Chandler Paul Gordon - In search of a prophet: a spiritual journey with Kahlil Gibran

Praise for

In Search of a Prophet

Paul-Gordon Chandler takes us on a profound spiritual journey into the life and work of one of the most famous and beloved poets, Kahlil Gibran, showing us how this timeless poet is a much-needed guide for our times. In his hands, Kahlil Gibran becomes an intimate friend.

Reza Aslan, author of No god but God and Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth

Paul-Gordon Chandler has done us a great service by writing this wonderful book. Part travelogue through the many places Kahlil Gibran lived, part journey through the artists great works, it all comes together in a way that gives us powerful glimpses into the inner life of a spiritual giant.

Eboo Patel, founder and president, Interfaith Youth Core; author of Acts of Faith and Interfaith Leadership

In Search of a Prophet is a profound look at Kahlil Gibrans prophetic voice for peace and reconciliation during his lifetime. Paul-Gordon Chandler movingly demonstrates how Gibran, through his life and writings, issued a timeless call to respect all peoples and their religious traditions equally, thereby serving as an indispensable guide for our times.

Ambassador Rabbi David N. Saperstein, former US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom

Here Paul-Gordon Chandler artfully traces the contours of Khalil Gibrans lifea life which transcended so many of the divides we human beings erect among ourselves. In a world increasingly fraught with voices calling us toward power and away from each other, this book arrives as a balm and an incitement to continue the important work of healing the world.

Rev. Dr. Amy Butler, senior minister, Riverside Church, New York

Paul-Gordon Chandler brilliantly captures the universal spirituality of the beloved poet Kahlil Gibran as we journey with him to discover how the Levant, his birthplacethe land of Mosess Sacred Valley, Jesuss Mount of Olives, and Mohammads mosque of Al Aqsaand early disappointments influenced his art and poetry. In Search of a Prophet is revelatory and a true inspiration for those seeking to build bridges, not walls.

Imam Mohamad Bashar Arafat, president, Islamic Affairs Council of Maryland and Civilizations Exchange and Cooperation Foundation

In this deeply spiritual look at the life of Kahlil Gibran, Paul-Gordon Chandler opens us to a voice more relevant to our times than when his work appeared years ago. Chandlers biography rings with the same grandeur and deep insight present in Gibrans poetry, and it is pleasant to read and nourishing to digest. With our world so deeply suspicious and divided, Chandlers look at Gibran offers us a biographyand a spiritualitythat displays a vision of our common humanity. It is a great inspiration during times like these.

Rev. James Winkler, president and general secretary, National Council of Churches

In Search of a Prophet

A Spiritual Journey with Kahlil Gibran

Paul-Gordon Chandler

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

Lanham Boulder New York London

Published by Rowman & Littlefield

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Copyright 2017 by Rowman & Littlefield

Cover image: Kahlil Gibran (American, born Lebanon, 18831931) Ameen Rihani, c. 19101915

Ink on paper 6/ 5 inches, Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, GeorgiaGift of Mary Haskell Minis, 1950.8.35

All rights reserved . No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available

Names: Chandler, Paul Gordon, author.

Title: In search of a prophet : a spiritual journey with Kahlil Gibran / Paul-Gordon Chandler.

Description: Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017010944 (print) | LCCN 2017030939 (ebook) | ISBN 9781538104286 (electronic) | ISBN 9781538104279 (cloth : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Gibran, Kahlil, 1883-1931. | Authors, ArabLebanonBiography. | Authors, ArabUnited StatesBiography.

Classification: LCC PJ7826.I2 (ebook) | LCC PJ7826.I2 Z587 2017 (print) | DDC 811/.52 [B]dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017010944

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

For I know in my heart that the Supreme Poet wrote but one poem.

Kahlil Gibran, Sand and Foa m

Kahlil Gibran, Sand and Foam, in The Collected Works (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007), 218.

To my daughter and son, Britelle and Treston,

who are truly le choix du roi ,

whose presence in my world

brings sheer joy, beauty, and inspiration

Introduction

God has placed in each soul an apostle to lead us upon the illumined path.

Yet many seek life from without, unaware that it is within them.

Kahlil Gibran, Spiritual Saying s

I first heard of Kahlil Gibran through Jihad , my friend at boarding school in Cte dIvoire. Jihad was a Muslim of the Lebanese diaspora in West Africa. He brought a little black book titled The Prophet back to school after one of our much-loved holiday breaks and raved about it. Coming from a Christian family and growing up in the Muslim country of Senegal, I naturally assumed the book was about Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, and therefore as a teenager expressed little interest in its content. Yet I recall being immensely curious as to how this small book had so captivated my high school friends attention.

Years later, when just out of university, I remember an American friend being given this same little book for his birthday by his mother, who introduced its author as a Christian. Having had the previous experience with Jihad in high school, I found myself correcting her, telling her that the author was instead from a Muslim background. While she had been told otherwise, she believed that I was more of an expert, since I had grown up in a Muslim country, and expressed her gratitude for being set straight, as she didnt really know much about the author either and didnt want to lead others astray.

That experience immediately began to haunt me, as I knew I had spoken out of a knowledge I did not really have. Who was Kahlil Gibran? While millions have read his most popular book, The Prophet , most would be hard-pressed to share much about him. As Alexandre Najjar, one of his contemporary biographers, writes, He is the most famous stranger on earth, a name without a face, a writer without a legend.

Kahlil Gibran, born Khalil Gibran in 1883 in the mountains of Lebanon, is certainly not easily defined or categorized. His life, writings, and paintings mute distinctions, whether they are religious, literary, or artistic. However, this has not stopped untold numbers of scholars, academics, biographers, religious leaders, New Age gurus, artists, and filmmakers from claiming him as their own, putting their labels on him, or attempting to interpret him through their respective lenses.