Kahlil Gibran

Kahlil Gibran was born in 1883 in the village of Bsharri in the mountains of northern Lebanon, near the ancient cedar groves. His family was poor, and at twelve he emigrated to America with his mother, brother and sisters, living in a slum of Boston. There he came into contact with artistic circles and showed a talent for drawing; he later returned to Beirut to study Arabic literature, and went to Paris to study painting in the circle of Rodin. Within little more than a year his sister, brother and mother all died of illness. He then settled in New York, writing in Arabic and English and painting, and became the leader of the Pen League, the circle of Arab writers in America. He died in New York at forty-eight; his body was carried home and buried in an ancient monastery at Bsharri. He is said to be one of the best-selling poets of all time, after Shakespeare and Laozi.