On Gibran and the Baha’i Faith: New Information?
By george wesley dannells on Jun 22, 2007 in Baha'i Views
After leaving my comment, I contacted several scholars/historians, and they agreed with my assessment. One also pointed to a column in
http://www.onecountry.org/e152/e15204as_Profile_Bushrui_story.htm
which discusses parts of this issue. Another pointed out that this collection includes materials that Baha’is have not had access to, and perhaps there are notes in his notebooks that do point to Baha’u'llah as partial inspiration for The Prophet.There are Baha’is who are already quite familiar with Princeton’s Special Collections, and no doubt in the next couple years one of them will spend the time to investigate this possibility. -Don C
Yesterday Montana Don said…
I believe this is an urban legend, a Baha’i myth. Gibran was certainly aware of the Baha’i Faith, but I don’t know of any documented evidence that he based the Prophet on Bahá’u'lláh. He did tell Juliet Thompson, who was his neighbor in NYC, that one of his books was inspired by Abdu’l-Baha; but that is as close a connection as I am aware of. -Don C
On Jun 22, 2007, Bill said:
Dr. Suheil Bushrui, a foremost world authority on Gibran and also a Baha’i, would have a perspective on this question. Go take a look at his books about Gibran.
On Sep 28, 2007, SMK said:
see some refs at wikipedia