Jibran : a Poet-Philosopher

Abstract

Jibran Khalil Jibran was born on January 6,1883 near the Holy Cedar Grove on the edge of Wadi Qadisia (Sacred Valley) in the town of Bishari , Lebanon. His mother Kamilah Rahmeh, the . daughter of a clergyman, named Istiphan Rahmeh, was a widow when she married Khalil Jibran. father of the poet. Kamilah's first husband was Hanna Abdus Salam Rahmeh, by whom she had one son, Boutros, who was six years old when Jibran was born. Jibran's first sister Marinna was born in 1885 and his second sister Sultana was born in 1887.3 In 1897 Jibran, his half-brother Boutros, his mother and his two sisters emigrated to the United States, settling in Boston's Chinatown." while his father remained in Lebanon. Jibran returned to Lebanon in 1897, where he began a course of intensive study at al-Hikmah School. He studied a wide variety of subjects beyond those prescribed in the curriculum and immersed himself in Arabic literature, ancient and modern. He also familiarized himself with contemporary literary movements in the Arab world." . In 1899 during the summer vacation at Bishari, Jibran fell desperately in love with a beautiful young woman. Although there is much conjecture as to the nature of this relationship and the identity of the young woman, it is certain that Jibran found his first love affair both frustrating and disappointing. In the autumn he returned to Boston by way of Paris, and several years later described the unhappy affair in The Broken Wings.