The Prophet

by Kahlil Gibran

Overview

The Prophet is a book of 26 poetic essays written in English in 1923 by the Lebanese-American artist, philosopher and writer Khalil Gibran. In the book, the prophet Almustafa who has lived in the foreign city of Orphalese for 12 years is about to board a ship which will carry him home. He is stopped by a group of people, with whom he discusses many issues of life and the human condition. The book is divided into chapters dealing with love, marriage, children, giving, eating and drinking, work, joy and sorrow, houses, clothes, buying and selling, crime and punishment, laws, freedom, reason and passion, pain, self-knowledge, teaching, friendship, talking, time, good and evil, prayer, pleasure, beauty, religion, and death.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9788172343545
Publisher:	Prakash Books
Publication date:	04/01/2017
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	7.87(w) x 4.92(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Kahlil Gibran was a Lebanese-American artist, poet, and writer, born in 1883 in Lebanon and died in New York in 1931. As a young man he emigrated with his family to the United States where he studied art and began his literary career. In the Arab world, Gibran is regarded as a literary and political rebel. His romantic style was at the heart of a renaissance in modern Arabic literature, especially prose poetry, breaking away from the classical school. In Lebanon, he is still celebrated as a literary hero.

Read an Excerpt

ON LOVE
 
Then said Almitra, Speak to us of Love.
 
And he raised his head and looked upon the peo­ple, and there fell a stillness upon them. And with a great voice he said:
 
When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.
 
 
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
 
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
 
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
 
 
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God’s sacred feast.
 
 
All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life’s heart.
 
 
But if in your fear you would seek only love’s peace and love’s pleasure,
 
Then it is better for you that you cover your na­kedness and pass out of love’s threshing-floor,
 
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
 
 
• • •
 
 
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
 
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
 
For love is sufficient unto love.
 
 
When you love you should not say, “God is in my heart,” but rather, “I am in the heart of God.”
 
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
 
 
Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ec­stasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

Table of Contents

The Prophet 1

The Coming of the Ship 3

On Love 11

On Marriage 15

On Children 19

On Giving 23

On Eating and Drinking 27

On Work 29

On Joy and Sorrow 33

On Houses 35

On Clothes 39

On Buying and Selling 41

On Crime and Punishment 45

On Laws 51

On Freedom 55

On Reason and Passion 59

On Pain 61

On Self-Knowledge 65

On Teaching 67

On Friendship 69

On Talking 71

On Time 73

On Good And Evil 75

On Prayer 79

On Pleasure 83

On Beauty 87

On Religion 91

On Death 95

The Farewell 99

Editorial Reviews

"Cadenced and vibrant with feeling, the words of Kahlil Gibran bring to one's ears the majestic rhythm of Ecclesiastes... If there is a man or woman who can read this book without a quiet acceptance of a great man's philosophy and a singing in the heart as of music born within, that man or woman is indeed dead to life and truth." —Chicago Post

From the Publisher

Throughout my life, I have returned to the book [The Prophet] many times, and its words have always nourished my heart and my soul ... To each of us who have experienced this book, Gibran has given us an enduring and priceless gift.

Salma Hayek-Pinault

The inimitable line of Zeina Abirached offers a dream setting for Gibran’s poetic wisdom.

Amin Maalouf