The Storm brings together fourteen short stories and prose poems from Gibran's Arabic writings that exhibit several characteristic Gibran themes: the injustice perpetrated by society against the poor, the weak, and the sincere; nature and its destruction by man; and the purity and innocence of young love. John Walbridge's clear, sensitive, and fluent translation provides us with an inspired and faithful approach to one of the twentieth century's most beloved authors.
Excerpt From the Book And you, my humble friends, martyrs to the laws of man. You are wretched, and your wretchedness is the result of the outrages of the mighty, of the injustice of the judge, of the tyranny of the rich, and of the selfishness of the slave to his desires. Do not despair, for beyond the injustices of this world, beyond matter, beyond the cloud, beyond the aether, beyond all things is power which is all justice, all kindness, all tenderness, all love. You are like flowers that grow in the shadow. Soon gentle breezes will blow and carry your seeds into the light of the Sun where they will live a life of beauty. You are like the naked trees weighed down with the snows of winter. Soon the spring shall come to clothe you with green and succulent leaves. Truth shall rend the veil of tears concealing your smiles. Brethren, I welcome you and I despise your oppressors.