Mirrors of the Soul Read Online Free PDF Page B

father with long beard and flowing clothes; this conception remained with the church which supported and financed the work of the great men of the Middle Ages. Gibran, not supported by the church, not affected by any specific style in his childhood, remained free to develop his own style.
    Gibran left few poems because he learned how to write Arabic poetry before he knew how to write English. This has been the case of other Arabic writers in Gibran’s circumstances. According to the rules of Arabic poetry, what we call a poem in English is considered only a rhymed phrase. In other words, if we accept the Arabic rules as standard, the English language has no poetry.
    Gibran wrote most of his Arabic poetry in the early years of his life. Arab poets prided themselves in using words that could be understood only after consulting the dictionary. Gibran’s Arabic poetry opened a new era and new horizons by using short and simple words.
    In his later years, Gibran wrote for English readers. As we have said, according to Gibran’s education, writing poetry in English would be like taking the work of Shakespeare and rewriting it in ordinary language. Hence, we find very little poetry among the voluminous work of Gibran.
    In what poetry he wrote, the philosophy was the same as in his prose. The following translation gives an example of this philosophy:
    â€œDuring the ebb, I wrote a line upon the sand,
    Committing to it all that is in my soul and mind;
    I returned at the tide to read it and to ponder upon it,
    I found naught upon the seashore but my ignorance.”
    One of Gibran’s Arabic poems, The Procession, has been translated into English by two different writers. Comparing the two works we find great variation and we feel that something is missing. If I were to attempt a translation, I could probably do no better. There remains something inherently untranslatable in the basic use of words and language. One of the translators wrote: “By reason of the nebulous, untranslatable character of the Arabic language … it required occasional departure from strict translation in order that Gibran’s mighty message be captured intact.”
    A commentator who knew Arabic has said: “Arabic is a forceful language with a prolific vocabulary of pregnant words of fine shadings. Its delicate tones of warmth and color form with its melodies a symphony, the sound of which moves its listeners to tears or ecstasy.”
    Though we lose some of the forcefulness and melody, even a translation conveys the basic philosophy of Gibran, which reached its peak of expression in the later work, The Prophet .
    The translator, G. Kheirallah, said of this work: “The poem represents the unconscious autobiography of Gibran: Gibran the sage, mellowed beyond his years, and Gibran the rebel, who had come to believe in the Unity and Universality of all existence and who longed for simple, impersonal freedom, merged in harmony with all things.”

7. THE PHILOSOPHY OF GIBRAN
    â€œA philosopher is an ordinary person who thinks more deeply and obstinately than other people.”
    The American philosopher, William James, defines philosophy as “an unusually stubborn attempt to think clearly.”
    The word “Philosophy” comes from Greek and means “love of wisdom.” It is the process of observing the facts and events of life, in both the mental and the physical worlds, with intelligent analysis of their causes and effects, and especially the laws that govern them, for the purpose of deducing sets of general principles and concepts, usually with some practical application of these as a final goal.
    Because we live in such a complex and distracting world, few of us see the effect of the principles of the great philosophers upon our lives, our relations with each other and indeed upon the very concepts we take for granted. For example, even hunger is a much more sophisticated process to man today than in the