Pertinent statements about Lebanon and its politicians written in the 1920s by Gebran Khalil Gebran still stand strong to this day and age.
You Have Your Lebanon and I Have My Lebanon delves into a comparison between Gebran Khalil Gebran’s ideal Lebanon and the people in power whose selfishness and greed have defiled the country.
The following are some highlights from his writings depicting what remains the same about Lebanon leading with the following:
“You have your Lebanon and its people. I have my Lebanon and its people.”
#1 The corrupt officials who’ve made Lebanon worst than it ever was
“These are the children of your Lebanon. Is there anyone among them who represents the strength of the towering rocks of Lebanon, the purity of its water, or the fragrance of its air? Who among them vouchsafes to say, “When I die I leave my country little better than when I was born”?”
#2 The Tyrants in power
“They are those who croak like frogs boasting that they have rid themselves of their ancient, tyrannical enemy, but the truth of the matter is that this tyrannical enemy still hides within their own souls.”
#3 The deeds of the leaders
“Verily, I say to you that an olive plant in the hills of Lebanon will outlast all of your deeds and your works; that the wooden plow pulled by the oxen in the crannies of Lebanon is nobler than your dreams and aspirations.”
#4 What has remained of Lebanon amid the political bragging and bickering
“What will remain of your Lebanon after a century? Tell me! Except for bragging, lying, and stupidity? Do you expect the ages to keep in its memory the traces of deceit and cheating and hypocrisy? Do you think the atmosphere will preserve in its pockets the shadows of death and the stench of graves?”
But then Gebran dually reminds us of the beauty of our nation and people, claiming that this is what his Lebanon is:
#5 Our Beautiful Scenery
“My Lebanon is a flock of birds fluttering in the early morning as shepherds lead their sheep into the meadow and rising in the evening as farmers return from their fields and vineyards”
#6 Our noble laborers
“Let me tell you who are the children of my Lebanon. They are farmers who would turn the fallow field into garden and grove. They are the shepherds who lead their flocks through the valleys to be fattened for your table meat and your woolens.”
“They are the vine-pressers who press the grape to wine and boil it to syrup. They are the parents who tend the nurseries, the mothers who spin the silken yarn. They are the husbands who harvest the wheat and the wives who gather the sheaves.”
“They are the builders, the potters, the weavers, and the bell-casters. They are the poets who pour their souls in new cups.”
#7 Our migrating youth
“They are those who migrate with nothing but courage in their hearts and strength in their arms but who return with wealth in their hands and a wreath of glory upon their heads.”
#8 Those who have lifted Lebanon’s name
“These are the children of Lebanon; they are the lamps that cannot be snuffed by the wind and the salt which remains unspoiled through the ages.”
You Have Your Lebanon and I Have My Lebanon.
