GeorgeNicolasEl-Hage.com
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  • Professional Profile
    • Who is George Nicolas El-Hage
  • Publications
    • "Aqlam Muhajirah" The voice of the New Pen League (NPL)
    • Literary Criticism >
      • Books (English) >
        • A Labor of Love: Our Lebanon Family Home Renovation Project
        • Gibran Kahlil Gibran: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
        • Eliya Abu Madi: The Distinguished Poet of al-Rabita al-Qalamiya
        • A Brief History of Arabic Literature: Volume One: Pre-Islamic to the Abbaasid Age
        • A Brief History of Arabic Literature: Volume Two: Andalusia to the Modern Age
        • William Blake and Kahlil Gibran: Poets of Prophetic Vision
        • Gibran Kahlil Gibran: The Man Versus the Legend
        • Essays on Literature and Language
        • Ibn al-Farid's "Khamriyya" ("Ode on Wine")
        • Nizar Qabbani: Journal of a City Named Beirut
        • Nizar Qabbani: Women in My Poetry and in My Life
        • Nizar Qabbani: My Story with Poetry - "An Autobiography"
        • Nizar Qabbani: Journal of An Indifferent Woman
        • Ghada al-Samman's Beirut '75: An Autobiographical Interpretation
        • English Translation of Selected Letters of Badr Shakir al-Sayyab
        • Khalil Hawi: Letters of Love and Life
        • The Philosoper of Freike, Author of the Greater City
        • Immortal Quotes from Ameen al-Rihani’s Masterpiece The Book of Khalid
        • Ameen al-Rihani: Eastern and Western Figures
        • Ameen al-Rihani’s The Register of Repentance: Four Short Stories and a Play
        • Selected Letters of Ameen al-Rihani: Translated with an Introduction and Notes
        • Ameen al-Rihani: You...The Poets
        • Ameen al-Rihani: My Story with May
        • Ameen al-Rihani: The Muleteer and the Priest
      • Books (Arabic) >
        • al-Zajal al-Lubnani wa Zaghloul al-Damour fi Beit Meri: (Lebanese Zajal and Zaghloul al-Damour in Beit Meri)
        • Madkhal ila-l-'alam al-shi 'ri 'inda Khalil Hawi usluban wa madmunan: (An Introduction to the Poetic Universe of Khalil Hawi)
        • al-Nabi bayna 'adu al-Masih wa al-Insan al-Ilah
        • Sahifat "al-Risala" al-Lubnaniya al-Mahjariya: (The "al-Risala" Newspaper and the Lebanese Press in Diaspora)
        • Gibran Kahlil Gibran wa William Blake: Sha'ira al-Ru'ya: (Gibran Kahlil Gibran and William Blake: Poets of Prophetic Vision)
        • The Trilogy of Heroism, Redemption, and Triumph: The Press in Diaspora, Khalil Hawi, Zaghloul al-Damour
    • Textbooks & Articles on Teaching & Learning Arabic >
      • marHaba III: A Course in Levantine & Modern Standard Arabic (LMSA) >
        • Qasidat Najwa
        • marHaba III: PART ONE Audio Files
        • marHaba III: PART TWO Audio Files
        • marHaba III: PART FOUR Audio Files
      • marHaba II: A Course in Levantine Arabic - Lebanese Dialect - Intermediate Level >
        • A Companion Book to marHaba II: English Translation & Transliteration of All Lessons in marHaba II
      • marHaba: A Course in Levantine Arabic - Lebanese Dialect >
        • marHaba: Practice Workbooks
      • MABROUK: A Course in Modern Standard Arabic (Elementary & Intermediate Levels) >
        • Study Guide: MABROUK
      • The Story of Sami and Warda
      • Reviews on Qasidat Khataya
    • Lebanese Nursery Rhymes
    • Books (Poetry in English/Arabic) >
      • Love Surpassed: A Book of Poetry
      • Letters to My Son: An Immigrant's Saga
      • Lebanese Hymns of Love and War
    • Books (Poetry in Arabic) >
      • Love Poems from Beirut
      • Awdat al-Faris wa Qiyamat al-Madina
      • al-Ghurba wa Mawasim al-Dhalam
      • Law Kunti Li
      • Qasa’id Bila Tarikh (Undated Poems) >
        • Mikhail Naimy: Fathers and Sons - A Play in Four Acts
      • Maw’id wa-liqa’
      • anti wal atfaalu fi Beirut: You and the Children in Beirut
      • You and the Children in Beirut
    • Poems (English) >
      • To Mary Ann with Love: A Book of Poetry
      • Birth of a Princess
      • Forty Years of Bliss
      • Thinking of You
      • You are My Christmas
      • A Poem for Mother's Day
      • To Mary Ann on Her Birthday
    • Poems (Arabic) >
      • Arabic Poems in MSA >
        • Beirut Speaks - song
        • A Tribute to Beirut
        • Lubnaniyat
        • The Garden of Visions
        • Qasidat Najwa >
          • Reviews on Qasidat Najwa
        • Kunna ibtada’na
      • Arabic Poems in Lebanese Dialect >
        • Qasidat Khataya >
          • Reviews on Qasidat Khataya
        • Qasidat Damaar >
          • Reviews on Qasidat Damaar
        • Hilwit libnan
        • Qasidat Ya Bayi' al-ward >
          • Reviews on Qasidat Ya Bayi' al-ward
        • Qasidat Ayloul >
          • Reviews on Qasidat Ayloul
    • My Translations of Other Poets'/Writers' Works >
      • My Poetry (Translated from Arabic to English) >
        • Beirut Speaks
        • The Book of Death, #28
        • Journey of Illusion
        • Letter to a Country With No Frontier
        • A Letter to the Children of Qana
        • My People
        • You, Beirut and the Children
        • Introduction to If You Were Mine
        • Sufiya: A Mystical Poem
        • Surprise Attack
        • Exile
        • Chariot of Light
      • Karam al-Bustani: Eastern Myths
      • May Ziyadeh: The Return of the Wave
      • Said Akl: When Lebanon Speaks
      • Ameen Albert Rihani: A Train and No Station
      • Mikhail Naimy: Job: A Play in Four Acts
      • Mikhail Naimy: Once Upon A Time
      • Mikhail Naimy: Abu Batta and Other Stories
      • Mikhail Naimy: Fathers and Sons - A Play in Four Acts
      • Mikhail Naimy: Inspired by Christ
      • Mikhail Naimy: Sab‘un (Seventy) An Autobiography
      • Mikhail Naimy: al-Ghirbal (The Sieve): Selections Translated into English with an Introduction
      • Tawfiq Yusuf Awwad: “The Qareen” and Other Stories
      • Tawfiq Yusuf Awwad: The Wool Shirt and Other Stories
      • Tawfiq Yusuf Awwad: A Loaf of Bread (al-Raghif)
      • Tawfiq Yusuf Awwad: The Lame Boy and Other Stories
      • Maroun Abboud: Faces and Stories
      • Maroun Abboud: The Red Prince - A Lebanese Tale
      • Maroun Abboud: Tales from the Village
      • al-Rihaniyyat
      • Munajayat Al-Sab‘in
      • Mahmud Darwish’s poem, “Antithesis”
      • ‘Abd al-Wahhab al-Bayati’s: The Byzantine Poems of Abu Firas
      • Gibran’s Unpublished Letters to Archbishop Antonious Bashir
    • Personal Reflections >
      • First Impressions of Lebanon in June 2013
      • The Collapse of a Tradition
  • Professional Activities
    • Lectures
    • Poetry Readings
    • Interviews
    • Conferences
    • Memberships/Committees
    • Management Enrichment
  • Curriculum Vitae
  • Contact Information
                             Ameen al-Rihani:  The Muleteer and the Priest
Al-Rihani’s book, The Muleteer and the Priest, summarizes his position on the clergy and their role. Placed in its proper historical context, this novella is revolutionary in its content, topic and message. It is clear that the muleteer, the immigrant returning from America, is the mouthpiece for the author himself, while the priest stands for all the clergy. In this book, al-Rihani emerges as a social and religious reformer at his best. He ultimately helps Father Yusuf to redeem himself and become a true and enlightened human being, spiritually elevated and morally correct. The muleteer, a prophet in his own right, an honest and enlightened soul, awakens the consciousness of the priest to al-Rihani’s message that recalls the teachings of both Blake and Emerson: “ Everything that lives is Holy,” and “Man is a god in ruins.” The muleteer teaches the priest the true meaning of Christ’s ministry and message. He shows him that organized religion is corrupt and that only true and sincere spiritual enlightenment leads to the Kingdom of Heaven. Every human being is sacred and, as Gibran said: “You are your own priest… the church is within you.” The priest, who would become a muleteer, denounces his old ways and adopts the words of abu Tannous after he realizes that such are the true teachings of the Bible. Abu Tannous, who speaks for the author, also personifies the characters of some prophets of the Old Testament. When under the flame of inspiration and Heavenly Guidance, he reaches the peak of human perfection and becomes capable of performing miracles and causing changes by stepping into history and altering the course of events. He is certainly the forerunner of Khalid, the Enlightened One, who reached his Over Soul, his Greater Self, the God-Head within himself. All the teachings of the American Transcendentalists, of Gibran, Blake, and Naimy, and the message of the New Testament are summoned here and summarized in the voice of abu Tannous (al-Rihani), the clear voice of prophecy that leads to the only path of redemption and salvation. As a Unitarian, Al-Rihani believed that all prophets: “Confucius, Buddha, Zarathustra, Socrates, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, Bahaullah, Mary Baker Edde, and many others” came from one source. Al-Rihani believed that life had no value without its aspiration towards the “Greater Love,” the “Love of Nature, Love of Humanity, and Love of God.” Only such formidable love will liberate us and bring forth the Godliness within us. Our faith in God does not negate our belief in science. It is the mission of science to uncover and solve the spiritual secrets that man can only experience through faith.


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Book available from amazon.com
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