Khalil Gibran (born Gibran Khalil Gibran bin Mikh?'?l bin Sa'ad was a Lebanese American artist, poet, and writer. Born in the town of Bsharri in modern-day Lebanon (then part of the Ottoman Mount Lebanon mutasarrifate), as a young man he emigrated with his family to the United States where he studied art and began his literary career. He is chiefly known for his 1923 book The Prophet, a series of philosophical essays written in English prose. Gibran is considered to be the third most widely read poet in history, behind Shakespeare and Lao-Tzu. the verse is illustrated by Albert Bierstadt's "Niagara Falls"