T H E CYBERNETICS OF LOVE: A STUDY OF KAHLIL GIBRAN THESIS SUBMITTED T O T H E UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT FOR T H E DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DIVYA JOHN RESEARCH CENTRE T H E DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH VIMALA COLLEGE THRISSUR 680 009 2007 CONTENTS The Cybernetics of Love: A Study of Kahlil Gibran Page No. Title Page Contents Declaration Certificate Preface Acknowledgements Kahlil Gibran: A Profile Chapter I Introduction 9 Kahlil Gibran: A Heart and Mind in the Workshop i) Arabic Literature down the Ages ii) Life and Works of Gibran and Works on Gibran iii) 'Love' from Gibran's Perspective iv) 'The Cybernetics of Love' from Gibran's Perspective v) From a Psychobiographical Perspective vi) The Chapters in Perspective Chapter I1 Before The Prophet Nymphs of the Valhy Spirits Rebellious The Broken Wings The Madman The Forerunner Chapter I11 The Prophet Chapter IV After The Prophet Sand and Foam Jeszrs, the Son of Man The Earth Gods The Wanderer The Garden of the Prophet Chapter V Conclusion 260 A Psychobiographical Reading of Gibran's Cybernetics of Love Works Cited 312 VIMALA COLLEGE THRISSUR 680 009 DECLARATION I, DIVYA JOHN, hereby declare that this dissertation, T H E CYBERNETICS O F LOVE: A STUDY OF KAHLIL GIBRAN has not previously formed the basis for the award of any degree, diploma, associateship, fellowship or other similar title or recognition. DIVYA JOHN Research Scholar Thrissur 03.03.2007 Department of English Vimala College VIMALA COLLEGE THRISSUR 680 009 CERTIFICATE This is to certify that this dissertation entitled T H E CYBERNETICS OF LOVE: A STUDY O F KAHLIL GIBRAN, is a record of the original studies and research carried out by DIVYA JOHN, Research Scholar, Department of English, Vimala College, Thrissur 680 009 (Calicut University), under my guidance and supervision and submitted to the University of Calicut in partial fulfilment of the requirements for Ph. D. in English Language and Literature. Dr. Sr. ~leopatka, Ph.D. Thrissur 03.03.2007 M. A. S. D., A. M., (Notre Dame, Indiana) Research Guide Research Centre Vimala College PREFACE The work of Kahlil Gibran I first chanced upon was The Prophet in the family bookshelf. The illustrations in i t embarrassed the adolescent in me. I remember glancing slyly at a few pages and then keeping it aside. Later, as a teenager, I found Gibran's novel The Broken Wings on my dining table in a gift pack. I read it at one sitting, weeping profusely over the pain of pleasure and the pleasure of pain the book provided. Suddenly the name "Kahlil Gibran" alighted on a forgotten corner of my memory. I rushed back to the old bookshelf and pulled out The Prophet, and read it page after page. I did not fathom the depth of the words then, but the feel o f i t was good , as much as I grasped. I was s o enthra l led by some o f the sentences t h a t la ter when I thought of research, I could not think of any other author. However, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge after my preliminary thesis was submitted. I was fortunate enough to visit several libraries abroad: the University of Cambridge, the University of New Castle Upon Tyne, Leeds Metropolitan University and, above all, the Bodleian Library at Oxford University. These libraries were visited immediately after the series of bomb blasts that rocked UK in June 2005. T h e search fo r material o n an Arabic p o e t by an Asian Research Scholar in UK dur ing t h a t per iod , was n o t a comfortable experience. Yet the venture was carried out with courage and perseverance. I was able t o collect a lot of material of Gibran and on Gibran. Regarding the author of study, one desire remains to be fulfilled: t o visit the Mar-Sarkis turned Museum at Lebanon where lay the remains of the great poet-painter-philosopher. DIVYA J O H N "You are the first Eastern storm to sweep this country, and what a number of flowers it has brought!" American President Woodrow Wilson ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS With immense joy and satisfaction, I hereby acknowledge my indebtedness and sincere gratitude to: Dr. Sr. Cleopatra, Research Guide, Research Centre, Vimala College, Thrissur, and also my Supervisor and Guide, for her genuine interest in me and her invaluable guidance far beyond the call of duty. Since a child, I had known her and loved her but my experience of her as a Research Guide is one of awe and admiration for one who has attained enviable intellectual, emotional and spiritual heights. I hereby record my obligation for all that she has been to me in the past and the present, and for her continued spiritual guidance in the future. Rev. Sr. Rose Dheera, former Principal, Vimala College, for her love and care, and for appointing me as a Guest lecturer and then as a staff on F. I. P. vacancy, which enabled me to pursue my research. Rev. Sr. Lekha, Principal, Vimala College, for her earnestness in encouraging me, and for giving me all the help required. Dr. Joycemol Mathew, Reader and Head of the Dept. of English, for her silent concern, and for being with me in spirit, in times of need. The staff of the Dept. of English, Vimala College, my dear teachers and later, my colleagues, for their encouragement. Rev. Sr. Annie Felix and the other staff of the library for their cooperation in making the library a home for me. The University of Calicut, especially the staff of the College Development Council, for granting me registration, and for their timely action at every stage of my research. Mrs. Omana Girijan, Fast Computers, Tiroor, Thrissur, for her patience and desire for perfection. Madan Mathew, my husband, for all the hardships he went through with pleasure to take me to the university libraries at Oxford, Cambridge, Leeds, New Castle Upon Tyne and others, and for helping me to collect the relevant material for my study. Access to these libraries, abounding with primary, secondary and tertiary material, would not have been materialized without his assistance. I hereby record my thanks to him for making this study possible on time. 03.03.2007 Divya John CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION KAHLIL GIBRAN: A HEART AND MIND I N T H E WORKSHOP Arabic Literature down the Ages Arabic and Persian languages evolved into the medium of expression in many Muslim nations because the classical literature of Islam was written chiefly in these two languages. Hence the growth of Arabic and Persian classical literature corresponds with the growth of Islam before the Mongol invasion. Islamic literature in the Turkish language began in the post-Mongol period and has a history of only five centuries. Yet, Turkish dialects are spoken in the major part of the Islamic world. Obviously Turkish literature influenced tremendously the thinhng of the Near East for the last three hundred years. Therefore, there are three main Islamic languages now: Arabic, Persian and Turkish. Arabic, a Semitic language, replaced the pre-Islamic Himyaritic tongue in the southern part of Arabia toward the end of the fifth century AD. Classical Arabic, the language of the Koran and the spoken language of many nations, consists of twenty-eight characters adapted from the Aramaic, which has its origin in the Phoenician alphabet. Arabic literature may be divided into five periods: The first is the pre-Islamic period of a hundred and fifty years ending with the advent of Mohammed in AD 610. The second is the early Islamic period of the Prophet and the Koran and the Umayyad Empire. This period ends with the fall of the Umayyads in AD 750. The third, the Abbasid period, is the glorious age of Islamic civilization and Arabic literature. This period ends with the fall of Baghdad and its capture by the Mongol hordes of Hulagu in 1258. The fourth period, a comparatively unproductive one, with only a few great writers ends in the middle of the nineteenth century. The fifth period witnessed the renaissance of Arabic literature or An-Nahda. It dawned in the middle of the nineteenth century owing to the influence of Western literature, and continues to the present day (Ullah 4-5). An-Nahda, or the renaissance of Arabic literature, was influenced by the Catholic Church. The Maronite sect of Lebanon had continuous relations with the Catholic Church of France and Rome. This relationship was religious at first, but it became cultural and intellectual towards the end of the eighteenth century. The French expedition to Egypt and the Near East in 1798 had already introduced the Western cultural influence. The printing press too had existed in Syria from the beginning of the eighteenth century but its introduction in Egypt by Napoleon Bonaparte's army marked a real rebirth. At this stage An-Nahda was noted for two characteristics: (1) the introduction of new ideas and new methods (2) the revival of the legacy of the past (173). The former demanded innovation, and the latter followed tradition. In the first half of the nineteenth century after the withdrawal of the French forces, some scholars aimed at a widespread education of the Arabs. An Egyptian scholar, Hassan al-'Arrar (d. 1834) founded a hall for European lectures. He later became the rector of the oldest Islamic university. This university in Cairo is also the oldest existing university in the world. Mohammed Ali, the founder of the last royal dynasty of Egypt, established new schools of medicine on Western style and translated European works. The European and American missionaries in Syria favoured the new schools. A Lebanese scholar, Butrus al-Bustani (1819-83) established one of the first national schools and published the first Arabic magazine, Al-Jinan. During the nineteenth century, the American College of Beirut became the American University, and the French Jesuit Fathers established "The University of St. Joseph" in Beirut and "The Egyptian University of Cairo" in Egypt. Libraries were built, and from 1850 onwards literary, scientific and political societies were founded. Many individuals and families of Syria were forced to emigrate to Europe and America because of the political and economic conditions. Some of these emigrant scholars and writers introduced a great revolution in Arabic literature. After 1870, the flow of emigration increased, and the Syrians who settled in North America, founded a new school of literature. In fact, there were three groups among them. One was strongly attached to the old styles of literature and allergic to new ideas. The second, indulged in a superficial imitation of Western models. The third hoped to develop Arabic literature through the methods of modern European culture. In course of time, the third school triumphed over the other two. Side by side, the national consciousness of the Arabs was aroused and they began to desire freedom and equality in comparison with the Ottoman Turks and the Europeans. The Arabic literary movement became active from 1880. The Egyptians were more concerned with scientific works, and the Syrians with literary productions. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the entry of British troops into Egypt increased Western influence. During this time, a number of Lebanese and Syrian poets and writers came to Egypt and established their periodicals. The representatives of this period were Mohammed 'Abduh (d. 1905) an Islamic reformer, Jirji Zaydan (d. 1914) who introduced the historical novel, and AI-Manfaluti (1876-1924) who adapted several European literary works in Arabic versions and became the great master of modern Arabic prose. Egypt became the centre of Arab nationalism after World War I. Thus, modern Arabic literature passed on to Egypt. The People's Party was founded, and its voice, Al-Jarida (The Gaxette) was published under the editorship of Ahmad Lutfi al-Sayyed. M. H. Haykal founded the daily Al-Sbasa to express political views. The general trend in Egypt was to revive classical Arabic literature and to introduce the European methods of criticism for its study. A major desire of this period was the publication of works concerning the freedom of the Arab lands. Both in the Arab world and among those who migrated to other countries, there were many poets who wrote Arabic poetry in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In the beginning there was a natural return to the classical style of pre-Islamic Arabia and the golden age of the Abbasids. The return to ancient classics was similar to the return of the European scholars of the Renaissance to their Greco-Roman past. In Syria, Nasif al-Yaziji (1 800-71) revived the classical style of Arabic poetry while the poet Francis Marrash (1836-73) adopted a modern philosophical and pessimistic style. In Iraq, Al-Faruqi (1789-1861), AI-Akhras(1805-73) and Ibrahim al-Tabataba'i (1832-1901) followed the style of the Abbasids. Iraq gave birth to two other great modern poets - Jamil Sidqi al-Zahawi (1863-1936) who wrote exquisite philosophical poems free from classical rules, and Ma'ruf al-Rusafi (1 873-1 945) whose poems were written in the classical style. In Egypt, Mahmud Sami al-Barudi (1839-1904) and Isma'il Sabri (1 884-1 923) practized the Abbasid style while Ahmad Shawqi (1868-1932), known as the poet of princes and the prince of poets, introduced new ideas in the old classical forms. Hafiz Ibrahim (1871-1932) called "The Poet of the Nile" was a man of the masses. His eloquent and masterly poems in classical style, deal with the political and social problems of his time. Khalil Matran (1872-1949), Syrian in origin, lived in Egypt, and composed lyrical poetry in new forms and styles, breahng the strict rules of classical prosody. Abdul Muhsin Kazemi (1870- 1935) of Iraqian origin, also lived in Egypt, and wrote about the contemporary events in Egypt in a novel and yet classical Arabic style. In America, the emigrant Arab poets experienced a free atmosphere. Animated by their national consciousness and Arabic culture, they introduced unique ideas and forms to Arabic literature. Among them are Aminal-Rayhani (1876-1940)' Jibran Khalil Jibran (1 883-1 931), Mikha'il Nu'ayma (b. 1889) and Ibiya Abu Madi. These poets were born in Lebanon and later migrated to the United States of America. Ahmad Zaki Abu Shadi (1892- 1955), an Egyptian, also migrated to the US. The Arab emigrant poets in Latin America, Ilyas Farhat (b. 1893) and the Mayaluf brothers lived in Brazil. The modern lyrical poems of the Arabs are considered the wealth of modern times. Of these, the most notable is Jibran Khalrl Jibran, the Lebanese-American philosophical essayist, novelist, mystical poet and artist whose works influenced American popular culture. He illustrated a number of his books with his drawings. He believed that if a sensible way of living and thinking could be found, people would have mastery over their lives. The freethinking "hippy era" of the 1960's saw a resurgence of interest in his works and he has remained popular since. I1 Life and Works of Gibran and Works on Gibran Life of Gibran Jibran Khalil Jibran (1883-1931) whose name is now spelt, 'Kahlil Gibran' is hailed as 'The Immortal Prophet of Lebanon,' 'The Savant of His Age,' 'The Mystic,' 'The Philosopher,' 'The Religious,' 'The Heretic,' 'The Serene,' 'The Rebellious' and 'The Ageless.' Such an accumulation of contradictory characteristics appears possible for a man whose books The Prophet and The Broken Wings have been on the international best-seller list for more than half a century. Moreover, The Prophet has been translated into more than a hundred languages. Gibran wrote in two languages - in Arabic for the Arabic world and in English for the Western world. His admirers have translated his Arabic works into English, and his English works into Arabic. If the West has been seeking practical solutions to its problems through science, the Arabic-speaking countries have longed to look at life in poetic and philosophical terms. Consequently, Arabic writers have felt a freedom of expression that may be envied by Western writers. The recent interest in Arabic writing has revealed Gibran as the finest in Oriental literature and as a poet every person should be acquainted with. In Bisharri, a mountainous area in North Lebanon, Jibran Khalil Jibran was born to the Maronite Christian family of Khalil Jibran and Kamileh Rahmeh. Young Jibran was the first child of his father but the second of his mother. Jibran's mother had a son named Boutros (Peter) from her first marriage. At the age of two (1885) and four (1887) his sisters Marianna and Sultanah were born. At five, he went to a village priest to learn Arabic, Syriac and Arithmetic. When he was eleven, his father was accused of tax evasion and jailed and so his mother and the four children migrated to Boston for a livelihood. Peter opened a small shop, the family's only source of income while Jibran joined the Quincy School in Boston. The English teacher there anglicised and abbreviated his name to "Kahlil Gibran" to make it more amenable to Americans. At twelve, he began to learn English. At thirteen, Gibran discovered Denison House, an establishment in Boston that encouraged artistic creativity among the emigrant and slum children. That very year he was introduced to the Bostonian artist-photographer, Fred Holland D ay, who was then experimenting with photography. It is said that Gibran was photographed in various postures, some in the nude, for the esoteric artist's study purposes. At fourteen, Gibran was sent back to Lebanon to attend the high school in Beirut in order to study Arabic, French, religion, and ethics. When he was nineteen, his younger sister Sultanah died of tuberculosis and he returned to Boston. Days after, Peter, his half-brother, died of tuberculosis and his mother, Kamileh, of cancer. Gibran found consolation in the company of his sister Marianna and a young Bostonian poet and intellectual, Josephine Peabody, for whom he developed a romantic fondness. Hardly twenty-one, Gibran held a picture exhibition at Fred Holland Day's Studio. This paved the way for his meeting with Mary Haskell, an American school headmistress, in Boston. She encouraged him to accept her financial aid and to go abroad for study. She also assisted him to write in English. At twenty-three he had an affair with a pianist, Gertrude Barrie, but at the age of twenty-five he began his two-year stay in Paris, sponsored by Mary Haskell. He studied painting and was influenced by the school of symbolism. At twenty-seven, back in Boston, his romance with Mary deepened but she withdrew fearing the society. Gibran joined Golden Links Society of Arab-American writers, and at the age of twenty-eight began writing in English. The same year he met Yeats and drew a picture of him. Though impressed by the drawing Yeats criticized him for his hyper- nationalism. The following year he published in New York, The Broken Wings, his only novel, in Arabic. Side by side, he began correspondence with the Syrian Egyptian intellectual and writer, May Ziadah, and then moved to New York for good. At thirty, Gibran met Car1 Jung and was introduced to Jungian philosophy. The following year he exhibited his paintings at Montross Gallery on Fifth Avenue and it became a rare success. This was quite unexpected for most galleries had resisted his work on grounds of excessive nudity and modernism. Three years later, famine ravaged the Levant and Gibran's feelings of Syrian nationalism and his resentment of Ottoman rule grew. He raised relief funds in the U.S. for the starving thousands. At thirty-five, he published The Madman (1918) in English which inaugurated a new literary career. In 1920, he published The Foremnner. The same year he met Rabindranath Tagore and discussed with him the progress of technology in America. At the age of forty, he published The Prophet (1923). The same year Mary Haskell moved to Savannah Georgia and thus went out of Gibran's life. She married Col. Jacob Florance Minis. In 1926, Gibran published Sand and Foam, a collection of parables, poems and aphorisms and in 1928, Jestrs, the Son of Man, an attempt at portraying Jesus as a strong and convincing personality like Almustapha of The Propbet. The same year he became friendly with Barbara Young. He had begun to show signs of ill health from 1923 but he pursued his painting and writing and also drinlang heavily side by side until his death. He is said to have suffered from cirrhosis of the liver and tuberculosis in one of the lungs. His body was returned to Lebanon and laid in the chapel of Mar Sarkis, an old monastery carved in a rock near Bisharri. Two of Gibran's works were published in New York posthumously - The Wanderer (1932) and The Garden of the Prophet (1933). Gibran had completed the former work but the latter was completed by Mrs. Barbara Young. Works of Gibran Gibran's works were written either in Arabic or in English origin ally. Works originally written in Arabic On Mtlsic 1905 (Nubdab j? Fan al-Musiqa) Nymphs of the Valley 1906 (Ara 'is a/-Mumj) Spirits Rebellious 1908 (Al-A& al-Mutamarridah) The Broken Wings 1 9 1 2 (Al-Ajnihah a/-Mutamarridab) Tears and Latlghter 1914 (Dam 'ab wa-lbtisamah) The Procession 19 19 (Al-Mawakib) Works Originally Written in English The Madman: His Parables and Poems (1 9 1 8) The Forerunner: His Parables and Poems (1920) The Prophet (1 923) Sand and Foam (1 926) Jesus, the Son o f Man (1 928) Works Published Posthumously The Earth Gods (1931) The Wanderer: His Parables and SaJyings (1 932) The Garden of the Prophet (1933) Laxaru~ and His Beloved (1 933) On 10 April 1931, The New York San announced in its obituary, "A Prophet is Dead." Nevertheless, the readers knew for sure that he would live in the hearts and minds of his readers. Elvis Presley, a big fan of Gibran, gave away thousands of copies of The Prophet as a keepsake. During the twentieth century, The Prophet was America's second best-selling book, beaten only by The Holy Bible. Works on Gibran Though The Prophet has been an inspiration to millions throughout the English-speaking world, it is considered neither pure literature nor pure philosophy. As an Arab work, written in English, it belongs to a recent tradition: 'Literature in English.' Studies on Gibran did not exist during his lifetime. The first notable anthology of his primary and secondary sources appeared in Brazil in 1932 under the title Jttbran H&an wa Mqetan (Gibran in his we and Death) by Habib Mas'oud. In 1934, three years after his death, Mikhail Naimy, Gibran's close friend and colleague, published an Arabic biography Jzcbran Kahlil Jzcbran, which was translated into English in 1950 under the title Kahlil Gibran: His Life and His Works. However, this biography is considered neither authoritative nor objective. The first English biography, This Man from Lebanon: A Study of Kahlil Gibran, was published by Barbara Young in 1945. A devotee who edited his work during his last years, she took it on herself to deify Gibran. Anyway, her book remained the only study in English for the next eighteen years. The first serious critical analysis of Gibran was done in 1963 by Khalil S. Hawi whose doctoral dissertation from Cambridge University was published as Kahlil Gibran: His Background, Character and Works. Hawi did not have access to the letters from and to Gibran and yet he could present a credible evaluation because he had recourse to English and Arabic sources as well. Studies on Gibran started a new phase in 1970 when under the patronage of the President of Lebanon, The First Gibran International Festival, was held at the American University of Beirut. The festival produced an anthology of his writings in both English and Arabic in a bilingual and bicultural context, together with a comprehensive bibliography. This bibliography was superseded only in 1983 with the publication of Kahlil Gibran: A BibliograpLy by Suheil Bushrui. The festival was also significant in that it initiated the first academic programme in Gibran Studies at the Department of English at the American University of Beirut. This was followed by another programme Kahlil Gibran and his Contemporaries, which defined the characteristics of Arab- American literature during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The study centred on the English works of three writers - Kahlil Gibran, Mikhail Naimy and Ameen Rihani. The year 1972 witnessed the publication of the correspondence between Gibran and his American patroness, Mary Haskell, under the title Beloved Prophet: The Love Letters of Kahlil Gibran and Mary Haskell and her Private Journal. This reliable account provided a wealth of information to scholars. Another volume was designed in 1979 in Arabic: The Love Letters of Kahlil Gibran to M q Ziadah. The most up-to-date biography is that of the couple, Jean and Kahlil Gibran, under the title Kahlil Gibran: His Life and World. This volume includes a lot of original material unpublished until then, like diaries of Josephine Preston Peabody, documents on his Boston experience and other letters and primary sources. This biography is a definitive account of his life in America. A Gibran Museum was opened in 1975 in Bisharri, Gibran's birthplace. The same year came the publication, Gibran of Lebanon: New Papers. Two years later in 1977 when Salma Khadra Jayyusi published Trends and Movements in Modern Arabic Poety, Gibran was honoured as "the greatest. literary figure in Arab letters during the first three decades of the century" (Jayyusi 91). During the years between 1974 and 1980, some manuscripts of Gibran were edited by William S. Shehadi and published under the title Kahlil Gibran: A Prophet in the Making by the American University of Beirut in 1991. These included fragments of works such as The Madman, The Prophet, The Earth Gods and The Forerunner. In the seventies and eighties, the Chairman of The Gibran National Committee in Lebanon decided to promote Gibran Studies throughout the world. As part of the venture, he retrieved as many original manuscripts as possible from Lebanon, from the USA, and the paintings from the Old Gibran Museum in Bisharri. He also decided to transform the area surrounding his resting place into a modern museum for the sake of posterity. The Chairman of The National Committee invited Farid Salman to be the consultant and advisor to the Committee, who succeeded in maintaining an artistic integrity and a refined sensibility. In 1981, the fiftieth anniversary was officially commemorated by The Gibran National Committee and the Ministry of Education. The American University of Beirut organized a series of activities and also published In Memo9 of Kahlil Gibran: The First Colloquium on Gibran St~dies. Two years later, the hundredth anniversary of his birth was celebrated by Kahlil Gibran Centenary International Commemoration at Beirut, Washington, New York, London and Oxford. The President of Lebanon declared 1983 a Gibran International Year. The international activities attracted his fans the world over. The political turmoil in Lebanon disrupted the activities there, but they were carried out in the US and Britain. The celebration included the publication of The Blue Flame: The Love Letters of Kahlil Gibran to May Ziadah (1 983), which is the English translation of the Arabic work in 1979. A reprint of the same appeared in 1987 as Gibran: Love letters. In 1987 Kahlil Gibran of Lebanon: A re-evaluation of the lfe and works of the author of The Prophet was published by Suheil Bushrui (sic). The Library of Congress in Washington organized a conference, The Vision of Gibran, on Arab-American Literature. In 1986, the University of Maryland established the Kahlil Gibran Chair on value and peace. This was the first academic program on his studies, followed by the Kahlil Gibran Research and Studies Project, the Centre for International Development and Conflict Management. In addition to all this, a KahM Gibran Park was created in 1977 at Copley Square in Boston, and the mayor of the city of Boston designated January 1983 the Kahlil Gibran Month. During this centennial celebration, an exhibition of forty paintings of Gibran was held at the Boston Public Library. The Kahlil Gibran Centennial Foundation Memorial Garden Dedication Weekend took place at Embassy Row in Washington in 1991. This garden of meditation was inaugurated by President George Bush after the Congress of the United States passed a legislation providing the land for the memorial. Among the three American Presidents who signed the legislation, was President Jimmy Carter who chaired The Honorary Committee of the Foundation. This was a remarkable achievement for a poet who was only beginning to be recognized by the academic world. The U. N. E. S. C. 0. housed an exhibition of his works under the banner The World of Kahlil Gibran: A Pictorial Record of His Life and Work in Paris from 19 to 22 March 1996. In the same year, The Prophet was voted by the British readers as one of the most popular books of the century. In 1998, Kahlil Gibran: Man and Poet was published jointly by Suheil Bushrui and Joe Jenkins. In the same year, Robin Waterfield published Prophet: The Life and Times of Kahlil Gibran. Between 30 December 1999 and 2 January 2000, The First International Conference on Kahlil Gibran was held under the auspices of the Kahlil Gibran Research and Studies Project at the University of Maryland, USA, on the topic "Kahlil Gibran and the Immigrant Traditions." Now Gibran has become an integral part of the literary legacy of both the East and the West. He is not just the Gibran of Lebanon or the Gibran of America but Gibran, the voice of global consciousness. 'Love' from Gibran's Perspective Gibran's concept of love is the amalgamation of the several viewpoints he imbibed at various stages of his growing up: Christian, because he was a Christian by birth; Islamic, because he was born and bred in a predominantly Muslim country; Hindu and Buddhist, because of his continued stay in cosmopolitan America where Hinduism and Buddhism were popular influences; mythological, because of his wide reading; and Jewish, because of its affinity with Christian terminology. This dissertation does not intend to refer to the relevant religious documents extensively, for such an in depth probing into religious concepts of love, is beyond the purview of the present study. O n the contrary, the study of the concept of love and the perception of love are made with reference to the sum total of a layman's knowledge - his taught content and his thought content that can be assessed by the inputs he received and his outputs, along the length of his life. However, some Christian concepts need to be quoted because Gibran was born a Christian; he lived a Christian; spent the major part of his life in a Christian land; and accepted Christianity as the life-blood of his spirit, as is evident from the biblical tone of The Prophet and Jesus, the Son of Man. Love is often referred to by Greek terms: Agape, Philia, Eros, and Storge. Agape is the selfless, altruistic, charitable and unconditional love that God has for humanity. It is parental love, responsible for the goodness of the world, and that which Christians aspire to attain. Philia is brotherly love, while Eros is sexual love, and Storge is child-to-parent love. The Holy Bible bears profuse witness to all forms of love. The Old Testament dictates: "Love the Lord your God with all your strength" and "love your neighbour as you love yourself" (Deuteronomy 6 5 ; Leviticus 19:lB). The Psalms promises God's love for all who keep his commandments: "But for those who honour the Lord, his love lasts for ever, and his goodness endures for all generations" (103:17). God has always shown man, how much he loves them: " 'The mountains and hills may crumble, but my love for you will never end; I will keep for ever my promise of peace.' So says the Lord who loves J~OU'' (Isaiah 54:lO). The Old Testament declares God's love throughout its pages: "My love for you is too strong" (Hosea 11:8). The New Testament focuses on the point that God loves humanity immensely. It is God's love (agape) for man that made him sacrifice his only son for them. "See how much the Father has loved us! His love is so great that we are called God's children - and so, in fact, we are," says The First Letter of John (3:l). He continues, "For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life" (John 3:16). As Jesus spoke to his apostles he said, "And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another" (John 13:34). He repeats it in other words: "My commandment is this: Love one another, just as I love you" (John 15:12). The text of the commandment that Christians treasure is the extract from The Gospel According to Mark: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second most important commandment is this: 'Love your neighbour as you love yourself.' There is no other commandment more important than these two" (12: 30-31). The most endearing definition of love among Christians is the one given in Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians: "Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs; love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. Love never gives up; and its faith, hope, and patience never fail" (1 Cor 13: 4-7). Love is seen here as a set of behaviours that is expected from all Christians or humanity. Love encompasses not only one's kith and kin but also one's enemies. St Paul also places love above faith and hope. He says: "faith, hope and love; and the greatest of these is love" (1 Cor 13:13). Gibran has also imbibed the Islamic concept of love as universal brotherhood. If God or Allah has ninety-nine names, they are mostly attributes, of which one is "AI-Wadud" which means "The Loving One" or one full of loving-kindness. A contemplation of Sufi philosophy or Sufism is in place in this dissertation because it is an ascetic and a mystical movement within Islam that has influenced Gibran. The word "sufi" is derived either from the Greek word "Sophia" which means "wisdom7' or the Arabic word "safa" meaning "purity" or the Arabic "suf" meaning "wool," indicating the woollen clothes worn by Sufis formerly. Sufi thought emerged from the Middle East in the eighth century. The greatest Sufi was Prophet Mohamed himself. The two central Sufi concepts are "tawakkul," which means "the total reliance on God," and "dhikr," meaning "the perpetual remembrance of God" . Sufism is supposed to have incorporated elements of Christian monasticism, and Indian mysticism, but its origin is traced to the formative period of Islam. During AD 1200-1500, Sufism experienced an era of increased activity in various parts of the Islamic world. This period is the Classical Period or the Golden Age of Sufism. Sufis teach in personal groups because they believe that the interaction of the master is necessary for the growth of the pupil. There are several Sufi orders, and they differ in philosophy but all orders are concerned with direct personal experience and mysticism. Sufism emphasizes "Ishq," or divine love. Sufism, being a religion of love, describes God in tripartite terms: (1) Lover (2) Loved and (3) Beloved. A common viewpoint of Sufism is that through love man can get back to his inherent purity and grace xhttp: //en.wikipedia.org/Love-(religious - view)>. R t l b a ~ a t of Omar Khqyam contains the teachings of the Sufis. According to an offshoot-Islamic Sufi thought, Sufism is a universal philosophy independent of the Koran and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad. This view of Sufism has been popular in the Western World, and the terms "Yogi" and "Sufi" have been used interchangeably ever since. However, many contemporary Muslims argue that Sufism represents the core sense of Islam. Gibran too endorses the Islamic concept of universal brotherhood, and the Sufi concept of God as Lover, Loved and Beloved. In Hinduism, "prema" is elevated love, "Bhakti" is devotion to God, "Kama" is sexual love, and "Karuna" is compassion and mercy. Hindu philosophy believes that love leads to peacefulness, relaxation and freedom. Gibran appears to have absorbed the idea that love grants peace, joy and freedom . RzlbaQat of Omar Khqyam In Buddhism, "Kama" or sensuous and sexual love, is a selfish form of love, and hence a hindrance to the path of enlightenment. "Karuna," as in Hinduism, is "compassion that is necessary for enlightenment." Buddhists believe that "Advesa" and "Maitri" are benevolent and unconditional forms of love that refer to detachment and selfless interest in the welfare of others < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love-(religious -view) >. In Tibetan Buddhism, the Bodhisattva ideal is the complete renunciation of self in order to take on the burden of a suffering world. It requires the strongest motivation and the most unselfish kind of love to take on the path of the Bodhisattva ideal of love. There is no doubt that Gibran was fascinated by the self-effacing aspect of the Buddhist concept of love. He considered himself an enlightened person who was called upon to love mankind in an act of self-abnegation. For the Jews, love is "ahava," a Hebrew term commonly used for interpersonal love and love of God. They also have two other terms, "chen" for "grace" and "chesed" for "loving kindness" http:/ /en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love- (religious-view) >. Love for God should be "with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might" (Deuteronomy 6:5). The Torah says, "love your neighbour like yourself" (Leviticus 19:18). The biblical Song of Songs is a romantic depiction of the love between God and his people. Mythologies abound in gods, goddesses and angels of love: Amor or Cupid, god of love, and Venus, goddess of beauty and love, in Roman mythology; Eros, god of love, and Aphrodite, goddess of beauty and love, in Greek mythology; Haniel, angel of eros, and Raphael, angel of love, in Judeo-Christian mythology; Kama, god of sensual love, and Rati, goddess of passionate love, in Hindu mythology; Mihr, spirit of love, in Persian mythology; Ishtar, goddess of love and war, in Babylonian mythology; Aonghus, god of sensual love, beauty and youth, in Irish mythology; Astarte, goddess of love, in Canaaite mythology; and so on. Gibran knew these myths and mythical persons but he used them only sparingly in his writing . This study of Gibran is based on the definition of love as given by M. Scott Peck in his best seller, The Road Less Travelled: A New Pychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth. Scott Peck admits that it is not possible to give an adequate definition of love because love is too large and too deep to be truly understood, or defined by words. Yet he ventures to put it within a framework: "I define love thus: the will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth" (85). This definition is given a fivefold elaboration too. (1) Love is meant to fulfil a purpose; love is spiritual growth. (2) Love is extending oneself into an evolutionary process; it is a circular process. The act of loving aims at another's growth, but it attains personal growth as well; it is self-evolution. (3) Love is love of self and love for the other. To be dedicated to the spiritual development of humanity is to be dedicated to the race of which man is a part. (4) Love requires effort. To become real, love needs to extend its limits. (5) Love is a wilful act. Choosing to love another is exerting oneself for spiritual growth (85-88). Gibran's concept of love is a h n to Scott Peck's definition that it is the will to extend one's self for spiritual growth: "When I genuinely love I am extending myself, and when I am extending myself, I am growing. The more I love, the longer I love, the larger I become. Genuine love is self-replenishing. The more I nurture the spiritual growth of others, the more my own spiritual growth is nurtured (Peck 171). This is explicit in his masterpiece The Prophet. IV The Cybernetics of Love' from Gibran's Perspective The word 'cybernetics' was coined by Norbert Wiener (1894- 1964), a great engineer, mathematician, and social philosopher of the twentieth century, and popularized through his book Cybernetics, or Control and Comm~nication in the Animal and Machine in 1948. 'Cybernetics' is derived from the Greek word 'kybernetes' which means 'steersman,' 'governor,' 'pilot,' or 'government.' Though Wiener is considered "the father of cybernetics," it is an oversimplification to say that he was the first to use the word. Perhaps unknown to Wiener it was formerly used by Andre-Marie Ampere (1775-1836) to mean 'government' in his classification of human knowledge. The word was even used by Plato in The Laws to signify "the governance of people" . Cybernetics, as a discipline, was firmly established by Wiener, Warren McCullock, W. Ross Ashby and W. Grey Walter. An important geographical locus of cybernetics was France where Wiener's book was first published. Wiener popularized the social implications of cybernetics by drawing analogies between automatic systems and human institutions in his best seller The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics and Society. The prefix 'cyber-' extended its influence along with the spread of computers and electronic communication in 196Os, 70s and 80s. By 1990s, practically anything could have 'cyber-' as its prefix if it involved computers or the Internet. The New Words Committee af the American Dialect Socieg contained more than a hundred cyber words in 1994 and 1995 . The area of cybernetics is still young, but there are many definitions. Wiener first used the word in the study of "teleological mechanisms," that is, goal-oriented behaviour, and since then the word has gone through a series of modifications. In 1956, Couffignal suggested a more philosophical definition of cybernetics as "the art of ensuring the efficiency of action" < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ cybernetics>. McCullock defines 'cybernetics' as "an experimental epistemology concerned with the communication and control within an observer and between the observer and his environment." Stafford Beer, a management consultant, says it is "the science of effective organization." Anthropologist, Gregory Bateson noted that it focuses on form and matter . Wiener calls it "the study of systems of control and communication, in particular those of the human mind and the computer" . The main innovation of cybernetics is "the creation of a scientific discipline focussed on goals: an understanding of goal-directedness or purpose" . A distinguishing feature of the cybernetic field is its movement towards practical pursuits, such as psychiatry, family therapy and so on. To integrate such practical pursuits there is the need for feedback or a circularity of reference. That is evolving a theory of feedback by feedback. Thus, the science of cybernetics fosters a better understanding of man's personality. The problems of man belonging to the cyber-age demand a cybernetic solution; so much so, there is a need for the modern man to be a cybernetic psychologist himself in order to guide his own aspirations and depressions in the cybernetic age. Sensitive man, oppressed by forces within and without his control, is easily trapped in the loveless age. The only remedy for emerging from the deteriorating trap is, according to Gibran, love. So the cybernetics of love is the regulation of the goal-oriented behaviour towards a life of love. Gibran7s concept of the cybernetics of love is formulated from his works and from the critical material on his works. The theory becomes more effective when it is viewed from a psychobiographical angle. Margaret Mead defines cybernetics as "a way of looking at things and a language for expressing what one sees" < http://pespmcl .vub.ac. be/ASC/CYBERNETICS. html>. This dissertation, as Margaret Mead defines, is a way of looking at the cybernetics of love from Gibran's angle and the language used to express it is the psychobiographical language. From a Psychobiographical Perspective "Psychobiography" is defined by William Todd Schultz in his article "Psychology and Life-writing" in the Encyclopaedia of Life-Writing thus: "Psychobiography is the name given to life histories making substantial use of psychological theory and/or research as a means of shedding light on the interior lives of biographical subjects and the connection between the life and the work" ("Psychobiography"). Psychobiography is biography viewed from a psychodynamic or psychoanalytic angle. In other words, it is biography strengthened by psychological theory or research. Psychobiographical criticism, a branch of psychological and psychoanalytical criticism, deals with the life of an author and the connection between his life and his work. Psychobiography depends on the author's own writing and on external sources for evidence. In other words, it is a life history that makes use of psychological theory as a means of shedding light on the interior lives of biographical subjects making both literary and psychological sense of its subjects. Psychobiographers argue that a text reflects the psychological make-up of the author. Ross Murfin believes that an author may write in order to "gratify secretly some forbidden wish" (1 1 8). Lionel Trilling clarifies that psychobiography is not to expose the 'shame' of the author, but to encourage the reader to regard a text as "no less alive and contradictory than the man who created it" (39). Trilling emphasizes that psychobiography is meant to illuminate the text. The desire to psychobiographize has been there ever since psychological insights began with the Greeks, with Plutarch, Xenophon and Thucidydes. The Gospels too are, to a great extent, psychobiographical. But psychobiography as a modern psychodynamic or psychoanalytic biography began with Sigmund Freud's renowned book Leonardo da Vinci and a Memo9 of His Childhood (1964). I t is considered psychobiography at its best and worst. In it Freud surmised that Leonardo is a perfect and rare type of artist, who channelled his sexual instincts into his artistic and scientific investigation. Subsequently, Freud concluded that Leonardo's work was his erotic life, liberated through sublimation from the demands of sexuality. Freud also ascertained that Leonardo had recapitulated his lost mother in Mona Lisa. So far, Freud's contention was credible. He goes wrong only when he reconstructs a missing childhood history of Leonardo from his journals. Leonardo had recorded the dream of a bird visiting him in his cradle and thrusting its tail into his mouth. Based on an inaccurate translation of Leonardo's journals, Freud interpreted the bird as a vulture, and indulged in a series of mythological suppositions. All these proved Freud wrong later, when a more correct translation of Leonardo's journals became readily available. That is why Freud's psychological analysis of Leonardo is considered good and bad at the same time . In spite of the drawback, Freud's work sets an excellent standard for psychobiographical writing. He gives useful tips to psychobiographers about what to do and what not to do. He tells them (1) to avoid idealizing the biographical subject (2) to avoid drawing conclusion from inadequate data (3) to examine the internal and external validity of biographical anecdotes (4) to compare the biographical subject's behaviour with that of contemporaries and (5) to avoid spinning webs of meaning out of isolated events . Though Freud violated many of his own proscriptions, his book was a trendsetter because his theories could bring coherence to chaos, and his arresting style was worthy of emulation. Other psychobiographies of the twentieth century are Erikson's Gandhi5 Truth (1969), Gordon Allport's Letters from Jenny (1965). Henry Murrays's Endeavours in Pychology (1981), Dan McAdams's Tbe Stories We Live By (1993) and Jerome Bruner's Acts of Meaning (1990), Alam Elms's Uncovering Lives: The Uneay Alliance o f Biography and Pgcbology (1994) and Wilham Runyan's Life Histories and Psychobiograpby: Exploration in Theory and Method (1982). Psychobiograp hies are usually written on individuals of importance like Hitler, Emily Dickinson, Mahatma Gandhi, and so on. A psychobiography, being a case-study research, can be conducted in a variety of ways, by, (1) exploring the effects of early life history on personality, (2) identifying habitual modes of psychological defence used by a person, (3) sorting out the preferred life-story sequences narrated by the person, (4) isolating early-life experiences (of loss) that underscore the person's attitudes, (5) examining the consequences that a person's behaviour elicits from his environment and, (6) revealing underlying patterns of behaviour . Psychobiography, as a discipline, has developed various methodological guidelines for study. They are: 1. The use of prototypical scenes in the life of the subject to serve as a model for their personality pattern. 2. The use of a series of indicators or salience markers, such as primacy, frequency, and uniqueness of an event in a life, to identify significant patterns. 3. The identification of pregnant metaphors or images that organize autobiographical narratives. 4. Logical coherence or consistency as a criterion for adequate psychological interpretation < http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ psychobiography>. Guidelines are only guidelines. Psychobiographers follow their own pattern for their study. The distinction between psychobiography and biography has been vanishing over the years. This is because biography has shifted recently in a psychobiographical direction. Psychobiographers are usually structuralists. "They take it as fact that there is a personality to be found and that its currents can be elucidated via a careful examination of life-history evidences viewed through the sharpening lens of theory." That is, they search for the self and see it as a real thing and believe that facts can be reliably uncovered by sifting through biographical data. "Biographers are poststructuralists. They hint at the mystery behind the self. They are more inclined to problematize the self, more devoted to trumpeting its inscrutability" . They believe that personality is text, and is therefore fundamentally ambiguous. Being interdisciplinary, psychobiography assumes various forms. It is neither exactly psychology, nor precisely biography nor purely literary criticism. Instead of telling the story of an entire life, it chooses specific events or episodes from life, and focuses on them. Hence psychobiography is more modest than biography. Likewise, the psychobiography of Gibran is not taken in its entirety in this dissertation. The whole focus is on his state of mind when he wrote The Prophet, and before he wrote it and after. The study hopes to prove that his love for man evolves into grace as he visualizes and realizes The Prophet. Before he wrote it, the concept of love was being disciplined in his mind to attain the stature to pen the magnanimous work. After writing it, the concept of love underwent balancing with suffering and pain. He did not venture to write anything entirely new after The Prophet. Nevertheless, he used the remainder of his life to codify and modify all that he had started writing and kept at bay for various reasons. Of these Jestls, the Son of Man stands out as a marvellous work. After roaming about in the shade and shadow of the Holy Cedars of Lebanon as a child, Gibran spent the mature years of his life within the shadows of the skyscrapers of New York. Cosmopolitan by background and education, he became an interpreter of America, Europe and the Middle East. Thus through him the East and the West merged in thought and style. To his Arabic readers he introduced the simplicity of English expression and the freedom of thought and frankness. His concept and style were considered revolutionary by the Arab world. To his English readers he introduced family traditions, and the poetry and philosophy of the Middle East. It is true that he criticized law, religion and the customs prevailing in the social structure of the Middle East. This is because he loved his fellowmen, and loved to teach them how to carry the torch of love throughout their lives. He believed in a doctrine of kindness, brotherhood and justice, and waged a long and bitter struggle in favour of love. He was thus largely responsible for many of the social, political and religious reforms finally undertaken by the rulers of the East. Conscious of man neglecting the cybernetics of self for the cybernetics of a scientific reality, he advocated the cybernetics of love for a peaceful society. In a loveless world, it is encouraging to listen to the voice of the poet-prophet of love. As a cyber-man of love, he will live on and grow through the centuries. VI The Chapters in Perspective: This dissertation is an attempt at studying the psychobiography of Gibran in relation to The Prophet and the cybernetics of love as revealed in The Prophet and the works before and after The Prophet. Chapter One, "Kahlil Gibran: A Heart and Mind in the Workshop" is divided into six sections. Section One, "Arabic Literature Down the Ages" places Gibran in the history of Arabic Literature. Section Two, "Life and Works of Gibran and Works on Gibran" include his life, his works, and a brief review of the critical material on him. Section Three, " 'Love' from Gibran's Perspective," gives the gist of Gibran's concept of love which is derived from various sources like Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and so on. This section also quotes Scott Peck's definition of love from The Road Less Travelled: A N e w Pycholo)9y of love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth, on which this study is founded. Section Four, " 'The Cybernetics of Love' from Gibran's Perspective," explains the term 'cybernetics' and 'cybernetics of love' according to Gibran, and lays down the hypothesis of the thesis. Section Five, "From the Psychobiographical Perspective," explicates the theory of psychobiography on which this study is built. Section Six, "The Chapters in Perspective" proposes the chapter divisions in this dissertation. Chapter Two, entitled "Before The Prophet" clubs together the works written before The Prophet - Nymphs of the Valley, Spirits Rebellious, The Broken Wings, The Madman and The Forerunner. These works are noted for their rebellious tone. However, the rebellion decreases as Gibran proceeds from one work to the other. The chronology in the writing of a work and the chronology in publishing it do not tally because he had written many works and waited for years to publish it with correction and revision. As a result, the work originally written from a youthful angle has been made mature with the years. The grace that fills the pages of The Broken Wings is a typical example because the novella was written as early as 1903, that is, when he was twenty years old, but published only in 1912 when he was twenty-nine. The cybernetics of love, or the communication and control of love manifested in the above-mentioned works, is the disciplining of love for evolution, that is, the evolution into grace. Angry with the clergy and the society for several embedded practices and malpractices, he attacked them mercilessly in his early works, Nymphs of the V a l l ~ , Spirits Rebellious, and The Broken Wings. The dormant stage that The Broken Wings went through perhaps made it travel on the path of grace. Gibran was still proceeding on the same path as he wrote The Madman and The Forerunner. The desire for discipline that is found partly in these works is because he cared for his fellowmen and he wanted them to be free of exploitation. The regulation he aimed at was a part of his cybernetics of love. From a psychobiographical angle, too it can be proved that Gibran was in the workshop and in the world of discipline before writing The Prophet. Chapter Three, "The Prophet" deals with the major work The Prophet, the internationally acclaimed eponymous book which has been translated into more than hundred languages and which has remained among the ten best sellers for more than fifty continuous years. This chapter deals with the cybernetics of love, or the evolution of love as explicated by Scott Peck. The study focuses on the call of grace received by a few people, like Gibran, for a promotion by which they are expected to exercise a higher responsibility towards mankind. Those who become aware of grace and accept it, experience an inner tranquillity and peace. Therefore, the call of grace is a call to a life of service and sacrifice, a call to be a parent to humankind. Such people are conscious of the responsible position they are in, and the mysterious character of the gift they have received. Gibran was so full of love for man that like a parent he took up the duty and the obligation of rectifying their wrongs and leading them on towards a life of grace. Chapter Four, "After The Prophet' deals with Sand and Foam, Jesus, the Son of Man, The Earth Gods, The Wanderer, and The Garden of the Prophet, the works published after The Prophet. These works show the characteristics of pain and the consequent depression. From a psychobiographical angle, too it is evident that Gibran had attained the maturity and grace to bring forth an arresting work like The Prophet. Fully satisfied with the captivating work he stayed put the rest of his life. The works published later bear the marks of an earlier period. This is because they were conceived and begun in an earlier period; only to be completed hurriedly towards the end of his writing career. At this stage, he was writhing in pain and suffering. Therefore, the optimism in the works except in Jestls, the Son of Man was on the decline. The man of grace remained the man of grace in his later works, more so in Jesus the Son of Man, his second major dream project. The cybernetics of love or the regulation of love, manifested in the above-mentioned works is the balancing of grace that was already achieved in The Prophet. Chapter Five, "Conclusion" or "The Cybernetics of Love from a Psychobiographical Perspective" portrays the evolution of Gibran through suffering and discipline towards growth and grace. "Love is the only freedom in the world because it so elevates the spirit that the laws of humanity and the phenomena of nature do not alter its course." Kahlil Gibran CHAPTER TWO BEFORE TNE PROPNET The works of Gibran clubbed together in this chapter are the ones written before The Prophet - Nymphs of the Vallty, Spin'ts Rebelliow, The Broken Wings, The Madman and The Foremnner. Gibran was conscious of taking on a prophetic stance right from the beginning of his writing career. The social, political and financial irregularities of Lebanon racked his brains at first; later it was New York, the US, nay, the whole world. He assumed the obligations of a prophet even in the works written before The Prophet. But the prophetic garb here was only in the making: "As Gibran grew more confident in his 'prophetic' role, he moved further away from the concrete and particular. Where once Lebanon had been the homeland whose wrongs he set out to right, he expanded his horizons until the injustices of the whole world were his to correct" (Waterfield 62). The cybernetics of love, or the regulation of love, manifested from the psychobiography of Gibran as he composed these works, is dealt with from the point of view of "love disciplined" as explicated by Scott Peck in The Road Less Travelled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth. Nymphs of the Valley Nymphs of the Vallp is a collection of three stories originally written in Arabic - "Martha," "Yuhanna the Mad" and "Dust of the Ages and the Eternal Fire" - set in Lebanon. These remarkable stories were published in New York by the newspaper Al-Mohajer (The Immigrant). Gibran's emotionally high-S trung anecdotes were popular because of their passionate element. "The familiar settings, the working-class heroes, the strident anticlerical tones, were a breath of fresh air, in sharp contrast to the formalistic Arabic writing of the day" (Bushrui and Jenkins 74). "Martha" is an account of love and deception. Born and brought up in the beautiful valley of Lebanon, Martha loved life and revelled in the beauties of nature. Though she was an orphan, she enjoyed the freedom given by the natural world. One day while she was gazing at the flowers and the trees, a young nobleman attracted by her, cheated her with soft-hearted words. On the other hand, she, impressed by his wealth and charm, believed his promise to make her his wife. He made her his mistress instead, and gave her shelter in the city of Lebanon. When she was with child, he deserted her. Subsequently, a baby boy was born, Fouad. Unable to feed him and herself, she was forced to sell her body, thus becoming a prostitute in the city of Lebanon. As expected, she was infected by a disease that led to her death. The narrator of the story happens to meet Martha's son by chance. The five-year old boy was selling flowers for his livelihood. The narrator accompanies him home to meet Martha, who was in tears for the fate of her son: "People will look upon my child with contempt and mocking, saying this one is the offshoot of sin; this is the son of Martha, the harlot; this is the child of shame, of chance," she said (Nymphs of the Valley 15). He comforts her with the words: "You are persecuted and despised, but it were better that a person should be the oppressed than that he should be the oppressor. . . . Take comfort, Martha, in that you are the flower crushed and not the foot that has crushed it" (16-17). As they watched, her voice ceased, but her lips moved for a while. Then a shudder ran through her; she sighed; her face became pale; her spirit departed and her eyes remained gazing at the unseen. When Martha died, the Church authorities did not give permission for a traditional and religious burial in the consecrated cemetery. So Fouad and the narrator buried her in a remote place far away from the town. Gibran rails against men like Martha's seducer whose non- disciplined love is the cause of misery for many young women. They pretend love, and attract women and then turn them down, providing them with no means of livelihood. When such a woman indulges in the sex trade, it is not she alone but the society that is to be blamed. Gibran accuses the reckless young man for committing a sin out of excess of lust and lack of love. "All this did he do, smiling and behind soft words and loving gestures did he conceal his lust and animal desire," says the narrator (21). "Yuhanna the Mad," focuses on poverty-stricken villagers oppressed by the rich and corrupt clergy. Though the story is an attack against some church officials, the main thrust is on the rebellion of Yuhanna, a young herdsman. While Yuhanna was taking care of the herd, he was reading the Bible. He did not notice his oxen straying into the pasture of the monastery. This incurred the wrath of the monks who expected him to pay for the loss caused by his negligence. Well-versed in the Bible, Yuhanna argued with them until he was imprisoned. The old mother of the youth pacified the monks saying: "I have naught except this collar, father. It is a gift of my mother, given me on the day of my marriage. Perchance the monastery will accept it as an atonement for the guilt of my only son" (Nymphs of the Vally 49). She then handed over a precious locket thus paying for the damage. Out of the prison, Yuhanna becomes more vociferous. While the priest and the monks celebrated the construction of a magnificent church, he stood in the crowd and after the ceremony was over, he exposed the poverty of the people in comparison with the riches of the monastery. He was so full of love for the villagers that the crowd cheered him and he continued his harangue. The priests put him behind bars but this time he was rescued by his father who falsely testified before the governor that his son was mad: "My lord . . . often have I heard him babbling in his solitude and talking of strange things that have no existence. Night after night has he spoken into the silence in unknown words, calling upon the shadows of darkness in a terrible voice like that of sorcerers uttering incantations" (58). To add to his testimony the father requested the governor to find out about his illness from his friends, his mother, and the monks. Saying this he earnestly begged the governor to release his son, openly declaring, "He is mad, my lord, but to his mother and me he is kind. He sustains us in our old age and fulfils our wants with the sweat of his brow. Show him mercy through your compassion upon us and forgive his foolishness for the sake of the parents" (59). Though Yuhanna was set free, the label "mad" stuck to his name. He roamed about like a madman, conscious of his suffering and the suffering of his fellowmen. As the story ends, Yuhanna is pictured as one sighing deeply and repeating the words: "You are many and I am one. Say what you will of me and do to me as you wish. The ewe may fall as prey to the wolves in the darkness of the night, but her blood will stain the stones of the valley until the coming of the dawn and the rising of the sun" (59). Here is an example of the crushing of personalities by rigorous social and religious norms. Yuhanna's personality is crushed even by his father who stated that his son was mad. Even though it was meant to be a blessing in disguise, it turned out to be a curse for him. Yuhanna was so full of love for his countrymen that he wished to improve their lives but he could not, because it was not possible for an individual to free himself from the fetters of the society easily. Moreover, he did not know how to tackle the problem prudently and obediently. "Dust of the Ages and the Eternal Fire," as the title suggests, is about reincarnation. The story is set first in the autumn of 116 BC. Then it moves to the spring of AD 1890. Nathan, the hero, first appears in 116 BC as the son of a Phoenician priest in Baalbek and then after incarnation, he is Ali Al-Husaini, a member of an Arab tribe, a Bedouin nomad dwelling in tents around Baalbek. Nathan's ladylove, on the point of death, had promised to meet him after death: The gods call me . . . and Death has come to part us. . . . Grieve not, for the will of the gods is sacred and demands of Death are just. . . . I am going now, but the twin cups of love and youth are still full in our hands and the ways of sweet life lie before us. . . . I am going, my beloved, to the meadows of the spirits, but I shall return to this world. (Nymphs of the Vallg 23) She gives enough reason for her return: Astarte brings back to this life the souls of lovers who have gone to the infinite before they have tasted of the delights of love and the joys of youth. . . . We shall meet again, Nathan, and together drink of the morning dew from the cups of the narcissus and rejoice in the sun with the birds of the fields. (23) This promise came to be fulfilled in AD 1890 when Ali Al-Husaini, a shepherd, experienced a vision among the ruins of the ancient city temple of Baalbek. He had been suffering a spiritual hunger, the meaning of which he was beginning to grasp. Simultaneously he began to remember his past life. The distant past and the memories of his beloved began to haunt him. All of a sudden, he saw an attractive woman coming out from among the trees carrying a jar of water upon her shoulders. As they met, both of them began to remember their past lives and realized that they have been reborn: "They communed, the one with the other, in all the tongues of the spirit. And when full understanding and knowledge possessed their two souls, Ali crossed the stream, drawn thither by an invisible power" (34-35). They exchanged the initial intimacies of physical love without speaking. Then she spoke: "Astarte has brought back our souls to this life so that the delights of love and the glory of youth might not be forbidden us, my beloved" (36). They began to enjoy their youth once again. Ali closed his eyes with joy. Then his face lighted up and his spirit was refreshed. His visions were scattered, and he forgot both the past and the future. In this story, "love is the immortal fire" opine Bushrui and Jenkins (76). This immortal fire kindles love and gives light to generations. Reincarnation is a topic Gibran cherishes, as it is evident from what he wrote to Mary: "I feel sure we have lived before. In myself I have experiences that indicate previous lives to me" (8 June 1924 BP 427). Lovers commune in space and time, and out of space and time, just as the East communes with the West. Gibran believes that with love, the living can commune with the dead. If love is a matter of the body and the mind, it can be disciplined or regulated with love. In the "Introduction" to The Wisdom of Kahlil Gibran, Andrew Sherfan says: "In %mphs of t he Valley, Gibran attacks those in authority, whether civil or ecclesiastical, since they make laws but do not observe them" (X). Gibran was specially against the vices rampant among the clergy. He believed in the goodness of people who were tortured in the name of the church and religion. Bushrui and Jenkins ascertain that the attack on the church and state was because of Gibran's compassion for man: "The combination of his Rousseau-like belief in the innate goodness of an unshackled humanity and his personalized interpretation of the Christian message of universal love led him to launch a radical assault on the church and state in his two early works," Nymphs of the Valiey and S p i d s Rebellious (14). Such assaults led by Gibran represented the wildest insubordination to the status quo, and he was vilified and condemned as a heretic (A Self-Portrait 15). He had also been very sharp in his criticism of wealthy noblemen. Like Yuhanna the Mad, Gibran is filled with love for his tortured fellowmen and is forced to speak against the clergy. He undergoes love's trials like Martha and the incarnate lovers of "Dust of the Ages and the Eternal Fire" and becomes a vociferous reformer. "Martha," "Yuhanna the Mad," and "Dust of the Ages and the Eternal Fire" portray Gibran's role as a reformer. They show his "belief in sorrow and suffering as a means of purification . . . All these beliefs were defensive walls which he built round himself to keep the succession of tragedies from crushing him; they and his messianic belief in his vocation were also a rampart against the degrading effects of poverty" (Hawi 89). Spiris Rebellious Four stories - "Madame Rose Hanie," "The Bridal Couch," "The Cry of the Graves" and "Khalil the Heretic" - originally published in Al Mohajer, appeared in book form under the title Spirits Rebellious. These reflect the oppressive social conditions in Lebanon. "Madame Rose Hanie" is the account of a woman married to Rashid Bey Namaan, a rich, generous and good-hearted Lebanese, from the city of Beyrouth. Madame Rose Hanie found herself a puppet in a rich mansion. Namaan, who amused himself in superficial things for self-gratification, married her for her beauty not knowing whether her soul had said 'yes' to his soul. Years later he realized that the woman he had rescued from poverty and adorned in gold and glitters now lived in a poor hovel with another man she truly loved. The narrator in the story listens to Rose Hanie's description of her life after she was married to Namaan. She was eighteen and he forty. He placed at her disposal, a gorgeous palace and servants, expensive clothes and precious gems, and possessed her instead of loving her. He proudly exhibited her before his friends and relatives who envied her. When people praised her, he held his head so high that he was unaware of the people mocking him for trapping her, and pitying her for living in a miserable trap. The ill-matched couple lived on in a half-conscious state until Rose Hanie woke up from the slumber of childhood and found herself imprisoned by law in the household of the loveless Namaan. She experienced a spiritual hunger for love: "I prayed and prayed in the silence of the night before God to create in the depths of my heart a spiritual attachment that would carry me closer to the man who had been chosen for me as a companion through life" (S'in'ts Rebellious 216). Her prayers were not granted, and she realized that, "Love descends upon our souls by the will of God and not by the demand or the plea of the individual" (216). She became increasingly conscious of her suffering in giving her body to one and her soul to another. It was after a lapse of two years that she found a companion whose love she recognized and accepted. The narrator listened to Rose Hanie not as the merciful champion of oppressed women but as the true friend of Namaan who was ashamed of the fact that Hanie could throw away his riches and seek comfort in a hut with a poor man. He understood that she had become one with the man she loved: "There is no power under the sun that can take my happiness from me, because it emanated from two embraced spirits, engulfed by understanding, radiated by Love, and protected by heaven" she told him (218). She was aware that people would rate her as a heretic and an unfaithful woman, who discarded virtue and put on the cloak of sin and disgrace. However, her new love made her argue thus: "In God's eyes I was unfaithful and an adulteress only while at the home of Rashid Bey Namaan . . . I was a sinner in the eyes of God and myself when I ate his bread and offered him my body in reward for his generosity. Now I am pure and clean because the law of Love has freed me . . ." (219-20). Pointing out to the enormous buildings of the city through the window, Madame Hanie told the narrator that many of the occupants there were empty of pure love; that is, they were spiritually buried. Away from such spiritually dead people, Madame Hanie says she feels free. She did try to reconcile herself to her misfortune of living with Namaan, but her spirit refused to. So she broke the binding chains and walked out from Namaan's home, like a bird freed from its iron cage, leaving behind all the gems, clothes and servants. Then she gladly came to live with her beloved for she believed that what she was doing was honest before God. Recollecting her past days in Namaan's house, she says that she used to pray in the night for dawn to come and when dawn came, she prayed that the day would be over. Gradually she became conscious of her misery and conscious of the fact that God does not want anyone to lead a pathetic life. She believed that God placed in the depths of her heart a desire for happiness. When she made herself happy God was at rest in her heart. When Madame Hanie introduced her object of love to the narrator, there was a wholesome smile on her lover's face. The narrator noticed a complete understanding emanating from two smiling faces, illuminated by sincerity and surrounded by virtue: "For the first time in my life I found the phantom of happiness standing between a man and a woman, cursed by religion and opposed by law" (226-27). The reader shares the confusion of the narrator, who is Gibran himself, when he sympathizes with Namaan's misery on one side but admires Madame Hanie's courage on the other: "Had that woman done wrong when she left him (Namaan) and followed the freedom of her heart? Or did he commit a crime by subduing her body in marriage before subduing her heart in love? Which of the two is the oppressed and which is the oppressor?" (227). A more pertinent question is: "Will man remain a slave of self-confinement until the end of the world? Or will he be freed by the passing of time and live in the Spirit for the Spirit?" (229). Gibran was conscious of the inequality of man and woman that hinders the growth of the individual. One of the world's most fervent and outspoken champions of the cause of human rights, he had waged a long war to strengthen the youth's freedom of action in love. He also longed to abolish from the social structure of the Middle East, some of the ancient marriage customs prevailing. He condemned the tradition of pre-arranged marriages of children by their parents, in complete disregard of the wishes of the children. As noted in the "Introduction" to A Treaszl~ of Kahl. Gibran, Martin L. Wolf states: "It is a matter of common knowledge that these transactions often took place when the children concerned were scarcely old enough to walk, much less realize the enormous significance of the steps then planned irrevocably for them" (xii). Madame Hanie is the oppressed according to Gibran's view but she in turn oppresses Namaan who is a victim of ill-arranged marriages. Gibran, while lashing at the social customs, sympathizes with Namaan, but at the same time, he would grant Madame Hanie her freedom. There was no sacrificing of individual freedom, for Gibran. Love could not be disciplined in Hanie or in Namaan because there was no love between them. Namaan possessed her instead of loving her, while she could not love him. Where there is no love Gibran would advocate realization. Namaan does realize Hanie's true love for her lover. Gibran also focuses on the illumination of love in the lives of Hanie and her newfound love. "The Bridal Couch" or "The Bride's Bed" is based on an incident that occurred during a marriage celebration in North Lebanon in the latter part of nineteenth century, and it was conveyed to Gibran by one of their relatives who attended the function. "The Bridal Couch" like "Madame Rose Hanie" ponders on the fate of women in the patriarchal society of the Middle East. In this story, Lyla in love with Selim, is deceived by Najeebee, Lyla's rival. Najeebee convinces Lyla that Selim does not love her. Thus, Lyla's marriage to another man is arranged. But on the wedding day when Lyla and Selim meet, all misunderstandings are cleared and she tells him: "My beloved, listen to me; I am sorry for having been hasty and thoughtless. I repented until my heart is crushed with sorrow; I love you and do not love any other; I shall continue to love you to the end of my life" (Spirits Rebefliozts 349). Then she encourages him to elope with her. Selim, a typical straightforward character of the society, requests her to return to her husband. In order to dissuade her he falsely owns that he is in love with another woman: "Depart from me! I love another with an intensity that causes me to forget you exist in this world. Najeebee was right when she told you that I loved her. Go back to your husband and be a faithful wife to him as the law commands" (351). Though Lyla does not believe him, his reluctance to join her, angers her, and she cries out saying, "No one shall ever triumph over me and take my love from me!" (351). In no time, she draws out a dagger from beneath her wedding gown and stabs him. As he succumbs he bursts out: "Come, Lyla, and do not leave me. Life is weaker than Death, and Death is weaker than Love. . . . Lyla, you have rescued me from Life's suffering. Let me kiss the hand that broke the chains and let me free. Kiss me and forgive me, for I have not been truthful " (352). Lyla stabs herself to death with the words: "Stay away from us and separate not our bodies, for if you commit such a sin, the spirit that hovers over your heads will grasp you and take your lives. Let this hungry earth swallow our bodies and hide us in its bosom" (354). Watching the lifeless bodies of the lovers, the priest proclaims that anyone who keeps vigil for the dead throughout the night or buries the bodies would be banned from the church: "Cursed are the hands that touch these blood-spattered carcasses that are soaked with sin . . . he who remains here shall be cursed and excommunicated from the church and shall never again enter the temple and join the Christians in offering prayers to God!" (355-56). Thus, the bride's unrestrained fury brings upon herself, tragic consequences. Gibran's scathing attack on such inhuman marriages have sent shock waves all over with social, political and religious implications. "The Bride's Couch" ends tragically because Lyla and her lover ended up as lifeless bodies while Madame Hanie and her lover live a life of love. Gibran boldly speaks against the problems of oriental women, whose lives were ruined by misogyny and wrongly arranged marriages. Individual liberty is at the centre of Gibran's narratives. "The Cry of the Graves" hints at the judiciary that is lawless and wayward. Three criminals are brought before the Emir for justice. The first criminal, a young man, who has killed a commander in the Emir's army, is condemned to be beheaded. The second, a young woman accused of adultery, is to be stoned to death. The third, an old man, who stole a sacred vessel, is to be hanged. Witnessing this, is the narrator who says, "All this happened while I was standing there . . . I was meditating the laws, made by man for man, contemplating what the people call 6. justice,' and engrossing myself with deep thoughts of the secrets of life. I tried to understand the meaning of the universe" (S'irit.r Rebedious 314). As the narrative proceeds, the crimes change their shape. The Emir's commander is killed by the young man because he (commander) tried to rape the young man's ladylove. The accused young woman was actually innocent because she was merely talking to a lover. The accused old man was driven to stealing because he was starved by the monks. The punishment meted out to the three was drastic - the youth beheaded, the young woman dragged naked outside the city and stoned to death, and the old man hung from a tree. These being criminals, their bodies could not be buried in the religious tradition and so were left in the wilderness. The questions raised by the narrator are Gibran thoughts, no doubt: "When a man kills another man, the people say he is a murderer, but when the Emir kills him, the Emir is just. . . . When a woman betrays her husband they say she is an adulterous, but when the Emir makes her walk naked in the streets and stones her later, the Emir is noble" (315-316). Gibran becomes more peaceful as he ends the narrative with thoughts of the cry of those in the graves. He stretched his hand toward the graves, lifted his eyes toward heaven and cried out: "Oh, Bravery, this is your sword, buried now in the earth! Oh, Love, these are your flowers, scorched by fire! Oh, Lord Jesus, this is Thy Cross, submerged in the obscurity of the night!" (323). Gibran was ever conscious of the conflict between law and individual freedom. "Khalil the Heretic," dealing with individual liberty in a unique manner, is the most thought-provoking story in Spirits Rebellious: Here the theme is still more outspoken and defiant than in Nymphs of the Valley. Both collections focussed on the abuse of power but Spirits Rebellious "attempted to offer positive alternatives" (Bushrui and Jenkins 83). The hero in "Khalil the Heretic" and in "Yuhanna the Mad" are both abused by power, but while Yuhanna succumbs to the torture, Khalil is strong enough to resist it. Khalil the Heretic rebels against the monastery and he is expelled. But he justifies himself saying that he left because he was surprised to find the head priest believing that in order to become a monk, one had to be blind, ignorant, senseless and dumb. He says, "I left the convent because I am a sensible man who can see, feel, and hear" (Spirits Rebelliozls 252). Touched by the love of Rachel and Miriam, Khalil narrated his past and admitted that he was expelled from the convent. Having lost his parents before the age of seven, the village priest took him to Deir Kizhaya where he was put in charge of the cows and sheep. He did his job for years, as there was no other alternative. At the age of fifteen, he says, the monks put on him a black robe and asked him to make a vow to live a virtuous life of poverty and obedience. He agreed, not realizing what he was agreeing to, and since that time the monks addressed him as 'Brother Mobaarak' though they did not treat him like a brother. He says, he suffered bad food, heavy work, and uncomfortable living conditions. In the depths of his heart, Khalil knew that "The true light is that which emanates from within man, and reveals the secrets of the heart to the soul, making it happy and contented with life" (255). Khalil's strong conviction made him declare that the beliefs and teachings that make man miserable, are false, "for it is man's purpose to be happy on this earth and lead the way to felicity and preach its gospel wherever he goes. He who does not see the kingdom of heaven in this life will never see it in the coming life" (256). The monks, who could not tolerate the rebel, put him in a dark cell with minimum food for forty days, as part of discipline. According to Khalil's version, the night before he left the monastery he was called mochngly "The Great Reformer" for reading out passages that hinted at the non-biblical attitude of the monks. Naturally the head priest cried out, "Arrest this rebel and drag him out from this sacred place, and let the storm's fury teach him obedience" (261). This was the provocation for his expulsion from the convent. Hearing Khalil's story of pain, Rachel provided him shelter for five days. In the meanwhile, he could understand the silent love Miriam began to feel for him. "Why will you not remain here and live close to us?" she asked (267). He made it plain that he loved to stay back in the vdlage though he feared that the villagers would not accept an expelled monk to live among them. She answered, ''We are both in the hands of a mysterious and merciful power. Let it do its will" (268). The news of Khalil in Rachel's house reached Sheik Abbas, the lord of the land. He ordered his men to tie Khalil and bring him to his palace. They did as ordered and and Rachel and Miriam followed him. The Sheik's residence was crowded with people who wished to have a glance not only at the infidel who was expelled from the convent but also the two women who had given shelter to heresy. The Sheik took the seat of judgement and beside him Father Elias. The throng gazed at the pinioned Khalil who stood defiantly in front of them. Rachel and Miriam stood behind Khalil trembling with fear. Sheik Abbas informed Khalil that he was to be tried as a criminal. On hearing this Khalil turned to the crowd and challenged them: "I select you now as my jury, because the will of the people is the will of God. Awaken your hearts and listen carefully and then prosecute me according to the dictates of your conscience" (276-77). Then Khalil poured out his complaints to the crowd: "I have sustained imprisonment, thirst, and hunger for the sake of Truth that hurts only the body. I have undergone suffering beyond endurance because I turned your sad sighs into a crying voice that rang and echoed in every corner of the convent" (278). As Khalil narrated his grievances to Sheik Abbas and the monks, there was a silent understanding in the hearts of the villagers. Sheik Abbas was dismayed at their attentiveness and tried to interrupt but Khalil continued passionately, "God has given you children to rear, to teach them the truth and fill their hearts with the most precious things of existence. He wants you to bequeath upon them the joy of Life and the bounty of Life" (285). Overwhelmed with anger, Khalil said that if he were to be killed that night he would die in peace because, "I have fulfilled my mission and revealed to you the Truth which demons consider a crime. I have now completed the will of Almighty God" (286). Sheik Abbas and Father Elias trembled with righteous indignation because they thought that Khalil was just a rebel and not a good-hearted reformer. Abusing the crowd for listening to Khalil, the Sheik raised a sword towards the fettered youth. Just then a strong villager gripped the Sheik's hand and said, "Lay down your weapon, Master, for he who draws the sword to h11, shall, by the sword, be killed!" (287). As a gesture of rebellion, the oldest of the servants took off his cloak and turban and threw them before the Sheik saying that he does not wish to be his slave anymore. All the servants did the same. The people's faces radiated with joy, symbolic of freedom and truth. One of them untied Khalil and expressed the desire of all: "This fettered youth, whom you have brought here tonight to be tried as a criminal, has lifted our depressed spirits and enlightened our hearts with Truth and Knowledge" (289). Khalil left the place and the crowd followed him as though he possessed a divine power. As the crowd dispersed, he followed Rachel and Miriam to their poor hovel. The villagers rejoiced for they knew that a new spirit had led them into the right path of freedom. Khalil continued to enlighten the villagers for the next two months. Sheik Abbas had a nervous breakdown. He issued commands to his servants but no one listened to him. Father Elias too lost respect. In the meanwhile the love between Khalil and Miriam became known to the people. They were glad because the news assured them of Khalil's continued leadership in the village. At the time of the next harvest, Sheik Abbas had already become a memory. In his absence, each villager harvested his own crop. The huts of the villagers were filled with wheat and corn, wine and oil. Since that year, each villager reaped what he had sowed. The land they tilled became theirs. Half a century passed since that incident. The wretched huts of the past are now comfortable and happy homes surrounded by fertile fields and blooming orchards. On enquiring about Khalil, the villagers would say: "There resides our beloved Khalil, whose life's history was written by God with glittering letters upon the pages of our hearts, and they cannot be effaced by the ages" (298). Honest Khalil had lived courageously and gracefully, and accepted responsibility for the people around him. Imbued with love for them he wanted to make his village a utopian ideal, a community where work and love could be made visible. He conforms to Scott Peck's stipulations for a disciplined person: Courageous people must continually push themselves to be completely honest, yet must also possess the capacity to withhold the whole truth when appropriate. To be free people we must assume total responsibility for ourselves, but in doing so must possess the capacity to reject responsibility that is not truly ours. To be organized and efficient, to live wisely, we must daily delay gratification and keep an eye on the future; yet to live joyously we must also possess the capacity, when it is not destructive, to live in the present and act spontaneously. In other words, discipline itself must be disciplined. (66) "Khalil the Heretic" makes the reader think from several angles to ask Gibran innumerable questions on freedom and truth. Individual liberty was a matter of serious concern for Gibran as shown in "Yuhanna the Mad" and "The Cry of the Graves." The world believes that Gibran's knife-edged attacks were largely responsible for many of the social, political and religious reforms finally undertaken by the rulers of the East. Gibran's feeling for his country and countrymen was very strong. That is why he could write with conviction, the article, "Dead are my People." Two specific works in Spirits Rebellious precipitated drastic official action against him - "The Cry of the Graves" and "Khalil the Heretic." Spirits Rebelliotls was burned in the market place of Beirut, and Gibran was excommunicated from the Church and exiled from the country. In a language unheard of in the past, both works condemned the evils of the Church and State prevailing in early twentieth century. The burning, the exile and the excommunication did not serve the purpose they were meant for. Gibran's attacks grew stronger and he realized the need for a second edition of Spirits Rebellious. Gradually the world became interested in his writings. Years later his exile was remanded and the Church embraced him without conciliation on his part. A mourner who witnessed the funeral procession of Gibran in 1931 states that the ecclesiastical pageantry of the event was beyond description: Hundreds of priests and religious leaders, representing every denomination under Eastern and Western skies, were in solemn attendance. Included were Maronites, Catholics, Shiites, Jews, Protestants, Mohammedans, Greek Orthodox, Sunnites, Druzes, and others. And to render complete, Gibran's restoration to the fold of religion, he was buried in the grotto of the Monastery of Mar Sarhs, his childhood church. (Wolf xix-xx) The passionate ideals expressed in Spirits Rebellious created enemies for him. Some of them aimed at his life. He narrated it to Mary who recorded it in the Journal: "He showed me the scar on his arm that a shot in Paris had given him - a Turkish attempt on his life. . . . He had never told me of that before - the shot was fired too close - and had been a failure" (Jean and Kahlil 306). But threats and plots did not affect Gibran for he happily wore the mantle of a revolutionary even after. As Spirits Rebellious was suppressed by the Syrian government, only 200 copies got into Syria, secretly. The church considered excommunicating Gibran, but the sentence was never actually pronounced (Jean and Kahlil 189-90). Later two representatives of the Patriarch visited Paris and invited him with other Syrians for dinner. He did not want to but when urged he stayed. One of the representatives said to him: You have made a grave mistake - are making a grave mistake. Your gifts you are using against your people, against your country, against your church. The holy Patriarch realizes this. But he does not condemn you. He sends you a special message and loving offer of friendship . . . and now - seek out every copy of the book - destroy them all - and let me take word from you back to Syria and the Church and to the holy Patriarch. (qtd. in Jean and Kahlil 190) Hearing this accusation, Gibran was vehement, Mary records, in her journal on 3 Sept. 1914. He just let himself go, furiously and purposely. "He told his Holiness he had heard all that had been said, before it was uttered. Nothing in it had surprised him. Far from 'returning,' he was working then on a book to be called 'The Broken Wings.' He hoped his Holiness would read it - he hoped the holy Patriarch would read it" (qtd. in Jean and Kahlil 190). Then referring to the new book, he added, "They would see in it how entirely he disagreed with them and how he was advancing as he had begun. And he said Goodnight - did not stay for dinner" (190). Khalil, the mouthpiece of Gibran, gives a serious message for mankind: "True light is that which emanates from within a man, and reveals the secrets of the heart to the soul, making it happy and contented with life" (Spirits Rebellions 255). Believing in The New Testament, Gibran stresses on the "inner pers