The Two Learned Men
Once there lived in the ancient city of Afkar two learned men whohated and belittled each other's learning. For one of them deniedthe existence of the gods and the other was a believer.
One day the two met in the marketplace, and amidst their followersthey began to dispute and to argue about the existence or thenon-existence of the gods. And after hours of contention theyparted.
That evening the unbeliever went to the temple and prostrated himselfbefore the altar and prayed the gods to forgive his wayward past.
And the same hour the other learned man, he who had upheld thegods, burned his sacred books. For he had become an unbeliever.
Words in this poem
- amidst prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- unbeliever n.
- One who does not believe; an incredulous person; a doubter; a skeptic.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- wayward a.
- Taking one's own way; disobedient; froward; perverse; willful. [OE. weiward, for aweiward, i. e., turned away. See Away, and -ward.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Two Learned Men is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Madman: His Parables and Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #5616; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Kahlil Gibran, The Two Learned Men, in The Madman: His Parables and Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5616, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gibran-madman/the-two-learned-men.html, id L27313.
About this section
The Two Learned Men is prose, printed in 4 paragraphs. It is part of the edition and is kept for reading, but nothing here is measured: the line breaks are the printer's, so no metre, rhyme scheme or scansion is stated.
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