selling poet in history. His work made him popular as one of the most significant figures in the field of literature and art. He died at the age of forty-eight in New York after long-suffering from tuberculosis and liver cirrhosis. Works Cited İmanquliyeva, Aida N. Gibran, Rihani & Naimy: East-west Interactions in Early Twentieth-Century Arab Literature. Oxford: Inner Farne Press, 2009. Print. Layton, Rebecca. Arab-american and Muslim Writers. New York: Chelsea House, 2010. Print. Maleh, Layla. Arab Voices in Diaspora: Critical Perspectives on Anglophone Arab Literature. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2009. Print. McCullough, Hollis K. Telfair Museum of Art: Collection Highlights. Savannah, Ga: Telfair Museum of Art, 2005. Print. Oweis, Fayeq. Encyclopedia of Arab American Artists. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2008. Print. Read More