[Next Project] The Book of Khalid by Ameen Rihani

[Weijia Cheng]

PG: https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/29257

IA: https://archive.org/details/bookofkhalid00riha

Repo: https://github.com/weijia-cheng/ameen-rihani_the-book-of-khalid

This book is presented as a found manuscript. There are seven illustrations by Khalil Gibran in this book and I think that they should be kept as non-decorative. The book is presented as a found manuscript and the illustrations provide context for the fictional epigraphs that open each of the internal divisions. The critical edition of the book preserves the illustrations and has the following commentary on their significance:

> The connection between Rihani’s and Gibran’s work might be said to begin in 1911, when Gibran, at the height of his friendship with the older man, prepared drawings for The Book of Khalid. Seven in number, they comprise the covering title in Arabic and illustrations at the beginning and end of each of the three books. The artwork includes a sphinx with wings, a torchbearer, and human bodies following a leader. According to Ameen Albert Rihani, the illustrations showed that Gibran understood the significance of Khalid’s prophethood (2007, 109); they are also in the same style and show similar motifs to the artwork Gibran employed for his own books. At this stage, Rihani and Gibran were involved in a collaborative project. Apart from their background, the ideas that helped cement their common endeavour were those that underpinned the didactic center of The Book of Khalid and would feature again in The Prophet.

Rihani, Ameen. The Book of Khalid : A Critical Edition, edited by Todd Fine, Syracuse University Press, 2016. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/bu/detail.action?docID=4649097.
Created from bu on 2026-05-28 11:46:22.

[Alex Cabal]

OK, Vince will manage with Robin reviewing.

On 5/28/26 6:47 AM, 'Weijia Cheng' via Standard Ebooks wrote:
> PG: https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/29257
> IA: https://archive.org/details/bookofkhalid00riha
> Repo: https://github.com/weijia-cheng/ameen-rihani_the-book-of-khalid
>
> This book is presented as a found manuscript. There are seven
> illustrations by Khalil Gibran in this book and I think that they should
> be kept as non-decorative. The book is presented as a found manuscript
> and the illustrations provide context for the fictional epigraphs that

> open each of the internal divisions. The critical edition <https://
> press.syr.edu/supressbooks/378/book-of-khalid-the/> of the book

> preserves the illustrations and has the following commentary on their
> significance:
>
> > The connection between Rihani’s and Gibran’s work might be said to
> begin in 1911, when Gibran, at the height of his friendship with the
> older man, prepared drawings for The Book of Khalid. Seven in number,
> they comprise the covering title in Arabic and illustrations at the
> beginning and end of each of the three books. The artwork includes a
> sphinx with wings, a torchbearer, and human bodies following a leader.
> According to Ameen Albert Rihani, the illustrations showed that Gibran
> understood the significance of Khalid’s prophethood (2007, 109); they
> are also in the same style and show similar motifs to the artwork Gibran
> employed for his own books. At this stage, Rihani and Gibran were
> involved in a collaborative project. Apart from their background, the
> ideas that helped cement their common endeavour were those that
> underpinned the didactic center of The Book of Khalid and would feature
> again in The Prophet.
>

> Rihani, Ameen. /The Book of Khalid : A Critical Edition/, edited by Todd
> Fine, Syracuse University Press, 2016./ProQuest Ebook Central/, http://
> ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/bu/detail.action?docID=4649097.

> Created from bu on 2026-05-28 11:46:22.
>

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[Weijia Cheng]

Alright, and is that a go-ahead on keeping the illustrations?

[Vince]

I read the first two epigraphs, and I don’t see anything in them that needs the illustrations, so I would still consider them decorative and therefore cuttable. But I think that’s probably an Alex-level decision. :)

[Weijia Cheng]

While from what I can tell, the book never explicitly refers to the illustrations, the fictional introduction does say "The present Editor was attracted to it by the dedication and the rough drawings on the cover; which, indeed, are as curious, if not as mystical, as ancient Egyptian symbols." The introduction refers to images that don't actually appear in the book, but I think it suggests that the images are part of the literary conceit (this is a found manuscript containing illustrations). But I will defer to whatever Alex ends up deciding.

[Vince]

It suggests that some (unseen) images are part of the literary conceit, but not those images; none of the images match the description the next two sentences describe:

One of these is supposed to represent a New York Skyscraper in the shape of a Pyramid, the other is a dancing group under which is written: “The Stockbrokers and the Dervishes.” And around these symbols, in Arabic circlewise, these words:––“And this is my Book, the Book of Khalid, which I dedicate to my Brother Man, my Mother Nature, and my Maker God.”

So, it describes images that don’t exist, thus the images in the book have nothing to do with the introduction’s images, and the images in the book aren’t referred to in the book, making them decorative.

But yes, I defer to Alex as well.

[Alex Cabal]

OK, given that exploration I agree with Vince that they're decorative
and we can cut them. Reflecting on the commentary you included for the
critical edition, it doesn't really say anything about why they're
inseparable from the work, it just discusses the author's relationship
with Gibran.

On 5/28/26 3:44 PM, Vince wrote:
> It suggests that /some/ (unseen) images are part of the literary
> conceit, but not /those/ images; none of the images match the

> description the next two sentences describe:
>
> One of these is supposed to represent a New York Skyscraper in the
> shape of a Pyramid, the other is a dancing group under which is
> written: “The Stockbrokers and the Dervishes.” And around these
> symbols, in Arabic circlewise, these words:––“And this is my Book,
> the Book of Khalid, which I dedicate to my Brother Man, my Mother
> Nature, and my Maker God.”
>
>
> So, it describes images that don’t exist, thus the images in the book
> have nothing to do with the introduction’s images, and the images in the
> book aren’t referred to in the book, making them decorative.
>
> But yes, I defer to Alex as well.
>
>
>> On May 28, 2026, at 2:55 PM, 'Weijia Cheng' via Standard Ebooks
>> <standar...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
>>
>> While from what I can tell, the book never explicitly refers to the
>> illustrations, the fictional introduction does say "The present Editor
>> was attracted to it by the dedication and the rough drawings on the
>> cover; which, indeed, are as curious, if not as mystical, as ancient
>> Egyptian symbols." The introduction refers to images that don't
>> actually appear in the book, but I think it suggests that the images
>> are part of the literary conceit (this is a found manuscript
>> containing illustrations). But I will defer to whatever Alex ends up
>> deciding.
>>
>> On Thursday, May 28, 2026 at 3:24:52 PM UTC-4 Vince wrote:
>>
>> I read the first two epigraphs, and I don’t see anything in them

>> that /needs/ the illustrations, so I would still consider them

>> decorative and therefore cuttable. But I think that’s probably
>> an Alex-level decision. :)
>>
>>
>>> On May 28, 2026, at 1:35 PM, 'Weijia Cheng' via Standard Ebooks
>>> <standar...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Alright, and is that a go-ahead on keeping the illustrations?
>

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[Weijia Cheng]

For the cover art, I would like to use Baalbec - Ruins of the Temple of Bacchus. The protagonist Khalid is from the city of Baalbek and he camps out in a ruined temple (albeit not this one) at two different times in the book.

[Alex Cabal]

Vince, thoughts?

On 6/21/26 7:50 AM, 'Weijia Cheng' via Standard Ebooks wrote:
> For the cover art, I would like to use Baalbec - Ruins of the Temple of

> Bacchus <https://standardebooks.org/artworks/david-roberts/baalbec-
> ruins-of-the-temple-of-bacchus>. The protagonist Khalid is from the city

> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/>
> > standardebooks/A73B63A1-20F4-4D61-A454-
> E29E2CA43AF6%40letterboxes.org <http://40letterboxes.org>
> > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/standardebooks/
> A73B63A1-20F4-4D61- <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/
> standardebooks/A73B63A1-20F4-4D61->
> > A454-E29E2CA43AF6%40letterboxes.org?
> utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer <http://40letterboxes.org?
> utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>>.

>
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> aa34-e0ea328dde81n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

[Vince]

Sorry, I got a 404 in-between running somewhere with family yesterday, and then forgot to come back to it. I still get the 404.

[Alex Cabal]

Link works fine for me, here it is:
https://standardebooks.org/artworks/david-roberts/baalbec-ruins-of-the-temple-of-bacchus

Search baalbec in the artworks DB

[Vince]

Don’t know; the link in Weijia’s email didn’t work for me. This one does.

The image itself is fine, Weijia, but I’m guessing the titlebar is going to occlude the stuff at the bottom. Don’t know if that matters, but I’ve assigned it anyway.

[Weijia Cheng]

Yes, the plan was actually to cover up the figures on the bottom if possible because they aren't that relevant to the plot of the book.