Pour réaliser cette anthologie, Jean-Pierre Dahdah a recherché dans toute l'oeuvre de Khalil Gibran, en anglais ou en arabe, ainsi que dans sa correspondance, les joyaux de sa pensée, les passages fulgurants, les textes éclairants, les maximes et adages utiles à notre existence et à notre réflexion. Cette sélection est articulée selon le plan même de son chef-d'oeuvre, Le Prophète , afin de rester proche des thèmes chers au poète, thèmes majeurs qui l'ont fasciné toute sa vie durant. Ce recueil nous propose donc les textes essentiels qui nous permettent de mieux comprendre l'originalité profonde de l'inspiration de Khalil Gibran.
Kahlil Gibran (Arabic: جبران خليل جبران) was a Lebanese-American artist, poet, and writer. Born in the town of Bsharri in modern-day Lebanon (then part of Ottoman Mount Lebanon), as a young man he emigrated with his family to the United States where he studied art and began his literary career. In the Arab world, Gibran is regarded as a literary and political rebel. His romantic style was at the heart of a renaissance in modern Arabic literature, especially prose poetry, breaking away from the classical school. In Lebanon, he is still celebrated as a literary hero. He is chiefly known in the English-speaking world for his 1923 book The Prophet, an early example of inspirational fiction including a series of philosophical essays written in poetic English prose. The book sold well despite a cool critical reception, gaining popularity in the 1930s and again, especially in the 1960s counterculture. Gibran is the third best-selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare and Lao-Tzu.