Chapter 47 Preface to The Prophet

After the epoch-making Bandung Conference, hundreds of millions of people in Asian and African countries who had been exploited and oppressed by the colonialists united unprecedentedly under the banner of national independence, and cultural exchanges and economic cooperation between Asian and African countries gradually increased. Frequently, at this time, we Chinese people gradually became familiar with Syria, an ancient civilization in the Middle East. In the war against Egypt, Britain, France, and Israel, the Syrian people, who are closely related to the Egyptian people, stood at the forefront of supporting Egypt's resistance to aggression.We respect them, envy them, and we are more willing to know more about everything in their lives and thoughts.

I recalled that I translated a prose poem by the Syrian poet Kylo Gibran twenty-seven years ago——.This poem deeply attracted me more than twenty years ago!Its writing is fluent and fresh, and its reasoning is profound and thorough, full of the atmosphere of oriental philosophers.Especially in the sections "On Love", "On Marriage", "On Children", "On Work", and "On Law", there are extremely incisive epigrams, which make people never get tired of reading them. After reading such wonderful pieces of Syrian literature, I feel that we really know too little about Syrian literature! (I can only understand this poem because the author wrote it in English.) I sincerely hope that Chinese scholars who are proficient in Arabic can introduce us to more beautiful literature of Syria and the Middle East. Young people go to learn Arabic characters, and in the future, they can introduce Arabic literature in large quantities and systematically.This work is of great benefit to the unity of the people and mutual learning.

The original book was lost during the Anti-Japanese War, and I cannot review it properly again, which I deeply regret.People's Literature Publishing House decided to reprint and publish this poem, because it was written as above.