The Prophet
Reviews
How is it possible for a book to capture all the words that might ever exist in this world? The Prophet feels like it’s ahead of its time, offering wisdom that resonates as much today as it did when it was first written. It’s one of those books I wish I could keep as a handbook—always close by, ready to offer its teachings whenever I need them. Every page feels like a small reminder that life should never be viewed from a single angle; there’s always more beneath the surface, a deeper truth to consider. The way Gibran reflects on these is like the seasons themselves (also as he has written): winter may enclose all things in its cold embrace, but the spring always arrives, reminding us of its blessings. It’s a book that gently nudges you to view the world from multiple perspectives, and it reminds you that the wisdom we seek is often right in front of us, waiting to be uncovered. That’s the feeling I get when reading it.
"To measure you by your smallest deed is to reckon the ocean by the frailty of its foam. To judge you by your failures is to cast blame upon the seasons for their inconsistencies.” *** Finally finished this! My first book for 2022. The book is didactic in nature but it doesn't come off as forceful at all because of its lovely prose poetry. I loved Gibran's authorial voice—it still resonates with readers today despite this book being published in 1923. A timeless classic indeed.
One of those books you keep coming back to read again and again. I didn't feel like i've read a book. Instead, it felt like listening to a close friend, reminding myself about everyday life.
This highly-anticipated novel fails to live up to the hype surrounding it. Rather than offering profound insights or a gripping narrative, the book descends into overwrought theatrics and convoluted plotlines that ultimately amount to little substance. The author's prose veers into the realm of melodramatic excess, leaving the reader struggling to find any semblance of nuance or subtlety amidst the bombastic narrative flourishes. While some may find entertainment in the work's grandiose stylings, discerning readers are likely to be left unsatisfied by what ultimately reveals itself to be a hollow exercise in literary showmanship devoid of genuine depth or impact.
a beautiful experience.
Advised by a friend, wasn't as good as he promised it would be.
Um dos meus livros favoritos
Gibran maestro di saggezza. Un libro che trasmette idee, valori, pone domande ma anche risposte: un viaggio introspettivo che consiglio. Ognuno può trovarci la propria via, oppure trovarne una totalmente nuova dalla quale ripartire. Molto interessanti le parti che riguardano l'amore, la casa e il lavoro. Probabilmente è un libro che deve essere letto più volte per essere capito a pieno. Scrittura raffinata e dai tratti poetici.
This book is a masterpiece filled with metaphorical poetry. It holds many wonderful insights. I received the Dutch translation as a gift. Funny thing is, the final chapter, written by the translator puts the reader's feet back on the ground. Yes, the book is a masterpiece, but the idea you may have of the spiritual American-Arabic writer may be different from who he was in reality. For example, Gibran lived in Boston since he was 12 and eventually left the world as an alcoholic. The translator, Désanne van Brederode, writes about her own life and her experience growing up in a new-age environment where the search for spirituality was colored by glimpses of hypocrisy. At the same time, she explains how true spirituality was found in corners where you would least expect it. This, in my opinion, was the most beautiful and eye-opening concluding chapter of any spiritual book I've read to date.
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.
One of the more pompous books I've ever read. Read Taleb's Bed of Procrustes instead; he's actually from a couple villages over.
A literary masterpiece. So much beauty and wisdom, in just the right length.
The Prophet has been on the books my heart has treasured the most for decades. I read it twenty years ago and I kept coming back to read its chapters on love and marriage every now and then. To the point that some of the metaphors are fire-branded in me as the cypher to understand deep and wise relationships.
I don't think i'll ever change my rating
A Magical book which can change your life.
Can definitely tell why it's a classic (thanks, Joseph Quinn!)
أول مرة أقرأ لجبران لكنها مبشرة جدا أسلوبه سلس وقوي ومعبر وشاعري ولا يخلو من عاطفية ورومانسية المصطفي كان لسانه في رواية النبي الصوفي متاكدة هقرأ لمرة ثانية
إن الفلسفه هى تنشيط للفكر..و الشعر هو تنشيط للروح و الجمال..عندما يستطيع شخص ما ان يصل الى نتيجة الفكر الفلسفى تجاه الحياه ثم يغلفه بأعذب الكلمات و أروع الجمل فتلك هى قمة العبقريه و هذا ما ستجده فى هذا الكتاب، ليس كل فصل او كل فقره فى ذلك الكتاب ستتوقف عندها للتأمل و التفكير بل كل جمله ستجعلك تسبح فى بحار الفكر و تتنقل بين جزره فى محاوله للبحث عن شاطىء روحك، قد يوهمك عدد صفحاته القليله بأنه كتاب يسهل الانتهاء منه بسرعه و سهوله ولكن الحقيقه ان هذا الكتاب سيستغرق منك وقتا طويلا حتى تقرأه فقط، لكن لكى تستوعبه و تهضمه فستحتاج الى قرآته كثيرا و طويلا، إن لم تكن مستعدا للتأمل و التفكير و البحث عن مفاتيح الحياه فلا تبدأ فى هذا الكتاب و اشغل نفسك بقراءة روايه مليئه بالأحداث المشوقه لكى تهرب من الواقع، لمزيد من التوضيح ليس أكثر..النسخه التى قرأتها هى ترجمة "أنطونيوس بشير"
The flow of the words just wowed me and i wandered repeatedly. I had this book for almost one and a half year but couldn't read it. But after all while listening to this [ https://youtu.be/UtcZwDOvSkg ] it made me read it. Let me read it once more for an honest review.
3.75/5 i am probably going to re-read one day to fully grasp everything some chapters were really good, others i wished i could just completely skip. the writing was beautiful the language itself was nice but something feels off, I'm not too sure what though. overall, my thoughts of "the prophet" kept going up and down by every line so yes, I'll re-read sometime later in life, maybe I'll like it more then
The Prophet is an extended piece of poetic prose following an unnamed prophet who has been in the city of Orphalese for a time and is about to voyage home. However, before he leaves them, the people of the city ask him to speak on a multitude of subjects, from love and marriage to reason and pain to eating and crime. I liked the framework, but the words of the prophet on each of these different topics is where Gibran’s writing shone the brightest. I was reminded strongly of the biblical Book of Proverbs, though The Prophet had more of a purposeful flow to it. There was a lot of wisdom to be found here, and a lot of philosophical thoughts to contemplate. The book felt far older than it truly is; there was a timeless quality to the writing and the subjects addressed that made the work seem both ancient and ageless. There were passages that felt repetitive, but that also helped hammer home some of the points being made. Some lines were truly beautiful, and it’s easy to see why this work has stood the test of time, and easy to believe that it will continue to do so. The Prophet felt remarkably religious for a work not tied to any particular religion. I like this little book would be a wonderful gift for a believer in any of the monotheistic religions, or a nonbeliever who asks big questions and likes to contemplate faith even though they haven’t committed to one. Basically, if you believe that there’s an intelligent Designer out there, whether you know in your heart Who that is or aren’t sure you can ever truly know, and you like to ponder big ideas through the lens of monotheism, then Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet belongs on your shelf.
Gave me a glimpse of a world that revolves around respect and logical morality. So, obviously, I loved it. Puts everything into perspective.
Simple and elegant poems
One of the most impactful and best written texts I’ve ever read. Something I reread every few years, and first read in middle school or high school. I think anyone could appreciate the text. I’m not religious but get something out of it every time.
Highlights
Almitra spoke, saying, We wo eath. ae said: would know the secret of death- ow shall you find it unless you ife? owl whose night-bound eyes a annot unveil the mystery ot ligk u would indeed behold the spm ar heart wide unto the body of ife and death are one, even a re one. pth of your b ge of the h ike seg eams t th
elders of the city said, Speak to Evil. ed: you I can speak, but not of the ew vil but good tortured by its o od is hungry it seeks food even hen it thirsts it drinks even of de n you are one with yourself. are not one with yourself you house is not a den of thieves; i 1se. thout rudder may wander aimle- les yet sink not to the bottom. en you strive to give of yourselt. ot evil when you seek gain for yc - 72
a scholar said, Speak of Talking. he answered, saying: when you cease to be at peace with y you can no longer dwell in the solit t you live in your lips, and sound is a a pastime. much of your talking, thinking is h ght is a bird of space, that in a cage ndeed unfold its wings but cannot fly. 10Se among you who seek the talkat of being alone. ce of aloneness reveals to their eyes th and they would escape. e are those who talk, and without knou hought reveal a truth which they them understand. e are those who have the truth with ey tell it not in words. 68
You are good in countless ways, and you are not evil when you are not good:
For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining- and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction. Therefore let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion, that it may sing, And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrec- tion and, like the phoenix, rise above its own ashes.
When you are sorrowful, look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping, For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Surely there is no greater gift to a man than that which turns all his aims into parching lips and all life into a fountain.
Who can separate his faith from his actions, or his belief from his occupations? Who can spread his hours before him, saying, "This for God and this for myself - this for my soul and this other for my body?" All your hours are wings that beat through space from self to self. He who wears his morality but as his best garment were better naked: The wind and the sun will tear no holes in his skin.
Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror - But you are eternity and you are the mirror.
The timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness, And knows that yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream- And that that which sings and contemplates in you is still dwelling within the bounds of that first moment which scattered the stars into space.
And when you can no longer dwell in the solitude of your heart, you live in your lips, and sound is a diversion and a pastime. And in much of your talking, thinking is half murdered, For thought is a bird of space, that in a cage of words may indeed unfold its wings but cannot fly.
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.
For the reason, ruling alone, is a force confining - and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to it's own destruction. Therefore let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion, that it may sing. And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection and, like the phoenix, rise above its own ashes.
And if it is a despot you would dethrone, see first that his throne erected within you is destroyed. For how can a tyrant rule the free and the proud but for a tyranny in their own freedom and a shame in their own pride? And if it is a care you would cast off, that care has been chosen by you rather than imposed upon you.
And when one of you falls down, he falls for those behind him - a caution against the stumbling stone. Ay, and he falls for those ahead of him who, though faster and surer of foot, yet removed not the stumbling stone.
Verily the lust for comfort murders the passion of the soul, and then walks grinning in the funeral.
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears. And how else can it be? The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven? And is not the lute that soothes your spirit the very wood that was hollowed with knives? When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
But if you in your pain call birth an affliction and the support of the flesh a curse written upon your brow, then I answer that naught but the sweat of your brow shall wash away that which is written.
When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music.
All you have shall some day be given: Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors.
Is not dread of thirst when your well is full the thirst that is unquenchable?
You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.