Commentary

This sentence from the chapter On Friendship defines the friend as the person who meets one's deepest needs, and it is among the book's most compact formulations of companionship. Gibran's wording suggests that friendship is a response to a felt lack, a reciprocal fulfilment in which two people answer each other's longing. Suheil Bushrui has noted that the chapter combines a Platonic idea of the friend as complement with a Christian ideal of tenderness and service, and that this line condenses both. Mikhail Naimy's account of the close friendship between himself and Gibran, which lasted decades and was conducted largely through letters, gives the sentiment a documented context. Virginia Hilu's collection of letters includes Gibran's warm and dependent correspondence with his friends, which illustrates the need the line describes. The sentence can appear too neat when read alone, but within the chapter it is qualified by Gibran's emphasis on the friend's presence as a source of growth. The English wording is secure and verifiable in the first edition.