Written Works

Mikhaʼil Nuʻaymah [Mikhail Naimy], Jubran Khalil Jubran: hayatuhu, mawtuhu, adabuhu, fannuhu [Kahlil Gibran: His Life, Death, Literature and Art], Bayrut: Matbaʻat Lisan al-Hal, 1934.

Night and the Madman (From "The Madman"), The Seven Arts, November, 1916, pp. 32-33.

Nubdha fi Fan al-Musiqa [The Music], New York: Al-Mohajer, 1905 [owned by Mary Elizabeth Haskell; inscribed by the Author].

A short ode to the art of music, it is the first book published by the author. He begins by comparing music to the speech of his beloved, opening the dialogue to how music was worshiped by civilizations of the past and concludes with short poetic descriptions of four modes of Middle Eastern music. 

On Giving and Taking, The Syrian World, 5, 2, October 1930, p. 38 [digitized by the Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA].

On the Art of Writing, The Syrian World, 4, 9, May 1930, p. 26 [digitized by the Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA].

Percy MacKaye, Saint Louis: A Civic Masque, Frontispiece Portrait of Percy MacKaye by Kahlil Gibran, New York: Doubleday Press, 1920.

Poems from the Arabic (The Two Hermits, My Friend, The Three Ants, God), The Seven Arts, May, 1917, pp. 64-67.

Qabla al-Intihar: Safhah Matwiyah min Dafatir Haffar al-Qubur al-Qadimah [Short Story], al-Funun 1, no. 5 (August 1913), p. 1-3 [digitized by the Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA].

Qard al-Hurriyah [Essay], al-Umam wa-Dhawatuha [Essay], al-Funun 3, no. 8 (August 1918), pp. v-ix; 561-5 [digitized by the Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA].

Rasaʼil Jubran [Letters of Kahlil Gibran], Introduction by Jamil Jabr, Beirut: Manshurat Maktabat Bayrut, 1951.

Ruju' al-Habib [The Return of the Beloved], Ayyuha al-Fan [An Ode to the Art], Az-Zouhour, 1, 4, June 1910, pp. 141-145; 1, 5, July 1910, pp. 193-195.

The monthly journal Az-Zouhour ("Flowers") was published in Cairo from 1910 until 1913. Altogether, 40 issues exist. The editor Antoun J. Gemayel (1887-1948) did already participate in the publication of the Beirutian newspaper al-Bashir (1870-1947) and the Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram (1875-today). Literature and art were the main focus whereat the journal mainly tried to support young authors and to improve the relationship between arab writers from different regions. In addition Az-Zouhour wanted to keep the balance between European and contemporary Arabic literature like some other later popular journals. Beside literary criticism, book reviews and news about the literary life in Egypt, the authors stand up for the establishment and enhancement of the egyptian theatre. Az-Zouhour was the first journal to publish in its series a play of Shakespeare, Julius Caesar. Until the cut-off in 1913 the journal organized numerous writing competitions which helped to achieve more popularity. Eventually Az-Zouhour was able to add a significant contribution to the Egyptian literary life.

Ru’ya [Short Story], al-Hasan ibn Hani al-Mulaqqab bi-Abi Nuwas [Drawing], Ya Nafs [Poem], al-Funun 2, no. 1 (June 1916), pp. 1-3; 65; 70-71 [digitized by the Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA].

An-Nashi’a (The New Generation) was a comprehensive monthly literary magazine dedicated to the advancement of scientific and cultural life in post-World War I Iraq. After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in that war, Iraq was placed under a League of Nations mandate administered by the British. In 1921, a monarchy was established, and the country went on to gain independence from Britain in 1932. An-Nashi’a was founded at the beginning of the monarchy, and its first editorial declared that the new publication was a response to the needs of the new nation. Only three issues (called parts) appeared before An-Nashi’a ceased publication. The magazine was owned by Ibrahim Salih; its editor-in-chief was Hassan al-Bayati. Each issue started with long essays on a wide range of issues covering literature, science, arts, philosophy, history, new discoveries, lifestyle, and other news and anecdotes from around the world, especially from America. Examples of topics covered included the value of learning; sea life, minerals, and other resources; poets and poems; lessons from history, which cited Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar; sports, and particularly how American newspapers dedicated many pages on a daily basis to news about sports; the “don’ts” of social etiquette; and “immortal words,” a collection of wisdom attributed to figures from around the world, including George Washington. Overall, the magazine had a progressive and worldly air, although it remained anchored in Arabic culture. The last page was typically “from management” and was dedicated to correcting typographical errors, with apologies to the readers. In addition to the owner and the editor-in-chief, contributing writers included some of the leading pan-Arab intellectuals at that time, such as Iraqi Kurdish poet and philosopher Jamīl Ṣidqi Zahawi, Egyptian writer and essayist Mustafa Lutfi Manfaluti, Turkish-Egyptian poet Waliy ud-Deen Yakun, and Lebanese-American writer and artist Kahlil Gibran.

Salma Sa'igh, Suwar wa-dhikrayat [Images and Memories], Sao Paolo, Brazil, 1946 [digitized by the Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA].

In 1926 Gibran published Sand and Foam. It comprises about three hundred aphorisms of two to a dozen lines, generally written in the style of The Prophet. Sand and Foam is decorated with Gibran’s drawings, and the aphorisms are separated by floral dingbats also drawn by Gibran. Some scholars consider this book the off cuts of The Prophet, written on various materials from match box cartons and napkins whenever inspiration would take hold.

Ṭansī Zakkā, "Mīn Nu'aymah wa Jubrān", Beirut: Matbaʻat al-Ma'rifah, 1988.

Tears and Laughter, Translated from the Arabic by Anthony R. Ferris, Edited by Martin L. Wolf, New York: Philosophical Library, 1947.

The Astronomer (From the Drama, "The Madman"), On Giving and Taking (From the Drama, "The Madman"), The Seven Arts, January, 1917, pp. 236-237.

In 1920 Knopf published 'The Forerunner: His Parables and Poems.' It begins with a prologue in which the narrator says that each person is his or her own forerunner. Among the twenty-three parables are one in which a king abandons his kingdom for the forest; another in which a saint meets a brigand and confesses to committing the same sins as the bandit; and a third in which a weathercock complains because the wind always blows in his face. The volume closes with a speech, “The Last Watch,” presumably by the Forerunner, addressing the people of a sleeping city. The bitterness of the wartime writings of the years is largely gone, replaced by an ethereal love and pity for humanity that foreshadows Gibran’s later work.