Kahlil Gibran

  Kahlil Gibran’s masterpiece, The Prophet, is one of the most beloved classics of our time. Published in 1923, it has been translated into more than twenty languages, and the American editions alone have sold more than nine million copies.
 The Prophet is a collection of poetic essays that are philosophical, spiritual, and, above all, inspirational. Gibran’s musings are divided into twenty-eight chapters covering such sprawling topics as love, marriage, children, giving, eating and drinking, work, joy and sorrow, housing, 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.

The Prophet

"Featuring twelve full-page drawings by Kahlil Gibran"--page 4 of Cover.

morgan

Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host, and then a master? 

Ay, and it becomes a tamer, and with hook and scourge makes puppets of your larger desires. 

Though its hands are silken, its heart is of iron. 

It lulls you to sleep only to stand by your bed and jeer at the dignity of the flesh. 

It makes mock of your sound senses, and lays them in thistledown like fragile vessels. 

Verily the lust for comfort murders the passion of the soul, and then walks grinning in the funeral. 

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. 

And some of your elders remember pleasures with regret like wrongs committed in drunkenness. 

But regret is the beclouding of the mind and not its chastisement. 

They should remember their pleasures with gratitude, as they would the harvest of a summer. 

Yet if it comforts them to regret, let them be comforted. 

You give much and know not that you give at all. 

Verily the kindness that gazes upon itself in a mirror turns to stone, 

And a good deed that calls itself by tender names becomes the parent to a curse. 

Isha Fathima 

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

Nica Rhiana

Benjamin

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.

Liana

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.



annalyse! 

Dopo alcuni anni trascorsi in terra straniera, Almustafa (ovvero l&'eletto di Dio), sente che è giunto il momento di fare ritorno all&'isola nativa. In procinto di salpare egli affida al popolo della città di Orphalese un prezioso testamento spirituale: una serie di riposte intorno ai grandi temi della vita e della morte, dell&'amore e della fede, del bene e del male. Pubblicato a New York nel 1923, &"Il Profeta&" viene subito accolto con grande favore di pubblico soprattutto presso i giovani, i quali vedono in Gibran un maestro di saggezza. A distanza di tanti anni l&'interesse è rimasto immutato: silloge che abbraccia i problemi fondamentali dell&'esistenza, il capolavoro del poeta libanese è anche libro di notevole fascino. Il clima sospeso e rarefatto, il ritmo incantatorio di una scrittura lirica di presa immediata, incisiva e visionaria, l&'incontro tra due opposte culture, l&'orientale e l&'occidentale, sono la cifra di uno stile inconfondibile.

Il profeta

Simone Felisati

Advised by a friend, wasn't as good as he promised it would be.

Khalil Gibran

Mais que um livro, "O profeta" é uma maravilhosa viagem espiritual. Apresentando um conjunto de meditações sobre temas universais como o amor, a morte, a família e a esperança, este grande clássico já foi traduzido em mais de 40 idiomas e é um dos livros mais lidos e amados do século XX. É considerado a obra prima do escritor, artista, filósofo e místico libanês Gibran Khalil Gibran (1883-1931).

O Profeta

Sam Marxz

Silvia Lucchini

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.

Thomas Torfs

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.

Julia Rivera

Gavin

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.

Nast Marrero

Translated into more than twenty languages, The Prophet, a treasury of counsel on human life, has given uplift and balm to millions around the world. Author Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931), Lebanese poet, philosopher and artist, accompanies the work with his visionary drawings. Gibran's Prophet speaks, among many things, of eating and drinking, work and play, possessions, crime, and love and death - haunting words of wisdom in a masterpiece likely to be with us always.

Nour Bassiouny

Hrishikesh Bhaskaran

A Magical book which can change your life.

Can definitely tell why it's a classic (thanks, Joseph Quinn!)

(Bre)anne✨

Maryam Mostafa

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

Kareem ElBatrawy

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"

Raihan Khan

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.

laila

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

Almustafa, the chosen and the beloved, who was a dawn unto his own day, had waited twelve years in the city of Orphalese for his ship that was to return and bear him back to the isle of his birth. And in the twelfth year, on the seventh day of Ielool, the month of reaping, he climbed the hill without the city walls and looked seaward; and he beheld his ship coming with the mist. Then the gates of his heart were flung open, and his joy flew far over the sea. And he closed his eyes and prayed in the silences of his soul. So begins The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran's transcendant verse cycle in which the prophet Almustafa boards a ship bearing him homeward and discusses with those whom he meets on board life, love, and and all aspects of the human condition. Never out of print since its first publication in 1923, Gibran's collection of prose poems is one of the best-loved volumes in world literature.

Celeste Richardson

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.

First published in the 1920's, THE PROPHET an inspirational, allegorical guide to living, the book is perhaps the most famous work of religious fiction of the Twentieth Century and has sold millions of copies in more than twenty languages. Gibran'sprotagonist, called simply 'the Prophet', delivers spiritual, yet practical, homilies on a wide variety of topics central to daily life: love, marriage and children; work and play; possessions, beauty, truth, joy and sorrow, death and many many more.

Sara Hakkoum

Gave me a glimpse of a world that revolves around respect and logical morality. So, obviously, I loved it. Puts everything into perspective.

Count Dracula

Fraser Simons

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.

Ashley Gutierrez

Some of the text was good but it reads very much like the Bible

The Prophet: Gibran's Masterpiece

Athena Eloy

A book I know I will think about for a very long time.

Omar Fernandez

This is a beautifully written book filled with wisdom, good for reflection. It's short and easy to read, yet I feel that it's deep and one to read multiple times. The sections on parenting, suffering, death were relevant to me based on recent events. 

The Prophet

Reviews

Highlights