Wings of Thought
KAHLIL GIBRAN
WINGS OF THOUGHT
Edited and Translated
By Joseph P. Ghougassian
Philosophical Library
DEDICATED TO my wife Zena and my daughter Yasmine.
Your … real work is beyond what in this generation or perhaps for many generations even you can realize. Only the future can show its scope. And in that day when man is calling the twentieth century an embryonic stage of himself, he will call you like himself. But you when that day comes will still be creating tomorrows.… To you now, what you write and paint expresses mere fragments of your vision. But in time the whole vision will appear in it. For man will learn to see and hear and read. And your work is not only books and pictures. They are but bits of it. Your work is you, not less than you, not parts of you.…
Your silence will be read with your writings some day, your darkness will be part of the LIGHT.
(Miss M. Haskell’s prophecy of Gibran’s fame.
Private Letter, Sunday, November 16, 1913).
CONTENTS
Preface
Table of abbreviations of titles
CHAPTER ONE
A Short History of Lebanon Under the Ottoman Conquest
Footnotes
CHAPTER TWO
Life of Kahlil Gibran
Footnotes
CHAPTER THREE
The Contribution of the Writer
1. The Meaning of Gibran’s Publications
2. Gibran’s Innovation in Modern Arabic Literature
3. The Foreign Influences
Friedrich Nietzsche, The Bible, Buddhism, William Blake,
Footnotes
CHAPTER FOUR
Gibran’s Philosophy of Aesthetics
1. The Essence of Poetry
Truth, the goal of poetry, Inspiration, the mode of poetic thinking, The function of the poet, The fate of the poet in society,
2. The Essence of Art
Gibran’s art, The manifoldness of beauty,
Footnotes
CHAPTER FIVE
Gibran’s Philosophy of Law and Society
1. Humanistic Social Contract
The zeitgeist of modern society, Nature versus artificiality, Spiritual awakening, a remedy, Historical implications,
2. Gibran on the Issue of Law
Scepticism towards man-made law, Absurdity of the laws’ sanctions, Man-made laws and the plea of uniqueness, Natural laws versus manmade laws,
3. Parables on Authority
Footnotes
CHAPTER SIX
Love the Quintessence of Human Existence
1. Eros
Critics of the prevailing misconceptions, Gibran’s sexual life,
2. Agape
Love, the essence of existence, Love is disinterestedness, Love knows no time and no space, Love is stronger than death, Love commands universality, Love, hate, forgiveness, Love gives delicious pain, Love develops genuine bonds of intersubjectivity, Love guarantees freedom, Love and the plea of uniqueness, Conclusion,
Footnotes
CHAPTER SEVEN
Gibran’s Philosophy of Religion
1. Critics of Organized Religion
Simony, Despotism, Machiavellianism, Spiritual distortion, Intrinsic versus extrinsic religion,
2. Nature of Authentic Religion
Home est naturaliter animal religiosum, Is there such a thing as an absolute God?, Faith, Immanence of God, Transcendence of God and God’s relation to man, Death and immortality, Reincarnation,
3. Some Comments on Jesus the Son of Man
Footnotes
CHAPTER EIGHT
Evaluation of Gibranism
1. Weaknesses in Gibran
2. Relevancy of Gibranism
Bibliography of and on Gibran
Index
PREFACE
We find in many countries philosophy and the philosophers divorced from the local culture, customs, ethics and the simple Weltanschauung of the inhabitants. Yet, we also find in many civilizations a complete marriage between the intellectuals and the traditions of the country. One thinks, in this way, for instance, of Indian philosophy, or Mexican philosophy, or African philosophy. Gibran’s trend of thoughts, also, has undergone the process of “acculturation,” meaning that his philosophy has assimilated the culture and beliefs of both the Western and Eastern hemispheres.
The distinction I am getting at, differentiates between a people’s philosopher and a philosopher’s philosophy. The latter is academic, incomprehensible to the average citizen of the world, and quite abstract.
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