Vahe H Apelian
 |
| Kahlil Gibran, self portrait. First edition of "The Prophet" |
First and foremost, I owe this blog to ARA MEKHSIAN
I thought that with the two blogs I wrote, on the “Did Kahlil Gibran write the poem Fear?” issue, I had put a closure to it, - see the links below.
In those two blogs, I had challenged the notion that Gibran Khalil Gibran, the author of the world-famous book of poetry “The Prophet”, wrote the poem “Fear”. Even though, I had challenged the issue, I made room for anyone, in turn, challenge my notion and lay claim that Kahlil Gibran, in fact, happened to write that none-sense. But here I am, adding a third blog to that sequel and answering the very question I raised, because of what Ara Mekhsian let me know and conclude that, in fact, I was right all along, that Kahlil Gibran did not write the poem “Fear”.
However, I will have to note the following. A Khalil Gibran could have written the poem “Fear”. But Khalil Gibran is not the baptismal, nor the literary name of the author of the famous book of poetry, although he appears to have used the name Khalil Gibran in his works in Arabic. Using the name Khalil Gibran could be a perfectly legal marketing misleading ploy. But, claiming that Kahlil Gibran wrote the poem “Fear” is an outright deception.
With this blog, my third blog and last blog on the matter, I end up answering the question I had posed: "Did Kahlil Gibran write the poem Fear?" and state that no, Gibran Khalil Gibran or Kahlil Gibran did not write the poem "Fear".
I wrote this third and last blog on the issue because because it turned out that my claim had also aroused the interest of Ara Mekhsian, who much like I, did not find the poem “Fear” listed among Kahlil Gibran’s works be it in his translated works.
Ara Mekhsian’s persistence led him to the following.
He found out that the river of the poem “Fear” appears Osho’s (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh) book titled “Beyond Enlightenment”, where the controversial Indian guru wrote the following on բpages 279, 280/541, regarding the river and fear analogy: “It is only in our sleep that we are separate. The moment we are awake we are one. There will be a little fear. It is said that even before a river falls into the ocean, it trembles with fear. It looks back at the whole journey, the peaks of the mountains, the long winding path through the forests, through the people, and it sees in front of it such a vast ocean that entering into it is nothing but disappearing forever. But there is no other way. The river cannot go back. Neither can you go back. Going back is impossible in existence; you can only go forward. The river has to take the risk and go into the ocean. And only when it enters the ocean will the fear disappear because only then will the river know that it is not disappearing into the ocean; rather, it is becoming the ocean. It is a disappearance from one side and it is a tremendous resurrection on the other side. So don't be worried. Things are happening perfectly right for you. You had not come in search of a master, but what to do? A master was in search of you. And now there is no going back. Even if you try to close your eyes, that sleep in which you were living cannot be recalled. And the vastness is not something to be afraid of. It is very friendly, it is very loving. Disappearing into it is almost like finding the womb and its warmth and its nourishment again.”
Quoting Wikipeida, “Rajneesh, also known as Acharya Rajneesh, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, and later as Osho, was an Indian godman, philosopher, mystic, and founder of the Rajneesh movement". He was a controversial new age movement leader, who preached. I quote: “Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (born December 11, 1931, Kuchwada [now in Madhya Pradesh], India—died January 19, 1990, Pune) was an Indian spiritual leader who preached an eclectic doctrine of Eastern mysticism, individual devotion, and sexual freedom.” Many may have seen the documentary about the controversial commune he led in state of Oregon. The poem “Fear”, fits the new-age Eastern mysticism the Inidan guru may have preached and may appeal to some But in literary style, the poem is far cry from Kahlil's poetry in form, and in thought.
Anyone who happens to read this blog as such or in context of the three “Did Kahlil Gibran wrote the poem Fear” blogs sequel, need to ascertain for himself or herself the source of controversial poem “Fear” if the person doubts the veracity of my claim that Kahlil Gibran, the author of the famous book of poetry “The Prophet”, did not write the none-sensical poem “Fear”.
As to Kahlil Gibran and his literary works, I quote George kheirallah, the editor and the translator of Gibran’s “The Procession” wrote, “During the first ten years of his life in New York – the period of the World War – the fame and leadership of Gibran in the Arabic-speaking world grew steadily, spreading from North America, to South America and to the Near East. While the Arabic world learned to recognize him as painter as well as writer, the English-speaking world became aware that he was a writer, as well as a painter. In 1918, at the age of thirty-five he summed up his meditations and philosophy in the “The Procession” expressed in Arabic verse. “The Procession” was the precursor of and ripened into his English “Prophet” at the age of forty. In 1919 he published his fist work in English, “The Madman”; “The Forerunner” followed in 1920 and in 1923 his masterpiece, “The Prophet”. On “The Prophet”, the ultimate expression of his life, Gibran had worked many years. Beautiful in form, creative in thought, it found immediate and lasting favor, ranked among the classics of contemporary English literature; while “The Procession” translated here, is his opus magnus in Arabic poetry.”
***
Links:
Did Kahlil Gibran write the poem “Fear”? – 1/3 – Collected works:
http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2024/07/did-kahlil-gibran-write-poem-fear-1_25.html
Did Kahlil Gibran write the poem "Fear"? - 2/3 - "The Procession"
http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2024/07/did-kahlil-gibran-write-poem-fear-22.html
No comments:
Post a Comment