“There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.”
– Khalil Gibran
The best-selling American poet of the 20th century was an ethnic Arab who was born in a small Middle-Eastern village.
His name was Khalil Gibran and he came into the world on January 6th, 1883. His family were Maronite Christians who lived in poverty in what used to be Ottoman Syria and is now Lebanon.
As a child, he attended a one-room school. It was run by the village priest who taught Arabic, Syriac, and mathematics.
His parents raised him as a Christian but taught him tolerance. There was no religious prejudice in their home.
Growing up, Gibran loved both the King James Bible and the mysticism of the Sufi. As an adult, he also appreciated the English poet William Blake.
In 1895, his family moved to Massachusetts. However, 3 years later, Gibran returned to Lebanon to study Arabic literature and French in Beirut. He then studied in Paris before returning to the United States.
He became pivotal in the Romantic movement which transformed Arabic literature. Gibran’s writing was simple, direct, and spoke to the longings, isolation, and experiences of Middle Eastern immigrants.
He wrote his masterpiece, The Prophet, in Arabic before translating it into English. It was published in 1923. Gibran’s best known work, it has been translated into over 100 languages and is one of the best-selling books of all time.
Surprisingly, while most of us know Gibran due to his writing, he thought of himself mainly as an artist. Like his writing, there is a mystical quality to his art. It is evocative, symbolic, and pushes the boundaries between the physical and the spiritual.
The quote at the top of this article is from The Prophet. It is part of a larger stanza:
“There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward. And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism. And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue; They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.”
Reading this made me think. It made me wonder if this outlined Gibran’s own journey.
When Gibran gave of his beautiful words, — was he giving to us with joy, with pain, or as a flower gives fragrance? Was he able to give unconditionally?
If he did, though he came from a humble background, he gave as a whole, complete person.
I am fighting stage IV cancer. If you can help with medical bills, I would really appreciate it. Or if you enjoy my writing and would like to buy me a cup of coffee, that’s great too. Maybe someday I can return the favor.
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This post was previously published on Shefali O’Hara’s blog.
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