The Madman

His Parables and Poems

Kahlil Gibran

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780486419114
• eBook ISBN: 9780486112466
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literary Collections
• Index: Literature

Widely known in America as author of The Prophet, which sold more copies in the 20th century than any other book but the Bible, the great Lebanese-American poet and artist Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) first became known to Americans in 1918 with the publication of The Madman.
Thought-provoking and inspiring, the book is a collection of memorable, life-affirming parables and poems, many of them casting an ironic light on the beliefs, aspirations, and vanities of humankind — and many reminiscent of the work of Tagore and Nietzsche, both of whom were strong influences on Gibran.
Among the 35 poems and parables in this volume are "How I Became a Madman," "The Two Hermits," "The Wise Dog," "The Good God and the Evil God," "Night and the Madman," "The Three Ants," "When My Sorrow Was Born," "And When My Joy Was Born," and many more.
The book includes several illustrations by the author, whose exquisite drawings are reminiscent of Rodin and the best of Blake. ". . . the greatest of Arab Romantics and father of a 20th-century Romantic tradition whose impact on Arab writers has been at least as strong as that of 19th-century figures such as Wordsworth and Keats on their English-speaking counterparts." — Dr. Suheil Bushrui, Director of the Kahlil Gibran Chair on Values and Peace, University of Maryland

Table of Contents

Title Page
Copyright Page
GOD
MY FRIEND
THE SCARECROW
THE SLEEP-WALKERS
THE WISE DOG
THE TWO HERMITS
ON GIVING AND TAKING
THE SEVEN SELVES
WAR
THE FOX
THE WISE KING
AMBITION
THE NEW PLEASURE
THE OTHER LANGUAGE
THE POMEGRANATE
THE TWO CAGES
THE THREE ANTS
THE GRAVE-DIGGER
ON THE STEPS OF THE TEMPLE
THE BLESSED CITY
THE GOOD GOD AND THE EVIL GOD
“DEFEAT”
NIGHT AND THE MADMAN
FACES
THE GREATER SEA
CRUCIFIED
THE ASTRONOMER
THE GREAT LONGING
SAID A BLADE OF GRASS
THE EYE
THE TWO LEARNED MEN
WHEN MY SORROW WAS BORN
AND WHEN MY JOY WAS BORN
“THE PERFECT WORLD”

THE THREE ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS VOLUME ARE REPRODUCED FROM ORIGINAL DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOR

You ask me how I became a madman. It happened thus: One day, long before many gods were born, I woke from a deep sleep and found all my masks were stolen, —the seven masks I have fashioned and worn in seven lives,—I ran maskless through the crowded streets shouting, “Thieves, thieves, the cursed thieves.”

Men and women laughed at me and some ran to their houses in fear of me.

And when I reached the market place, a youth standing on a house-top cried, “He is a madman.” I looked up to behold him; the sun kissed my own naked face for the first time. For the first time the sun kissed my own naked face and my soul was inflamed with love for the sun, and I wanted my masks no more. And as if in a trance I cried, “Blessed, blessed are the thieves who stole my masks.”

Thus I became a madman.

And I have found both freedom and safety in my madness; the freedom of loneliness and the safety from being understood, for those who understand us enslave something in us.

But let me not be too proud of my safety. Even a Thief in a jail is safe from another thief.

GOD

IN the ancient days, when the first quiver of speech came to my lips, I ascended the holy mountain and spoke unto God, saying, “Master, I am thy slave. Thy hidden will is my law and I shall obey thee for ever more.”

But God made no answer, and like a mighty tempest passed away.

And after a thousand years I ascended the holy mountain and again spoke unto God, saying, “Creator, I am thy creation. Out of clay hast thou fashioned me and to thee I owe mine all.”

And God made no answer, but like a thousand swift wings passed away.

And after a thousand years I climbed the holy mountain and spoke unto God again, saying, “Father, I am thy son. In pity and love thou hast given me birth, and through love and worship I shall inherit thy kingdom.”

And God made no answer, and like the mist that veils the distant hills he passed away.

And after a thousand years I climbed the sacred mountain and again spoke unto God, saying, “My God, my aim and my fulfilment; I am thy yesterday and thou art my tomorrow. I am thy root in the earth and thou art my flower in the sky, and together we grow before the face of the sun.”

Then God leaned over me, and in my ears whispered words of sweetness, and even as the sea that enfoldeth a brook that runneth down to her, he enfolded me.

And when I descended to the valleys and the plains God was there also.

MY FRIEND

MY friend, I am not what I seem. Seeming is but a garment I wear—a care-woven garment that protects me from thy questionings and thee from my negligence.

The “I” in me, my friend, dwells in the house of silence, and therein it shall remain for ever more, unperceived, unapproachable.

I would not have thee believe in what I say nor trust in what I do—for my words are naught but thy own thoughts in sound and my deeds thy own hopes in action.

When thou sayest, “The wind bloweth eastward,” I say, “Aye, it doth blow eastward” ; for I would not have thee know that my mind doth not dwell upon the wind but upon the sea.

Thou canst not understand my seafaring thoughts, nor would I have thee understand. I would be at sea alone.

When it is day with thee, my friend...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• GOD
• MY FRIEND
• THE SCARECROW
• THE SLEEP-WALKERS
• THE WISE DOG
• THE TWO HERMITS
• ON GIVING AND TAKING
• THE SEVEN SELVES
• WAR
• THE FOX
• THE WISE KING
• AMBITION
• THE NEW PLEASURE
• THE OTHER LANGUAGE
• THE POMEGRANATE
• THE TWO CAGES
• THE THREE ANTS
• THE GRAVE-DIGGER
• ON THE STEPS OF THE TEMPLE
• THE BLESSED CITY
• THE GOOD GOD AND THE EVIL GOD
• “DEFEAT”
• NIGHT AND THE MADMAN
• FACES
• THE GREATER SEA
• CRUCIFIED
• THE ASTRONOMER
• THE GREAT LONGING
• SAID A BLADE OF GRASS
• THE EYE
• THE TWO LEARNED MEN
• WHEN MY SORROW WAS BORN
• AND WHEN MY JOY WAS BORN
• “THE PERFECT WORLD”