Was Khalil Gibran a Sufi?
Michael & Alison Henry
it out, as my family were Sufis, long ago; and from what I have
learned these past few months, Sufism is the first religion that
is in line with how I have always felt. So now I am on the path
to learn more. Most of the Sufi books that I have obtained are
in Arabic; which I can read, although slowly, as I still need to
look up about a third of the words. My family decided that I
would not learn Arabic, when we came to the US (from B'sherri,
Lubnan), when I was a baby. I was told that we needed to forget
all; and my parents even changed our names, to very American
ones. I have since taught myself Arabic, with the aide of native
Arab friends. They are all muslim, except for one. None of them
are Sufi though. I had been told by a book dealer, that my
favorite writer, Khalil Gibran, was a Sufi; and that his writings
are classified as Sufi. Is this so? I have always been very, very
fond of Gibran, and was unaware that he was (possibly) a Sufi. I
would really like to know. I also love the works of Idries Shah,
whom I know is a Sufi writer. I hope to learn more through this
newsgroup.
Shukran jiddan (Thank you)
Alison/Monterey,CA/7636...@Compuserve.com
Dien Alfred Rice
In article <4cg3ls$891$1...@mhafn.production.compuserve.com>, Michael & Alison Henry <7636...@CompuServe.COM> writes:
[...]
> I had been told by a book dealer, that my
> favorite writer, Khalil Gibran, was a Sufi; and that his writings
> are classified as Sufi. Is this so? I have always been very, very
> fond of Gibran, and was unaware that he was (possibly) a Sufi. I
> would really like to know. I also love the works of Idries Shah,
> whom I know is a Sufi writer. I hope to learn more through this
> newsgroup.
I was in a bookshop yesterday, browsing (a favorite pastime! :)
and I saw an edition of "The Prophet" by Khalil Gibran that
was published last year (1995) by OneWorld Publications.
Anyhow, this had a long (60 or so pages) introduction. I was
leafing through this introduction (as a result of your question
you posted), and according to this introduction, there are
two major influences in Gibran's "The Prophet", which are the Bible
and Sufi teachings. According to the introduction, "The Prophet"
can be considered to be a first-level Sufi text - it contained
all the fundamental Sufi teachings within it. Also, it said
that the main charactor (AlMustafa) in "The Prophet" was a
combination of Jesus and Muhammad (peace be with them).
I haven't read "The Prophet" myself, but according to that
introduction, Gibran was (at the least) strongly influenced
by Sufi teachings. Also, the introduction said that Gibran
had written another book (I think probably in Arabic) where
he had essays on three major Sufis of history - al-Ghazali,
Ibn al-Arabi, and a third one I've forgotten. Anyhow, this
is further evidence of the influence of Sufi teachings on Gibran.
For more info, you might want to check out the book! :)
Peace,
Fred