Gibran Khalil Gibran''s affection for the writer May Ziadeh lasted for nearly twenty years, with the two men only meeting in the nebulous world of thought, spirit, and imagination. Gibran was residing far and wide, while May was far and wide; he was in America, and she was in Cairo. Gibran''s love was not born of a glance, a smile, a greeting, or a word. Rather, it was a love that grew and developed through a lively literary correspondence and intellectual and spiritual debates that brought together two lonely hearts and two alienated souls, yet they were the closest of kin and the most passionate of lovers. It was very natural for the two heroes of this love to get to know each other through thought and publishing in the early years of this century after each of them had achieved great fame. May was impressed by Gibran''s articles and ideas, so she began corresponding with him after reading his story (Broken Wings), which he published abroad in 1912. She wrote to him expressing her admiration for his thought and style, and from here was the beginning, and then communication through letters in which each of them searched for the spirit of the other in his waking life and dreams. Each of them sought to see himself in the spirit of his companion, as if that spirit was the mirror on whose page the light of the other was reflected.
