Someone somewhere once said: "Perfectionists achieve great things in life. But it is the people close to them who suffer." Rest Upon the Wind, a play inspired by the life and times of Khalil Gibran, shows us that this great visionary was no different.
One of the world's best-selling poets and the author of The Prophet, a book, according to the BBC, that still "stands alongside the Bible as one of the best-selling books of all times", Khalil Gibran remains a giant in the world of literature.
A man who mixed with the intellectual elite of his time from WB Yeats to Carl Jung to August Rodin, a man whose words inspired The Beatles, John F Kennedy and Indira Gandhi, Gibran has been called a sage and a seer. We hear his verses at weddings, graduations and funerals, his exquisite language having inspired so many of us over the years, his quotes having lit our paths, time and time again, in times of darkness. Yes, there is definitely something in his poetry that nourishes our souls.
But Rest Upon the Wind, the theatrical production that played to packed houses during a recent run in Dubai and is now on its way to Abu Dhabi for one performance on Monday night at Emirates Palace, invites us to take a closer look at his personal life and ask, just how spiritually-nourishing was his presence to those closest to him?
Gibran once wrote: "It is well to give when asked, but better to give unasked, through understanding". These are poignant words and yet we learn through his sister Miryana, throughout the play, that Gibran, himself, was not much of a giver.
In one especially powerful scene, she accuses him of being selfish and emotionally unavailable. A family of Poor Lebanese Christian immigrants in the US, she describes how she toiled day and night to earn money as a seamstress while he played the tormented genius. She explains how she nursed their dying mother, brother and sister single-handedly while he hobnobbed with intellectuals, not even returning for their funerals. She cries because she dreams of a life of her own, but is instead reduced to the role of his caregiver.
We learn about the role of Mary Haskell, a wealthy, older woman who supported him, emotionally and financially, in his intellectual pursuits. She was much more than a mentor, although they never married. Less known, however, is the character of Micheline, a French teacher and a journalist who posed for one of his paintings.
When it comes to Khalil Gibran's dysfunctional relationships with those closest to him, it is difficult not to compare him to other "great" men who have faced similar challenges. We have all heard of August Rodin, the French sculptor who soared to fame because of his innovative ways of depicting the human form. What is lesser known, however, is the role of a young female sculptor and romantic interest called Camille Claudel, who not only posed for him, but actually made many of the sculptures he took credit for. As his fame rose, he left her for another woman. We see her devastation in the French film Camille Claudel, in which she is then admitted to a mental asylum where she eventually dies.
Similarly, we all know and respect Mahatma Gandhi, the great Indian leader who transformed the soul of a nation. What is less known, however, is his troubled relationship with his eldest son, Harilal. Through the Indian film Gandhi Was My Father, we learn about a man who freed a nation but was less than kind to his own son. Crumbling under the shadow of a father who was harsh, rigid and critical with his own son while purporting to be the father of independent India, Harilal eventually succumbed to the effects of alcoholism.
Without a doubt, Gandhi Was My Father, Camille Claudel and Rest Upon the Wind all belong to a genre of art that is unsettling for many because of its candour. But it is important to remember that showing historical figures as being human does not diminish their work or their good deeds. Instead, it helps us empathise with the challenges they once faced.
After all, the object of good art is to make us think. And - if we are lucky - maybe even to help us to realise something about our own selves.
Tickets for Rest Upon the Wind, Saturday at Emirates Palace, cost between Dh195 and Dh500. They can be purchased through www.gibrantheplay
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The bio
Job: Coder, website designer and chief executive, Trinet solutions
School: Year 8 pupil at Elite English School in Abu Hail, Deira
Role Models: Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk
Dream City: San Francisco
Hometown: Dubai
City of birth: Thiruvilla, Kerala
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Trippier bio
Date of birth September 19, 1990
Place of birth Bury, United Kingdom
Age 26
Height 1.74 metres
Nationality England
Position Right-back
Foot Right
Cheeseburger%20ingredients
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Profile
Company name: Jaib
Started: January 2018
Co-founders: Fouad Jeryes and Sinan Taifour
Based: Jordan
Sector: FinTech
Total transactions: over $800,000 since January, 2018
Investors in Jaib's mother company Alpha Apps: Aramex and 500 Startups
Most%20ODI%20hundreds
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Ipaf in numbers
Established: 2008
Prize money: $50,000 (Dh183,650) for winners and $10,000 for those on the shortlist.
Winning novels: 13
Shortlisted novels: 66
Longlisted novels: 111
Total number of novels submitted: 1,780
Novels translated internationally: 66
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
