Ameen Rihani Images & Quotations A Glimpse of His Personal Life

Ameen Rihani’s birthplace Family home in Freike, Lebanon

Family home in Freike, Lebanon

West side of the house in Freike, Lebanon

The Rihani Museum in Freike, Lebanon

Ameen Rihani’s bed

His desk, typewriter, and a bronze bust

A young lad who Immigrated to New York in 1888

A young lad

who Immigrated

to New York in 1888

Early 1898 Left to right Standing: Ameen, Saada, As’ad, and Joe. Seated: Ferris, Adèle, and Anissa. (Albert was not yet born)

Early 1898

Left to right

Standing: Ameen, Saada, As’ad, and Joe.

Seated: Ferris, Adèle, and Anissa.

(Albert was not yet born)

Quotations from “the philosopher of Freike” “ Like matter itself, an ideal is mutable, but indestructive. It does not die; it only undergoes a change”

“ Like matter itself, an ideal is mutable, but indestructive.

It does not die; it only undergoes a change”

“ Give much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others”

“ Give much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others”

“ My American walking shoes are new… and my oriental eyes are old”

“ My American walking shoes are new… and my oriental eyes are old”

Rihani published essays and articles in numerous journals, including the Asia magazine series in the 1920s and 30s.

Rihani published essays and articles in numerous journals, including the Asia magazine series in the 1920s and 30s.

“ I deposit in many banks including the bank of wisdom. The more I draw on my accounts, no matter how big the sum, the bigger my balance becomes”

“ I deposit in many banks including the bank of wisdom. The more I draw on my accounts, no matter how big the sum, the bigger my balance becomes”

“ We are not of the East nor of the West; No boundaries exist in our breast; We are free”

“ We are not of the East nor of the West;

No boundaries exist in our breast;

We are free”

A vineyard in Lebanon “ Like the seasons of the year, like history, truth always repeats itself”

A vineyard in Lebanon

“The West for me means ambition, the East contentment. My heart is ever in one, my soul in the other”

“The West for

me means

ambition,

the East

contentment.

My heart is

ever in one,

my soul

in the other”

“ My wish is to live without disliking anyone, To love without being jealous of anyone, To rise without being elevated over anyone, and To advance without stepping on anyone or becoming envious of those above me”

“ My wish is to live without disliking anyone,

To love without being jealous of anyone,

To rise without being elevated over anyone, and

To advance without stepping on anyone or becoming envious of those above me”

“For our country is just beginning to speak, and I am her chosen voice. I feel that if I do not respond, if I do not come to her, she will be dumb forever”

“For our country is just beginning to speak, and I am her chosen voice. I feel that if I do not respond, if I do not come to her, she will be dumb forever”

“ I invite you to travel with me to a land that is magical despite its poverty, to a people that is generous despite its conflicts and disagreements, and to a nation that is free and dignified despite its limitations”

“ I invite you to travel with me to a land that is magical despite its poverty, to a people that is generous despite its conflicts and disagreements, and to a nation that is free and dignified despite its limitations”

“ Will you come with me to the desert? To the vast silences of the desert, where every voice, every note, every sound has its value and charm”

“ Will you come with me to the desert? To the vast silences of the desert, where every voice, every note, every sound has its value and charm”

“ ... If Europe gives Arabia a railway, Arabia gives Europe an idea – which I think balances the account”

“ ... If Europe gives Arabia a railway, Arabia gives Europe an idea –

which I think balances the account”

“ In the Lakes of Light, Love and Will, I would baptize all mankind”

“ In the Lakes of Light, Love and Will,

I would baptize all mankind”

Ameen with his father, Ferris Rihani “ I am one of your adopted children, a beneficiary of democracy, without a grudge or a grievance. I came from the East, from the Holy Land, with a few rusty coppers in my bosom pocket, and my country’s eternal heritage of peace”

“ I am one of your adopted children, a beneficiary of democracy, without a grudge or a grievance.

I came from the East, from the Holy Land, with a few rusty coppers in my bosom pocket, and my country’s eternal heritage of peace”

“Freedom… Carry to the East the dynamism of the West and bring back to the West the Eastern quiescence”

“Freedom… Carry to the East the dynamism of the West and bring back to the West the Eastern quiescence”

A man of peace “ I am by nature a man of peace. And this side of my nature asserts itself today only at home. Peace at home first and foremost, where you are mobilizing your forces and building your ships to secure us a lasting and honorable peace in the world”

“ I am by nature a man of peace. And this side of my nature asserts itself today only at home. Peace at home first and foremost, where you are mobilizing your forces and building your ships to secure us a lasting and honorable peace in the world”

Tributes to Rihani I will not bid you a happy new year but will bid the new year happiness in having you, and I will not wish you what people wish each other, but I will wish for people some of what you possess, for you are rich in yourself and I am rich in you. Kahlil Gibran

I will not bid you a happy new year but will bid the new year happiness in having you, and I will not wish you what people wish each other, but I will wish for people some of what you possess, for you are rich in yourself and I am rich in you.

Kahlil Gibran

Ameen Rihani, poet of the sunrise, has brought out his esoteric romance of East and West, The Book of Khalid . Here is a spirit fresh and creative as the breath of Spring… It is long since I have looked into a book so enchanting with its blended charm of two disparate worlds… Michael Monahan The Papyrus Magazine, New York, Dec. 1911 Tributes to Rihani

Ameen Rihani, poet of the sunrise, has brought out his esoteric romance of East and West, The Book of Khalid . Here is a spirit fresh and creative as the breath of Spring… It is long since I have looked into a book so enchanting with its blended charm of two disparate worlds…

Michael Monahan

The Papyrus Magazine, New York, Dec. 1911

I don’t think that there is, among the Arab contemporary writers, someone whom the European readers can understand as much as they understand Ameen Rihani…If I want to introduce Rihani… I would say that every civilized person ought to know Ameen Rihani. Ignace Kratchkovsky Moscow, Russia, 1917 Tributes to Rihani

I don’t think that there is, among the Arab contemporary writers, someone whom the European readers can understand as much as they understand Ameen Rihani…If I want to introduce Rihani… I would say that every civilized person ought to know Ameen Rihani.

Ignace Kratchkovsky

Moscow, Russia, 1917

Ameen Rihani was to the Arab Nation what Tagore was to the Indians, and what Emerson and Thoreau were to the United States of America. Zaki Najib Mahmoud Cairo, Egypt, 1980 Tributes to Rihani

Ameen Rihani was to the Arab Nation what Tagore was to the Indians, and what Emerson and Thoreau were to the United States of America.

Zaki Najib Mahmoud Cairo, Egypt, 1980

Ameen Rihani, one of the earliest Arab Americans, devoted his life to bringing the East and the West together. “ We are not of the East or the West, ” he wrote. “ No boundaries exist in our breast: We are free .” Kofi Annan UN Secretary-General, 2000 Tributes to Rihani

Ameen Rihani, one of the earliest Arab Americans, devoted his life to bringing the East and the West together.

“ We are not of the East or the West, ” he wrote. “ No boundaries exist in our breast: We are free .”

Kofi Annan UN Secretary-General, 2000

Had it not been for Ameen Rihani, today the richest oil fields in the world (the Arabian Peninsula) would be in British rather than American hands. Leonard Mosley Power Play, New York, 1973

Had it not been for Ameen Rihani, today the richest oil fields in the world (the Arabian Peninsula) would be in British rather than American hands.

Leonard Mosley

Power Play, New York, 1973

“Oh my brother, look up, and behold this World Temple which to us shall be a resting place and not a goal. On the borderline of the Orient and the Occident it is built, on the mountain heights, overlooking both” The Book of Khalid

“Oh my brother, look up, and behold this World Temple which to us shall be a resting place and not a goal. On the borderline of the Orient and the Occident it is built, on the mountain heights, overlooking both”

The Book of Khalid