By Paul Shalhoub

It was only fitting that the Bsharri Association of New South Wales honoured their world famous son by a wonderful evening on Friday 20 th October, followed by a weekend of activities. Kahlil Gibran was born in the stunning village of Bsharri, high in the mountains of North Lebanon at the site of the only remaining “Cedars of God”. Gibran lived the first 12 years of his life there, before emigrating to the United States with his mother and siblings in 1895. Gibran was so fond of Bsharri that he expressed the wish that he be buried there and willed all Amercian royalties from his books to his beloved hometown.

The WLCU were well represented at the event where WLCU GRC President, Sheikh Joe Arida spoke, himself a Bsharri descendent, Mr Pierre El Sokhn who assisted at the event and a number of GRC members attended the the event. WLCU Sydney were also well represented, firstly through their Secretary Petronella Fakhry, a member of the Bsharri Association and heavily involved with organising the event. WLCU Sydney President Dr Shane Geha and his wife as well as V-P Paul Shalhoub attended. The evening was also attended by religious leaders, the Maronite Catholic Bishop Antoine Tarabay, the Melkite Catholic Bishop Robert Rabbat, and the Rev Archmandrite Ephram Abbassi representing his eminence Metropolitan Basilios. Amongst the diplomatic leaders present were the Consul General of Brazil Mr Jorge Kadri and his wife Eza Kadri, Mr John Faker, the Mayor of Burwood, as well as leaders & members of Australian Lebanese Political parties, Town and Village associations, the Australian Lebanese Historical Society, The Maronite Catholic society, and members of the Media.

Caption: Catherine Azzi, Cellist, and Amal Chakty, violinist entertained the crowd with some beautiful Lebanese music.

Caption: GRC President Sheikh Joe Arida addressing the gathering (left) while live music and singing were part of the entertainment (right).

Caption: Prints from The Prophet were framed and on display, along with descriptions.

Caption: Mr Glen Kalem-Habib, of Melbourne, is a world authority on the life of Gibran. Glen provided some highlights of Gibran’s life as well as many interesting facts. Glen had brought much material for the event which was on display.  

 

Caption: A selection of photos and letters were on display, as well as a truly unique edition of The Prophet. The red booklet in the centre of the photo is an edition published by the U.S. Army for its soldiers. 

Caption: A selection of various editions of The Prophet were on display.

Caption: Some rare books were on display, including the black-covered book on the bottom right of the photo. It is the 3^rd printing of The Prophet from August 1924! This book was for sale as Glen has a second copy.