Written Works

 Gladys Baker, "Kahlil Gibran, Syrian Poet-Artist, Tells How, Why He Wrote ‘The Prophet’", The Birmingham News, Sunday, December 11, 1927, p. 19.

I Wandered among the Mountains, The Syrian World, 1, 11, May 1927, pp. 11-12 [digitized by the Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA].

Kalimat Jubran, edited by Antonius Bashir, Beirut: al-Maktabat al-Thaqafia, n.d. [1st edition: al-Qahirah: Yusuf Bustani, 1927].

Letter of Kahlil Gibran to Carolus Verhulst, 10 May 1927

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In 1921, Carolus Verhulst (1900-1985), at that time 21 years old, founded the bookstore/publishing company Servire in The Hague, NL. The name Servire is an allusion to Verhulst's wish that his publishing company would be subservient to humanity. About 1928, he married Elisabeth Duif (1901-1971). Together with his wife, he managed the publishing company until her decease.
Verhulst wanted to run a company which published esoteric and philosophic works. The '20's were not suited for such a policy. As a result, the Servire catalogue had a general nature and contained works on various fields such as art, the Dutch East Indies, esotery, history, nature, novels, philosophy and travelling.
Verhulst was a convinced pacifist. In the early '20's, he was one of the first Dutchmen who resisted draft. This resulted in imprisonment. In the years which preceded World War II, he also published idealistic and pacifistic literature and leaflets.
The publication shortly before the invasion by the Germans in the Netherlands of A.M. Meerloo's Homo militans - de psychologie van oorlog, ziekte en vrede in de mens, in which national-socialism was forcefully condemned, resulted in a conflict between Verhulst and the Germans. They forbade him to publish; he once was threatened with death. With the help of others, he could lay hand on paper and managed to publish. As a security measure, his authors and translators often used a pseudonym.
After the war, Verhulst resumed his publishing activities. From 1967, Servire publishers was seated in Wassenaar, adjacent to The Hague, at the Zijdeweg 5a. In 1976, Verhulst ended his work at Servire publishers. In November 1976, he founded an esoteric/philosophical publishing company, named Mirananda, a company which since 2004 carries the name Synthese. The name Mirananda, a contraction of Mira and Ananda, means: beatitude in love, and shines light upon Verhulst's ideas and ideals.
For many years, Servire publishers remained an independent company. In 1981, Felix Erkelens became in charge of the company. Under his management, Servire publishers became entirely devoted to the publishing of esoteric literature. In April 1999, Servire publishers became part of Veen publishers, Utrecht, NL.

Letter of Kahlil Gibran to Marie Louise Watters (Boston Aug. 28 1927)

"Good morning to you, dear Marie Lousie, and many blessings upon you. I have before me now a kindly number of your letters, and I feel quite rich. You see, I went to the country for a while, and while I was there no letters were forwarded to me. Everybody thinks that I must try and get out of the world as though I have never been in it. And they say that I am not well enough to do anything but lie on my back and be still. They are all stupid! I like the little photographs in your last letter very much. They make you seem quite dashing! The hair is infinitely better and, of course, more becoming. No doubt that at the end of October 'your tresses, like molten gold, falling from heaven to the earth,' will [be] a pleasant sight to the gods of this world--and the gods of other worlds. I am glad you still like the drawing. Who knows, I may make a better one next winter! And if I should do so, you would want it- and I will not give it to you- and that's that!!! Always your faithful Kahlil Boston Aug. 28 1927."

O Mother Mine (Moulaya), The Syrian World, 1, 9, March 1927, p. 13 [digitized by the Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA].

Raml wa-zabad (Sand and Foam), Translated into Arabic by Anṭūniyūs Bashīr, al-Qāhirah: Yūsuf al-Bustānī, 1927 (1st edition).

The Two Hermits, The Syrian World, 2, 4, October 1927, p. 10 [digitized by the Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA].

Three Maiden Lovers, The Syrian World, 2, 2, August 1927, p. 13 [digitized by the Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA].

When my Sorrow was Born, The Syrian World, 2, 6, December 1927, p. 18 [digitized by the Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA].