“.الحب لا يعطي إلا ذاته، ولا يأخذ إلا من ذاته، وهو لا يَملِك ولا يُملًك، فحسبه أنّه الحب” “Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself, Love possesses not nor would it be possessed: For love is sufficient unto love.” —Extract from The Prophet
Khalil Gibran was a Lebanese artist, poet, and writer, born in Lebanon in 1883. He died in the United States in 1931 but left a lasting legacy on the literature world.
Ziade was a Lebanese poet, translator, orator, essayist, and critic. She was born in Palestine in 1886 to a Lebanese father and a Palestinian mother. Though the two never met, Ziade shared a lasting love affair that extended over two decades with Khalil Gibran through letters exchanged between the writers. Ziade died in 1941.
“لولا الحب ما تذوق الإنسان سعادة الوجود ولا انتشى بخمرة الحياة” “If it wasn’t for love, mankind wouldn’t have tasted the happiness of being nor felt exhilarated by life’s liquor.” —Extract from The book of Mirdad.
Born in 1889, Na’ima was a longtime friendship of Khalil Gebran and wrote his biography. Na’ima is best known for writing The Book of Mirdad.
“كلُّ قصيدةٍ هي بدايةُ الشعر كلُّ حبٍّ هو بدايةُ السماء” “Every poem is a beginning of poetry and every love is a beginning of paradise.” —Extract from the book Al-Walima (The Banquet)
Ounsi El-Hage is a Lebanese poet born in 1937. Since 1954, El Hage has published numerous short stories, essays and poems in literary magazines. He currently writes for Al-Akhbar newspaper.
“إن كنت لا تعرف الحب ، فما يجديك شروق الشمس أو غروبها ؟” “If you’re ignorant of love, what good are sunrises and sunsets to you?” —Extract from the novel, Samarkand
Amin Maalouf was born in Lebanon in 1949. He worked as the director of the Beirut-based daily newspaper An-Nahar until 1975, when he moved to Paris, which became his permanent home. Maalouf received the Prix Goncourt in 1993 for his novel The Rock of Tanios and won the Prince of Asturias Award for literature in 2010.