Name: martian1138's review of The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
Item: The Prophet
Rating: 3
Author: martian1138

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

martian1138

Your clothes conceal much of your beauty,

     And though you seek in garments the

     Would that you could meet the sun

and the wind with more of your skin and less

     For the breath of life is in the sunlight

     Some of you say, “It is the north wind

     And I say, Ay, it was the north wind,

     But shame was his loom, and the soften-

     And when his work was done he laughed

     Forget not that modesty is for a shield

     And when the unclean shall be no more,

what were modesty but a fetter and a fouling

     And forget not that the earth delights to

feel your bare feet and the winds long to

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

Ritik Sahni

Are you touching grass LOL?

I thought this was way older. . . 

comforting. seems like a short read but demands time, the more time you spend with it, the more you appreciate it. feels like unspoken wisdom.

felt corny at times, but gave more emotional depth with progression of chapters. tries it's best to connect on every node there is to life.

aadi

my first read.

comforting. seems like a short read but demands time, the more time you spend with it, the more you appreciate it. feels like unspoken wisdom.

felt corny at times, but gave more emotional depth with progression of chapters. tries it's best to connect on every node there is to life.

If you are looking for something more akin to poetry, you may enjoy this. Personally, I found it corny at times.

There were a few nuggets in there that resonated, but overall, the book felt like a long list of metaphors and pseudo-spiritual ramblings.

Roderick

If you are looking for something more akin to poetry, you may enjoy this. Personally, I found it corny at times.

There were a few nuggets in there that resonated, but overall, the book felt like a long list of metaphors and pseudo-spiritual ramblings.

Khalil Gibran

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.

Would love to read it again on some other point in my life.

Edward

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

How is it possible for a book to capture all the words that might ever exist in this world? 

 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.

🏹

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.

Maureen

"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.

Prakash Rajendran

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.

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.

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.

Kaelin Sol

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

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.

Ritik Sahni &
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Ritik Sahni &The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Ritik Sahni &
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran