The Book of Khalid
Encyclopedia
The Book of Khalid is a novel by Arab-American writer Ameen Rihani. Composed during a sojourn in the mountains of Lebanon
, it is considered to be the first novel by an Arab-American writer in English. His contemporary, Khalil Gibran
, illustrated the work, and the story is often seen as an influence on Gibran's own well-known book The Prophet
.
, and he helped establish some of the earliest Arab-American literary societies. He published a collection of select quatrains of the poet Abul-'Ala into English in 1903 and wrote various essays and poetry in Arabic. In 1905, however, he returned to Lebanon and lived for a number of years in "mountain solitude." Yet he was not completely isolated and during this stay he lectured at local universities and released a number of essays, plays, and poems in Arabic. In 1910, he published Ar-Rihaniyat, a collection of essays that was positively received in the region and gave Rihani a strong reputation as a leading Arab intellectual. During this period, he also worked on The Book of Khalid, which, according to its final page, was finished at his home in Freike on January 12, 1910. The caption reads:
IN . FREIKE . WHICH . IS . IN . MOUNT . LEBANON
SYRIA . ON . THE . TWELFTH . DAY . OF
JANUARY . 1910 . ANNO . CHRISTI . AND . THE
FIRST . DAY . OF . MUHARRAM . 1328 . HEGIRAH
THIS . BOOK . OF . KHALID . WAS . FINISHED
In 1911, Rihani returned to New York and sent the manuscript to publishers. When Dodd Mead and Co. received the text, it reportedly consumed their offices more than another other manuscript received at the time. In an era when the increasingly diverse nature of immigration to the United States was a popular topic, the book was marketed as an evaluation of U.S. institutions by an immigrant that would appeal to "clever readers." Although the novel was not an extraordinary success in terms of sales, it received highly affirming reviews in journals like The Bookman
and The Papyrus.
The narrator speaks directly to "the Reader," elaborating the story's progression from the different sources available to him. The novel is highly descriptive and poetical in style, and the central characters are thoroughly developed. Rihani deploys numerous italicized Arabic words, and the work has been perceived as linking Western and Eastern literary forms. There are constant references to Western and Middle Eastern philosophers, writers, and intellectuals. Poetry, often attributed to the characters, is interspersed throughout the novel. There is also a wry and satirical humor deployed throughout the work, and Rihani's personal perspective on the merits of the protagonist's expressions can be difficult to ascertain at times.
in Lebanon (at the time, the Syrian province of the Ottoman Empire
) who migrate together to the United States, coming by ship through Ellis Island
and enduring the classic "Via Dolorosa
" of an immigrant. They move into a wet cellar in the Little Syria community of Lower Manhattan near Battery Park
and begin to peddle counterfeit Holy Land
trinkets and religious items throughout the city, a typical Arab endeavor in America. While Shakid, although himself a poet, is focused and accumulates savings through peddling, Khalid becomes distracted and turns away from commercial activity toward frantically consuming Western literature and participating in the New York City intellectual and bohemian scene. At one point, he burns his peddling box, decrying the dishonesty of their sales.
After exhaustion from reckless "bohemian
" pursuits, Khalid shifts towards party politics when he is offered the position of a functionary and ward for the Arab community in the machine politics of the city
. However, Khalid insists on moral purity in his political work, causing conflict with his "Boss." As a result, he is jailed for a brief time of ten days (Shakid helps secure his release) under the charge of misapplying public funds. The two decide to return to Lebanon before long, and Khalid then shifts back to intense peddling for a time, paying off his accumulated debts and earning funds for return passage.
Describing the result of their return, Christoph Schumann has stated that "the subsequent course of events mirrors the progress of his American experience: spiritual retreat, political activism, and persecution." Khalid soon engages in a series of actions that anger Maronite clerics in his home city. He refuses to attend church services and spreads pamphlets and ideas seen as heretical. Moreover, he presses his wish to marry Najma, a young cousin, but Church leaders refuse to grant consent. As result of the growing conflict, Khalid is excommunicated, Najma is forced to marry another, and Khalid moves to the mountain forests and starts to live as a hermit.
During this period of exile, he contemplates nature and integrates lessons learned in America with his views on the cultural and political dilemmas of the Arab world. He evolves into a self-identified "voice" for the Arabs, and chooses to return to spread his views on liberation from the Ottoman empire and on the importance of religious unity and scientific progress. Khalid travels to different cities engaging in political and spiritual speech, periodically writing letters to Shakib. During his travels, Khalid meets an American Baha'i woman named Mrs. Gotfry with whom he discursively engages on questions of love and religion. He travels to Damascus
where he speaks in the Great Mosque about his views of the West and of religious tradition, producing a riot and prompting the Ottoman authorities to pursue his arrest. He flees with Mrs. Gotfry to Baalbek, where he meets Shakib and learns that Najma, along with her young son, is abandoned and now ill. All together (Khalid, Mrs. Gotfry, Najma, her son, and Shakib), they flee to the Egyptian desert to escape the Ottoman authorities. After an idyllic period in the desert of several months, Mrs. Gotfry and Shakib leave. Najma's son, Najid, dies suddenly of an unexpected illness, and Najma relapses and follows him in death in her grief. Khalid disappears and does not contact Shakib; his whereabouts are unknown.
and with religious intolerance and conflict. Like Rihani himself, who synthesized two distinct cultures perhaps more than almost any other writer of the time, Khalid, having experienced America (and considered its strength and weaknesses) during his stay of several years, returns and develops a philosophy that engages the Arab public directly. He is continually frustrated with America's materialism and inconsistent pursuit of its stated ideals, but he still believes that America represents a powerful force in the world's future evolution and that the Arab world can learn from its political ideals, relative respect for religion, and embrace of science and progress. Although these expressions result in his own persecution, he emerges as a modern prophet with a combined political, cultural, and spiritual message.
's television show "What's Happening?", moderated by Will Youmans
and other hosts, had a segment on the novel with Todd Fine in 2009, a Harvard graduate who has digitized the work and entered it into Project Gutenberg
. With a follow-up effort called "Project Khalid," he intends to create a new educational education of the novel and promote the anniversary in 2011.
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, it is considered to be the first novel by an Arab-American writer in English. His contemporary, Khalil Gibran
Khalil Gibran
Khalil Gibran Jubrān Khalīl Jubrān,Jibrān Khalīl Jibrān, or Jibrān Xalīl Jibrān; Arabic , January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931) also known as Kahlil Gibran, was a Lebanese American artist, poet, and writer...
, illustrated the work, and the story is often seen as an influence on Gibran's own well-known book The Prophet
The Prophet (book)
The Prophet is a book of 26 poetic essays written in English by the Lebanese artist, philosopher and writer Kahlil Gibran. It was originally published in 1923 by Alfred A. Knopf. It is Gibran's best known work...
.
Background
In his twenties around the turn of the century, Rihani was actively involved in the cultural scene of New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and he helped establish some of the earliest Arab-American literary societies. He published a collection of select quatrains of the poet Abul-'Ala into English in 1903 and wrote various essays and poetry in Arabic. In 1905, however, he returned to Lebanon and lived for a number of years in "mountain solitude." Yet he was not completely isolated and during this stay he lectured at local universities and released a number of essays, plays, and poems in Arabic. In 1910, he published Ar-Rihaniyat, a collection of essays that was positively received in the region and gave Rihani a strong reputation as a leading Arab intellectual. During this period, he also worked on The Book of Khalid, which, according to its final page, was finished at his home in Freike on January 12, 1910. The caption reads:
IN . FREIKE . WHICH . IS . IN . MOUNT . LEBANON
SYRIA . ON . THE . TWELFTH . DAY . OF
JANUARY . 1910 . ANNO . CHRISTI . AND . THE
FIRST . DAY . OF . MUHARRAM . 1328 . HEGIRAH
THIS . BOOK . OF . KHALID . WAS . FINISHED
In 1911, Rihani returned to New York and sent the manuscript to publishers. When Dodd Mead and Co. received the text, it reportedly consumed their offices more than another other manuscript received at the time. In an era when the increasingly diverse nature of immigration to the United States was a popular topic, the book was marketed as an evaluation of U.S. institutions by an immigrant that would appeal to "clever readers." Although the novel was not an extraordinary success in terms of sales, it received highly affirming reviews in journals like The Bookman
The Bookman (New York)
The Bookman was a literary journal established in 1895 by Dodd, Mead and Company. It drew its name from the phrase, "I am a Bookman," by James Russell Lowell; the phrase regularly appeared on the cover and title page of the bound edition. It was purchased in 1918 by the George H. Doran Company. In...
and The Papyrus.
Structure and style
The novel is presented as a "found manuscript," a mechanism that recurs in other Arab-American fictional works. The narrator pieces the history together from an Arabic manuscript found in the Khedivial Library of Cairo and from interviews and the texts of other figures involved. The novel is divided into three books, dedicated in order "to Man," "to Nature," and "to God." Each section begins with an illustration by Gibran and a philosophical statement attributed to the protagonist Khalid.The narrator speaks directly to "the Reader," elaborating the story's progression from the different sources available to him. The novel is highly descriptive and poetical in style, and the central characters are thoroughly developed. Rihani deploys numerous italicized Arabic words, and the work has been perceived as linking Western and Eastern literary forms. There are constant references to Western and Middle Eastern philosophers, writers, and intellectuals. Poetry, often attributed to the characters, is interspersed throughout the novel. There is also a wry and satirical humor deployed throughout the work, and Rihani's personal perspective on the merits of the protagonist's expressions can be difficult to ascertain at times.
Plot
The novel, which is intensely autobiographical as Rihani himself immigrated as a child, tells the story of two boys, named Khalid and Shakib, from BaalbekBaalbek
Baalbek is a town in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, altitude , situated east of the Litani River. It is famous for its exquisitely detailed yet monumentally scaled temple ruins of the Roman period, when Baalbek, then known as Heliopolis, was one of the largest sanctuaries in the Empire...
in Lebanon (at the time, the Syrian province of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
) who migrate together to the United States, coming by ship through Ellis Island
Ellis Island
Ellis Island in New York Harbor was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States. It was the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. The island was greatly expanded with landfill between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the...
and enduring the classic "Via Dolorosa
Via Dolorosa
The Via Dolorosa is a street, in two parts, within the Old City of Jerusalem, held to be the path that Jesus walked, carrying his cross, on the way to his crucifixion. The current route has been established since the 18th century, replacing various earlier versions...
" of an immigrant. They move into a wet cellar in the Little Syria community of Lower Manhattan near Battery Park
Battery Park
Battery Park is a 25-acre public park located at the Battery, the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City, facing New York Harbor. The Battery is named for artillery batteries that were positioned there in the city's early years in order to protect the settlement behind them...
and begin to peddle counterfeit Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
trinkets and religious items throughout the city, a typical Arab endeavor in America. While Shakid, although himself a poet, is focused and accumulates savings through peddling, Khalid becomes distracted and turns away from commercial activity toward frantically consuming Western literature and participating in the New York City intellectual and bohemian scene. At one point, he burns his peddling box, decrying the dishonesty of their sales.
After exhaustion from reckless "bohemian
Bohemianism
Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits...
" pursuits, Khalid shifts towards party politics when he is offered the position of a functionary and ward for the Arab community in the machine politics of the city
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society...
. However, Khalid insists on moral purity in his political work, causing conflict with his "Boss." As a result, he is jailed for a brief time of ten days (Shakid helps secure his release) under the charge of misapplying public funds. The two decide to return to Lebanon before long, and Khalid then shifts back to intense peddling for a time, paying off his accumulated debts and earning funds for return passage.
Describing the result of their return, Christoph Schumann has stated that "the subsequent course of events mirrors the progress of his American experience: spiritual retreat, political activism, and persecution." Khalid soon engages in a series of actions that anger Maronite clerics in his home city. He refuses to attend church services and spreads pamphlets and ideas seen as heretical. Moreover, he presses his wish to marry Najma, a young cousin, but Church leaders refuse to grant consent. As result of the growing conflict, Khalid is excommunicated, Najma is forced to marry another, and Khalid moves to the mountain forests and starts to live as a hermit.
During this period of exile, he contemplates nature and integrates lessons learned in America with his views on the cultural and political dilemmas of the Arab world. He evolves into a self-identified "voice" for the Arabs, and chooses to return to spread his views on liberation from the Ottoman empire and on the importance of religious unity and scientific progress. Khalid travels to different cities engaging in political and spiritual speech, periodically writing letters to Shakib. During his travels, Khalid meets an American Baha'i woman named Mrs. Gotfry with whom he discursively engages on questions of love and religion. He travels to Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
where he speaks in the Great Mosque about his views of the West and of religious tradition, producing a riot and prompting the Ottoman authorities to pursue his arrest. He flees with Mrs. Gotfry to Baalbek, where he meets Shakib and learns that Najma, along with her young son, is abandoned and now ill. All together (Khalid, Mrs. Gotfry, Najma, her son, and Shakib), they flee to the Egyptian desert to escape the Ottoman authorities. After an idyllic period in the desert of several months, Mrs. Gotfry and Shakib leave. Najma's son, Najid, dies suddenly of an unexpected illness, and Najma relapses and follows him in death in her grief. Khalid disappears and does not contact Shakib; his whereabouts are unknown.
Major theme
The central theme of the novel is the attempt to reconcile the culture and values of "the West" and "the East," a universal concern's in Rihani's work, and, indeed, entire approach of life. Khalid ruminates constantly on the merits and future destiny of America, which he connects to the Arab world in their own struggles with the Ottoman empireOttoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and with religious intolerance and conflict. Like Rihani himself, who synthesized two distinct cultures perhaps more than almost any other writer of the time, Khalid, having experienced America (and considered its strength and weaknesses) during his stay of several years, returns and develops a philosophy that engages the Arab public directly. He is continually frustrated with America's materialism and inconsistent pursuit of its stated ideals, but he still believes that America represents a powerful force in the world's future evolution and that the Arab world can learn from its political ideals, relative respect for religion, and embrace of science and progress. Although these expressions result in his own persecution, he emerges as a modern prophet with a combined political, cultural, and spiritual message.
Centennial Anniversary
2011 is the centennial anniversary of the novel's publication, which has been seen as significant given the attributed merit of the work and its notability as the first Arab-American novel. As a result, there has been an attempt to publicize and promote the work, which many believe to have been understudied, especially in comparison with the extraordinary popular The Prophet. The Arab Radio and Television NetworkArab Radio and Television Network
Arab Radio and Television Network is an Arabic-language television network characterized by its multitude of channels. It is based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The company was founded in October 1993 by Saleh Abdullah Kamel, a Saudi businessman...
's television show "What's Happening?", moderated by Will Youmans
Will Youmans
Will Youmans is a Palestinian American writer and activist.-Education:Youmans graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor's degree in political science in 2000. In 2003, he graduated from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law with a Juris Doctor degree...
and other hosts, had a segment on the novel with Todd Fine in 2009, a Harvard graduate who has digitized the work and entered it into Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...
. With a follow-up effort called "Project Khalid," he intends to create a new educational education of the novel and promote the anniversary in 2011.