The Madman, His Parables And Poems (1918) - Hardcover

Gibran, Kahlil

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1168899613 ISBN 13: 9781168899613

Publisher: Kessinger Publishing, 2010

Synopsis

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

About this title

About the Author

Kahlil Gibran (January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931) was a Lebanese-American artist, poet, and writer of the New York Pen League. Kahlil Gibran was born in the town of Bsharri in the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate, Ottoman Empire (north of modern-day Lebanon), to Khalil Gibran and Kamila Gibran (Rahmeh). As a young man Kahlil emigrated with his family to the United States, where he studied art and began his literary career, writing in both English and Arabic. In the Arab world, Gibran is regarded as a literary and political rebel. His romantic style was at the heart of a renaissance in modern Arabic literature, especially prose poetry, breaking away from the classical school. In Lebanon, he is still celebrated as a literary hero. He is chiefly known in the English-speaking world for his 1923 book The Prophet, an early example of inspirational fiction including a series of philosophical essays written in poetic English prose. The book sold well despite a cool critical reception, gaining popularity in the 1930s and again especially in the 1960s counterculture. Gibran is the third best-selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare and Laozi.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction
You ask me how I became a madman. It happened
thus: One day, long before many gods
were born, I woke from a deep sleep and found
all my masks were stolen, the seven masks I have fashioned
and worn in seven lives. I ran maskless through
the crowded streets shouting:
"Thieves, thieves, the cursed thieves."
Men and women laughed at me and some ran to their
houses in fear of me.
And when I reached the marketplace, a youth standing
on a housetop cried, "He is a madman." I looked up
to behold him; the sun kissed my own naked face for the
first time. For the first time the sun kissed my own naked
face and my soul was inflamed with love for the sun,
and I wanted my masks no more. And as if in a trance
I cried, "Blessed, blessed are the thieves who stole my
masks."
Thus I became a madman.
And I have found both freedom of loneliness and the
safety from being understood, for those who understand
us enslave something in us.
But let me not be too proud of my safety. Even a thief
in a jail is safe from another thief.

Edition details

• Publisher: Kessinger Publishing
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1168899613
• ISBN 13: 9781168899613
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 78