Treasured Writings of Kahlil Gibran (66 page)

In his letters Kahlil Gibran addresses Mikhail Naimy sometimes as “Dear Meesha”—a diminutive for Mikhail. The long trip that Gibran refers to in the following letter was one of his usual trips to Boston where his sister Miriana lived. He also refers to
Al-Funoon,
an Arabic magazine which Gibran started, but which did not last long.

TO MIKHAIL NAIMY

New York,

Sept. 14, 1919

Dear Mikhail:

May God's peace be upon you. I have returned from my long trip and met with our brother Nasseeb and had a long discussion with him about reviving
Al-Funoon,
and the ways and means of securing its future. I interviewed many educated and half-educated people in Boston and New York regarding this matter, but all of the talks stopped at a certain point. The point is this: Nasseeb Arida cannot take the responsibility alone. It is necessary that Mikhail Naimy return to New York and join Nasseeb in the project and put it on a working basis before the intelligentsia and the merchants of New York. By having these two men working together, the confidence of the Syrian people may be gained; for one alone cannot win. An entertainment should be given in New York, and the proceeds would go to the magazine. How can the entertainment be a success when the man who is capable of obtaining speakers and musicians is in Washington? A committee should be formed to start the work. The treasurer must be known to the Syrians in other states who will ask themselves a thousand and one questions before they answer the circular. But who else other than Mikhail Naimy is capable of forming this committee?

There are numerous things, Mikhail, that begin and end with you each time we discuss the subject of
Al-Funoon.
If you wish to revive the magazine, you should come to New York and be the trigger behind every move. Nasseeb is unable to do anything at present, and of all the admirers and well-wishers of
Al-Funoon
in New York, there is no one who is capable of taking the responsibility upon himself. It is my belief that five thousand dollars would be sufficient to guarantee the future of the magazine. However, I presume that a circular without the entertainment would not bring half of the proposed amount. In short, the success of the project depends upon your presence in New York. If your return to New York means a sacrifice on your part, that sacrifice must be considered as placing that which is dear, and offering the important upon the altar of that which is more important. To me the dearest thing in your life is the realization of your dreams, and the most important thing is the reaping of the fruit of your talents.

Write me if you will; and may God protect you for your brother

G
IBRAN

Emil Zaidan was an outstanding scholar and well known throughout the Arabic-speaking world for his great works in the field of Arabic literature. Being a Lebanese and owner and editor of one of the best Arabic magazines in Egypt, he admired Gibran and looked upon him as a genius. He devoted many pages to him in his monthly magazine
Al-Hilal,
the Crescent. It was through this magazine and many others that Gibran won fame and became known as poet, artist, and philosopher.

In the following letter to his friend Zaidan, Gibran speaks of the circumstances that made it necessary for him to work ten hours a day despite his doctor's orders that he work no more than five. Gibran at that time was working on several projects that required many hours of daily work. He tells his friend that there is nothing more difficult than the existence of a strong spirit in a weak body.

TO EMIL ZAIDAN

1919

My Brother Emil:

… My health is better now than it used to be. Yet it is still like a violin with broken strings. What is bothering me most now is that circumstances have placed me in a position that require of me ten hours of daily work while I am forbidden to spend more than four or five hours writing or painting. There is nothing more difficult than the existence of a strong spirit in a weak body. I feel—I am not modest—that I am just at the beginning of a mountain road. The twenty years which I have spent as a writer and painter were but an era of preparation and desire. Up to the present time I have not yet done anything worthy of remaining before the face of the sun. My ideas have not ripened yet, and my net is still submerged in water.

G
IBRAN

In this letter Gibran mentions his two friends, AbdulMasseh and Nasseeb Arida. The former was the owner and editor of
As-Sayeh,
an Arabic newspaper published in New York, and the latter was a famous poet and owner and editor of
Al-Akhlak,
the Character, a monthly magazine published also in New York. Both Abdul-Masseh and Nasseeb were members of Arrabitah, a literary circle limited in membership to ten or thirteen, organized in New York with Gibran as president and Mikhail Naimy as secretary. Other members of Arrabitah were Catzeflis, an intimate of Gibran and an essayist of recognized accomplishments in the field of Arabian thought and literature, Ayoub, Hawie, Rihani, Abu-Mady, Nadra, Alkazin, Bahut, Atalla. Each one of these pioneers from Syria or Lebanon made a worthy contribution to poetry and literature. Gibran was the first of eight now dead. Arrabitah brought about a real renaissance in modern Arabic literature. Many books in Arabic have already been written about it, and many more will be written.

TO MIKHAIL NAIMY

Boston, 1920

My Brother Mikhail:

Peace be unto you and unto your big heart and pure soul. I would like to know how you are and where you are. Are you in the forest of your dreams or in the knolls and hills of your thoughts? Or are you on the top of that mountain where all dreams turn into one vision, and all thoughts into a single ambition? Tell me where you are, Mikhail.

As to myself, I am, between my confounded health and the will of the people, like an out-of-tune musical instrument in the hands of a giant who plays on it strange melodies devoid of harmony. God help me, Mikhail, with those Americans! May God take both of us away from them to the placid valleys of Lebanon.

I have just mailed to Abdul-Masseh a short article for publication. Examine it, brother, and if it is not fit for publishing, tell Abdul-Masseh to keep it for me in an obscure corner until I return.

This article was written between midnight and dawn, and I do not know whether it is good or not. But the basic idea in it is not strange to the subject matter we discuss during our evening gathering. Tell me, how is Nasseeb and where is he? Each time I think of you and him, I feel peaceful, calm and enchantingly tranquil, and I say to myself, “Nothing is vanity under the sun.”

A thousand greetings and salaams to our brethren in the spirit of truth. May God protect you and watch over you, and keep you a dear brother to your brother

G
IBRAN

When Gibran published his Arabic book
The Tempest
in 1920, Naimy came out with an article praising the author and the outstanding works included in the volume.

TO MIKHAIL NAIMY