GIBRAN’S BOOKS PROVIDE TIMELESS SPIRITUAL WISDOM THAT HELP READERS UNDERSTAND LIFE’S STAGES - DR. TAREK CHIDIAC, GIBRAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE FORMER PRESIDENT
Dr. Tarek Chidiac is the immediate past President of the Gibran National Committee. He is a dentist who has been practicing for almost 40 years and a film writer. In this Interview with Wole Adedoyin, he shared with him details about his tenure as former President of GNC and facts he knows about Gibran’s life and works.
WA: HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE KAHLIL GIBRAN TO SOMEONE WHO HAS NOT READ ANY OF HIS WORKS?
TC: Kahlil Gibran is a Lebanese-American writer, poet and artist who has a philosophical interpretation of what human life should be. He raised the morale of building peaceful relationships between individuals and considered love as the only route that leads to human serenity. Gibran was born in Bsharri, North of Lebanon, a village that is known with its Cedar Forest Reserve which is considered the symbol of persistence and strength of the country. He wrote 16 books, of which “The Prophet” is still the most famous one and painted more than 800 paintings. He died in the USA at the age of 48.
WA: IF READERS WOULD LIKE TO READ KAHLIL GIBRAN’S BOOKS, WHAT BOOKS WOULD YOU RECOMMEND?
TC: I would recommend starting with “The Mad man” written by Gibran in 1918. It was Gibran’s first book in English, in which he interpreted his own opinions about major principles of life, followed by “The prophet” Gibran’s most selling book published in 1923 and the masterpiece of a collection of philosophical, spiritual, and above all, inspirational poetic essays. Next, I would recommend his most important book to my opinion, “The Earth Gods” published in 1931 (the year of the author’s death) which presents a dialogue about the meaning of human life between three unnamed earth Gods referred to as the first God, second God and third God.
WA: GIVE US THREE GOOD FACTS TO KNOW ABOUT YOU
TC: I was a member of the Gibran National Committee (GNC) for almost 20 years, and its president from 2010 till 2018. The committee aims to further spread Gibran’s thoughts in Lebanon and Worldwide and holds the exclusive rights to manage the author’s copyrights of his literary and artistic works.
· I organized many international exhibitions of Gibran’s artworks in Lebanon and abroad: Sydney - Australia (2010-2011), Maryland-USA (2012) , São Paulo-Brazil (2013), Sharjah-UAE (2015) , Paris- France (2018) to name a few...
· I am passionate about Gibran Kahlil Gibran and I presented many studies about his life and works, my biggest study was about the reincarnation in Gibran’s beliefs. Although I’m a dentist practicing my job for almost 40 years and a film writer.
WA: WHAT ARE YOU READING RIGHT NOW? ARE THERE ANY AUTHORS (LIVING OR DEAD) THAT YOU WOULD NAME AS INFLUENCERS APART FROM KAHLIL GIBRAN?
TC: I am currently reading “The Introduction” written by the Lebanese philosopher Charles Malek. It is an introduction about the author’s rich life in United Nations, full of activities and views. He was one of the founders of “The human rights Charter”.
Apart from Kahlil Gibran, I personally consider Charles Malek as well as the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre as influencers.
WA: WHICH KAHLIL GIBRAN’S BOOK INFLUENCED YOUR LIFE AND WHY?
TC: Certainly “The Prophet”. This short book has 26 chapters talking about human life. Each chapter expresses Gibran’s thoughts about love, marriage, giving, children, teaching, praying and other social topics. The book provides timeless spiritual wisdom that helped me understand life’s stages.
WA: IF READERS WOULD LIKE TO READ UP ON KAHLIL GIBRAN’S WORKS, ARE THERE ANY BOOKS APART FROM THE PROPHET YOU WOULD RECOMMEND?
TC: All of Gibran’s books are interesting and recommended to be read. His collection of books is very inspirational. Kahlil Gibran was a key figure in a romantic movement that renovated Arabic literature in the first half of the twentieth century, so all his books are considered equally stimulating.
WA: WHICH CHAPTER OF THE PROPHET WAS THE MOST PERSONALLY INTERESTING TO YOU? WERE THERE ANY FACTS OR THEMES THAT YOU WOULD HAVE LIKED TO INCLUDE BUT KAHLIL GIBRAN DIDN’T MAKE INTO THE BOOK?
TC: The most interesting chapter in the Prophet for me is “Love”. When a person has love in his heart he cannot harm his brothers in life. As humans, we cannot get away from love, for love lets us follow our hearts to make a better future. We can survive because of love.
I would have loved to know Gibran’s opinion about “The parents” and how they should raise their children and I wished the poet explained to us his thoughts about “reincarnation”.
WA: WHAT ARE YOUR THREE FAVORITE BOOKS BY KAHLIL GIBRAN AND WHY?
TC: Firstly, “The forerunner” which is considered as a primer to Gibran’s masterpiece “The Prophet”. In fact, these 2 books complete each other and are certainly my favorites. The third one is “The earth Gods” which represents the passionate dialogue between those 3 Gods about human beings.
WA: WHAT MESSAGE WOULD YOU GIVE TO KAHLIL GIBRAN READERS AND LOVERS?
TC: Gibran’s books must be read slowly and with devotion, for his thoughts are deep and sometimes hard to be understood from the first reading. I also recommend trying to apply Gibran’s principles and values in daily life and personal behaviors. When done readers and lovers will certainly feel happy and joyful in their lifetime.
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