Khalil Gibran is a philosopher and a poet and is renowned for his philosophical work, The Prophet. He was born in Lebanon in 1883. His poetry, novellas, paintings and drawings are well known and widely read the world over. Although, Gibran died in 1932, he is still alive in the world of art and literature.
The Broken Wings is a love story of Gibran and Selma Keramy, in which their love clashes with the orthodox traditional behavior of Selma’s father. The story is about the experience of first love and the sufferings which it brings along with it.
Love is an inevitable force of nature and this story depicts how true and passionate love struggles to stand firm against tradition but is eventually defeated. Generally, this book is about how individual desires get crushed in the cruel hands of traditional taboos and social norms.
Selma is the only daughter of Farris Effandi, who is a friend of Gibran. When Gibran goes to meet his friend, he falls in love with his friend’s beautiful daughter. Soon his love is reciprocated and the two begin to meet and spent time with each other. Day by day, their love becomes more affectionate. Unfortunately, before Selma could talk with her father, he accepts the proposal of Mansoor Bey Galib. Galib is a bishop and a corrupt politician. Soon after, Galib and Selma get married. However, Selma’s love for Khalil Gibran never dies and she keeps meeting him in secret. The two lovers are caught by Galib, who forbids Selma from leaving home. Eventually, Selma dies in child birth.
Thus the story ends on the heartrending tone of Gibran’s immortal grief. The Broken Wings is the true and tragic love story of two people, who like two young birds get their wings crushed by the irrevocable taboos of society.
Published in Daily Times, July 31st 2018.