Description

Spirit Brides is classic Gibran with stories that depict life in late nineteenth-century northern Lebanon and serve as Gibran’s vehicle for discussing religious and ethical themes. This book is a collection of three short stories, in which Kahlil Gibran portrays his belief in the overwhelming power of love in human nature. In “The Ash of Centuries and the Immortal Flame,” Gibran describes a love that unites souls beyond time and social restrictions. “Marta al-Baniyah” expresses Gibran’s views on the exploitation of women and the poor. He then makes a cutting commentary on the contrast between the ecclesiastical hierarchy and the simplicity of the teachings of Jesus in his final story, “Yuhanna the Madman.”Juan Cole’s stunning and lyric translation revives Gibran’s passionate stories of spiritual transcendence through love and suffering.

ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR
Juan Cole

REVIEWS
“The three tales represent some of Gibran’s earliest published works and faithfully reproduce the author’s lyrical and dramatic style. These tales are exquisitely wrought works of art that serve to illustrate the ills, joys, and sorrows common to all human societies. Featuring Gibran’s own drawings, many suffused with a surreal quality, the book captures brilliantly the poetic and the realist that co-existed in the author.” ~ Whole Life Times