Kahlil Gibran Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931), a poet, philosopher, and an artist was born in Lebanon, a land which has produced many prophets. The millions of Arabic speaking people, familiar with his writing consider him a genius of his age. However, his fame and influence was not limited to the Near East only, but far beyond these borders. His poetry has been translated into more than twenty languages. His drawings and paintings have been exhibited in the great capitals of the world and compared by Auguste Rodin to the work of William Blake. In the United States, which he made his home for the last twenty ye