novel similes — the style by which Gibran was known, and of which he was the first pioneer in Arabic.
Nietzsche, indeed, is fonder of the symbol than Gibran. In his book are metonymies and symbolic phrases which he never tires of repeating, and by which he intends particular things: the "noonday sun," by which he signified ripeness, or the fullness of knowledge; his animals — the serpent, symbol of wisdom; the lion, symbol of strength; the eagle, symbol of loftiness. And there are other symbols in his book which space does not allow us to mention.
In it, too, are tales and dialogues, and a wild, violent imagination, and obscure songs like the murmuring of revelation, which he molds into burning, feverish phrases and hurls forth like volcanic lava. For all this we find no counterpart in the calm, poised style of The Prophet, which runs like gentle streams of silk.
With Gibran, imagery is a means of clarifying the idea, not of veiling it, as with Nietzsche. He says in the chapter on love: "You cannot separate the just from the unjust, nor the good from the wicked. Whoever among you would lift the axe against a tree to fell it in the name of justice must first examine its roots. Verily I say to you, he will find the good roots and the bad, the fruitful and the fruitless, entangled together in the silent heart of the earth. And as a single leaf of the tree does not turn yellow but with the knowledge of the whole tree, so no one of you commits a crime but by your hidden, common will."
The book of The Prophet is sermons on various subjects, fortified with parables and figures. Nietzsche's book, on the other hand, is the story of Zarathustra — the tale of his struggle, his experiences, and his meditations on the mountain heights, where the ideas ferment in his head, and he comes down to spread them among men because he loves them,
because his soul is heavy-laden with its fruits.
And here is a specimen of the splendid songs that reveal to us Zarathustra's inner self — a piece distinguished above the others by its clarity: "The Night Song":
"It is night: all the gushing fountains lift their voices, and my soul too is a gushing fountain.
"It is night: all the songs of lovers awaken, and my soul too is a lover's song.
Within me is something that will not be stilled and will not accept stilling — something athirst to break forth.
Within me is a thirst for love, which speaks the language of love.
Light am I. Ah, would that I
were darkness. How great is my loneliness in this light that floods me. Would that I were dark as the night; then would I fling myself upon the breast of the light and drink of it what I would; and then would I bless the star and the firefly, and rejoice in what they give me of their light.
But I live in my own light. I drink of my own flame. I do not know the happiness of taking, for I have known nothing but giving."
This song reminds us of some of Gibran's songs outside the book The Prophet; for that book, in its mold and its style, shows Gibran's liberation from Nietzsche's influence. As for the differences between them in subject matter, I shall take those up in another inquiry.
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