I am a great fan of Khalil Gibran. When I adopted my daughter, friends in Puerto Rico sent me his poem on Children - "your children are not your children.".
I have several of his books but The Prophet holds particular meaning and that poem is bookmarked forever.
I will try to obtain one of Fairuz's recordins. Thank you for sharing that!
You know, dear lady, I believe you have been listening to something of Fairuz without knowing it. The link that you posted in one of the posts above that lead to the maronite-heritage.com hymns has a hymn where Fairuz sings a little solo. Unless I'm completely mistaken (always a possibility and even a probability!) I think Fairuz sings the opening solo of the beautiful hymn "The Time Has Stopped". What a magnificagant piece of music! And so very western it's almost funny. You know how we Maronites love taking the best of other cultures and making it our own. Some of the nation patriotic songs sound very, er, European... (as in... well, never mind.) I believe if you go to Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Party website, they have free downloads of Patriotic Lebanese songs. Some are really great -- this one is my favorite. You can definitely hear the French influence in the dialect there. This one is Fairuz singing. Also anything by the Rahbani brothers is wonderful (I think this is one). Fairuz as you may know (as our globe-trotting daughter or Eire, Siobhan, will know) is married to Mansour Rahbani. Assy and Mansour Rahbani are Lebanon's -- and the Middle East in general's-- Gilbert & Sullivan or Rodgers & Hammerstein. Their musicals have traditionally performed every year at the Baalbek Music Festival in the summer held outdoors in the evening among those wondrous Phoenician ruins. When peace comes to Lebanon, and when you finally visit -- as I know you will -- you must see the great Music Festival!
I have never been to Lebanon. But I promise myself that when I do go there, I will attend that festival! And I will see the vineyards where my Sittie (grandmother) played as a little girl.