Original artwork, not a still
Mother: the most beautiful word on the lips of mankind.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Gibran wrote it as a son's tribute inside a story about love and loss, so it reads as a hymn rather than a slogan. It has become one of the most quoted lines for Mother's Day cards and tribute speeches, usually without its deathbed setting.
Context reviewed
In context
May contain spoilersShow the scene
The words come from Kahlil Gibran's novel The Broken Wings, first published in Arabic in 1912. In the English text fetched they sit in Chapter Seven, "Before the Throne of Death". Selma's dying father shows her a small framed picture of her mother. She kisses it and cries out to her, and the narrator then breaks into this praise of the word mother, going on to call her the source of love, mercy and forgiveness. Wording varies between English translations, and the site's line is a shortened form.
Sources (2)
- Poeticous: The Broken Wings, Chapter SevenPassage after the portrait sceneReference checked
- Wikipedia: Broken Wings (Gibran novel)InfoboxReference checked
Context reviewed
