Kahlil Gibran

Virginia Orbison

1966

KAHLIL GIBRAN(from a letter by V. Orbison to JPL) Lux. 1966

In answer to your request I shall write down for you what I remember having heard, or what I have proof of, about the artist-writer, Kahlil Gibran.

As you know, he is the author and illustrator of the very widely read books "The Forerunner" and "The Prophet", as well as other books whose titles I do not remember. These books have been translated into many languages and the philosophy expressed in them followed by a great number of people, as it is full of great beauty and wisdom. In these books, however, as far as I know, the author does ;not mention the influence of Abdu'l-Baha, (son of Baha'u'llah, Founder of the Baha'i World Faith), and the fact that he attended lectures, classes and meetings held by the Master, when He visited the United States in 1912-1913.

Many Baha'i of that time, and notably Miss Juliet Thompson, a very well-known painter, writer, author, and one of the earliest Baha'is- knew Gibran and some have written about him in connection with the visit of Abdu'l-Baha.

The definite proof that Kahlil Gibran had contact with Abdu'l-Baha is the magnificent portrait in pencil (?) which he made of he Master, showing the great majesty and authority and vision on that wonderful face. It is a three-quarter view of the head, and in the lower left hand corner, it is signed with a very clear neat; Kahlil Gibran, April 1912. I do not know where the original portrait is. Photographic copies were made of it, however, and Dr. and Mrs. Ugo Giachery used to have one hanging in their home in New York City. Dr. Giachery was very moved when he again saw a copy in my house in Lisbon, Portugal. (1956) This copy was given me by Beatrice Irwin when she (and I) were in Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands. (1953) Dr. Giachery knows much of the story of Gibran and Abdu'l-Baha.

One familiar with the Baha'i Writings can easily trace their influence on Gibran, and I have always felt that this story would be of great interest to the millions (perhaps) of followers of Gibran in many parts of the world. It is interesting to know too, that Gibran had planned to write a book on the life of Abdu'l-Baha, but died before this could be realized.

Another interesting connection which later became Baha'i, is what I learned while in Valmont/Montreux, Switzerland in 1949 when there after an illness. In Valmont Clinique I met Mrs. Una Drage, an American woman writer, painter, who was the author of "Una and I" and other books, dealing with her own amazing childhood among scientific parents (Father was Curator of Smithsonian Inst. in Washington), in Washington, and in Hawaii, etc. Her books on her childhood were used by Prof. Hames in his classes on child psychology, so good were they. Well it seems that Una, when a young girl, taught art to groups of children and young students too poor to pay for lessons, or go to art school. Among these students (in the city of Boston?) or New York?- was a young Syrian of about 15, named Kahlil Gibran, recently arrived in America. He was extremely gifted. Una Drage told me quite a lot about him all of which I have forgotten. At that time I knew nothing about the portrait Gibran had made of Abdu'l-Baha. However, she and I talked much of the Faith, she met some Baha'i visitors, especially Honor Kempton, who often visited her after I left, and who was with her when she died (in her seventies) in about 1952,3).

Juliet Thompson wrote a book about Abdu'l-Baha in which she speaks of Kahlil Gibran's presence at Baha'i meetings. Juliet was one of those constantly with him. Biographies of Gibran do not much of these things, if at all. One book, by a woman admirer, which I have read, takes good care NOT to mention it, or Juliet - as her wish was to lay stress of Gibran as a great original poet and thinker.

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