The Madman: His Parables and Poems (Classics Edition) - Softcover

Gibran, Khalil

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1557421501 ISBN 13: 9781557421500

Publisher: Classics Express, 2010

Synopsis

While most of Gibran's early writings were in Arabic, most of his work published after 1918 was in English. His first book for the publishing company Alfred A. Knopf, in 1918, was "The Madman," a slim volume of aphorisms and parables written in biblical cadence somewhere between poetry and prose. Gibran is considered to be the third most widely read poet in history, behind Shakespeare and Lao-Tzu.

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: Classics Express
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1557421501
• ISBN 13: 9781557421500
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 48