Lazarus and His Beloved

For 40 years this play by the author of The Prophet has been unseen by the world at large. It is now presented in book form, for the first time, by the author’s relative and name sake — Khalil Gibran, the well-known sculptor, who owns an extensive private collection of his famous cousin’s papers.

Like The Prophet and other works by the same author, this play is written in a unique rhythmic style, one rich in imagery and paradox. As the action progresses, the reader looks into the depths of grief, loneliness — and undying love. Lazarus is susceptible to various interpretations; indeed, some readers may find in it an expression of the author’s grief over the “death” of his extraordinary relationship with his mentor Mary Haskell, and his longing for release into another dimension where their friend would continue endlessly with its original intensity. The cast includes the risen Lazarus, his mother and sisters, and a commentator called The Madman.

An introduction, by the sculptor Gibran and his wife, Jean, reviews the major events in the poet’s life: his childhood years divided between his parents’ native Lebanon and an immigrant home in Boston, his discovery, when 21 years old, by ensued between them; his development as author and artist, and as spokesman included are 12 drawings by the poet Gibran.