In the context of his relentless pursuit to explore Khalil Gibran, the human, and in a bid to satisfy part of the tremendous curiosity about his personality, airs and manners, thoughts and beliefs, ties and friendships, poet and writer Henry Zogheib compiled the gist of a quest he had started towards Khalil Gibran in 1985, into a book entitled Gibran Khalil Gibran- People and Places Bear Witness. Throughout the book, he unveils all the testimonies he was able to obtain from people and friends who knew Khalil Gibran and lived through his era as well as the threads he had picked up as he dwelled in the same places that Khalil Gibran used to frequent. “A silent emotion would wash into my being each time I walked down those streets. On the sidewalks, I would picture the footsteps of a genius from Lebanon trodding seven decades ago towards universal recognition then immortality.”

 

Published in June 2012 by Dergham Printing and Publishing, the second edition of the book teems with vivid images of people and places associated with Khalil Gibran and stops at major nodes in his literary, intellectual and social life. Blending his delicate poetic touch into a dexterous narrative style, Zogheib recounts his encounters with people who knew Khalil Gibran on a personal level, including intellectuals, poets and artists, introducing us to untold stories and memories and unraveling new aspects of the poet’s life. From Andrew Zogheib who translated Khalil Gibran’s books into English, to Monseigneur Mansour Estfan who described him as both an extremely polite and an extremely modest man, to Boutros Harb, the cousin to whom Khalil Gibran bemoaned nostalgia for Lebanon a month before his death, to Elizabeth Davis, the great-niece of Mary Haskell--Gibran’s confidante and editor who deserves the greatest credit for supporting him both morally and financially, Zogheib lent an attentive ear to every tale and detail conjured up in their reminiscence.

 

Having heard the testimonies of people, Zogheib moved to seek testimonies from places and set out to chase the space that Khalil Gibran occupied. He followed Khalil Gibran’s footprints and wandered about the cities, locales and corners where he once dwelled, probing into natural and urban environments in the hope of picking up new clues that would help him unravel new realities about the man who never ceased to amaze him. His quest lead him to pursue Khalil Gibran  in New York, Washington, Philadelphia, Maryland then back in Bsharri and Marjheen.

 

The third and final chapter touches on Gibran’s controversial relationships with women. Zogheib’s book is not only an eloquent quest towards Gibran, backed with testimonies , images and letters, but also serves as a reference tool offering new insights about a Lebanese intellectual who reached the remotest corners of the earth yet remained proud of and faithful to his Lebanon.