The Prophet

By Kahlil Gibran

Kahlil Gibran’s masterpiece, The Prophet, is one of the most beloved classics of our time—a collection of poetic essays that are philosophical, spiritual, and, above all, inspirational. Published in 1923, it has been translated into more than twenty languages.

The Prophet contains powerful words of wisdom on such essential subjects as marriage, children, friendship, work, and pleasure—words that readers from around the world have found inspirational and life-changing. A poet, artist, and mystic, Gibran was born to a poor Christian family in Lebanon and emigrated to the United States as an adolescent, where he began studying art. The twenty-eight poetic essays collected in The Prophet are illustrated with twelve of his full-page drawings. Perhaps no other twentieth-century writer has touched the hearts and minds of so remarkably varied and widespread a readership.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: May 17, 2011
• ISBN: 9780307957733

Kahlil Gibran

Kahlil Gibran was a Lebanese-American writer, poet, and a philosopher best known for his, The Prophet. Born to a Maronite-Christian family in a village occupied by Ottoman rule, Gibran and his family immigrated to the United States in 1895 in search of a better life. Studying art and literature, and inevitably ensconced in the world of political activism as a young man dealing with the ramifications of having to leave his home-land, Gibran hoped to make his living as an artist. With the weight of political and religious upheaval on his shoulders, Gibran's work aimed to inspire a revolution of free though and artistic expression. Gibran's, The Prophet has become one of the best-selling books of all time, leaving behind a legacy of accolades and establishing him as both a literary rebel and hero in his country of Lebanon. Gibran is considered to be the third best-selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare and Lao Tzu.

Reviews for The Prophet

[stevenjohntait · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this years ago. I'm not a religious person in the slightest. I might consider myself spiritual. This book was to me what I suppose the Bible or Koran, or Torah or whatever is to people of religion. It's a go-to book for learning how to be a better person. Provides insight into emotions, and ideas about work and life.

[othemts · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I selected The Prophet as an Around the World For A Good Book choice for Lebanon but really I've been meaning to read this book for quite some time. Especially since a I few years ago when I met Kahlil Gibran's cousin and godson - also named Kahlil Gibran - on a sculpture tour of Forest Hills Cemetery. The Prophet is a series of lessons given by a prophet to the townsfolk on topics varying from "Children," "Self-Knowledge," and "Good and Evil." It has many of the paradoxical formations found in many works of inspirational literature including Lao-Tzu's "Way of Life", the teachings of the Buddha and The Beatitudes of Jesus Christ. Like those other works, it's not really a read once and remember book, it's more of a come back to again and again and find a different pearl of wisdom book.Favorite Passages:from "On Eating and Drinking":But since you must kill to eat, and rob the newly born of its mother' s milk to quench your thirst, let it then be an act of worship. - p. 23from "On Self-Knowledge":Say not, "I have found the truth," but rather, "I have found a truth." Say not, "I have found the path of the soul." Say rather, "I have met the soul walking upon my path." For the soul walks upon all paths. - p. 55from "On Death":Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb. And when the shall claim your limbs, then you shall truly dance. - p. 81

[hvg-13 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It's ok, not earth shattering or anything. May require re-reading.

[danielstj · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a surprisingly good read. The pithy statements are full of wisdom and poetic grace and the entire whole is abounded by a sense of care and compassion towards the reader. Although I am not religious, I found this to be a particularly gripping book that held my attention from start to finish.

Great read. Recommended for poets, scholars, those with religious reasons, and curiosity-seekers.

[dono421846 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This new edition seemed a good opportunity to take in this classic. You don't hear so much about Kahlil Gibran nowadays, but when I was in my teens he seemed to be all over the place.To be honest, I'm not sure what I think. The work captures the cadence and impression of a solid work of philosophy -- much better than the other forms I was also consuming in my teens, like Richard Bach. And I found his real world pragmatism on issues reassuring. Unlike the Christian platitudes on marriage about becoming one, Gibran urged the partners to maintain their individuality however much they are together. Similarly, parents are encouraged to allow their children to become their own persons. Parents may strive to be like their children, but they should not work to make their children like them. All true. On the other hand, I tend not to appreciate arguments of the form of clever wordplay that seek to find deep wisdom by inverting the terms. A and not-A. A chain is only as weak as the weakest link, but also as strong as the strongest one. That's ridiculous. Were I a different kind of person, or even the same person at a different, probably earlier stage of life, I may have the time and inclination to puzzle over these brief expositions on selected topics. But that's not what's going to happen. In truth, I found the new introduction to be the most memorable, with the story of how reading the right book at the right time can change one's life. That's what we really need to be reminded of.This edition introduced a new error into the text, on page 19. Publishers do not pay as much attention to copy editing as they did in the old days, sadly.

[thestrawberrymoon · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I picked up a First Edition copy at Thrift Store! The Greatest Find of My life!

[bookomaniac-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Wijsheidsliteratuur op en top. Toch begrijp ik die Tagore-idolatrie niet echt goed.

[cathy_donnelly-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Beautiful and inspiring.

[jennifersalderson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Beautiful, amazing, spiritually-lifting little book that I have been flipping through for 25+ years! I highly recommend it - to everyone!!!

[maxernst11 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Wijsheidsliteratuur op en top. Toch begrijp ik die Tagore-idolatrie niet echt goed.

[noonaut · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The translation I read makes it seem as if Gibran were trying to condense "Thus Spake Zarathustra." I'm not sure whether this is a fault of the specific translation

[haidji-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If you have ever questioned time, life, freedom, pain, friendship, love, marriage or pleasure I recommend this book.The lessons in this book can positively impact your life. Very simply written, this book speaks to everyone.

[janepriceestrada · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This small and beautiful collection of poems is wonderful. They cover any range of topics of life such as marriage and childhood. They are a great pick you up.

[datrappert · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

While reading this, it occurred to me that I would like to be drinking whatever Gibran was drinking while he wrote it. This is a book I have seen here and there, sometimes among shelves of old books in people's houses, ever since I was old enough to notice books. I don't think we had a copy in our home, but I could be mistaken. Certainly it hasn't come down into my possession as did many of my favorite books of my father's. In any case, the best word to describe "The Prophet" is drivel. Sure, it has a few nice quotes: "Let there be spaces in your togetherness" being a pretty clever one. And its assertion that live and death, pleasure and pain, etc. etc. etc. are just opposite sides of the same coin are certainly true to an extent. But the language is just pretty silly. Compared to other religious books--and I would treat this as such--it is pretty harmless, however.

[goofyocean110 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read The Prophet perhaps way way too quickly - its short enough to be read in a few hours, but deep enough to take years to digest. There's lots in there that would be good quotes to remember. It reminded me a little bit of the song 'Best of all possible worlds' in Candide(?) where this one know-it-all explains his unrelenting optimism.

[john5918 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What can one say? Wisdom and beauty combined.

[eldang-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I feel like I'm supposed to love this book, but it just didn't do much for me. At its best the writing is quite lyrical and there are some wonderfully quotable passages, but taken as a whole it felt like Gibran had tried to find universals among world religions and that road had just led him to rather obvious truisms.

[jessljones · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Humbling, inspiring, and definitely a book to keep on your bedside table...

[maheswaranm-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Was not quite my cup of tea. Might re-read. Might re-rate then.
But I just say - "It was okay"

[dms02 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

a great look at life. a spiritual read on all topics of life. it has taken on a new meaning every time I read it.

[bayardus-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

"Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth."

What a great line! Little did I know it was far and away the high-point of a book that is otherwise filled with platitudes and skin-deep truths.

[janemarieprice · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This small and beautiful collection of poems is wonderful. They cover any range of topics of life such as marriage and childhood. They are a great pick you up.

[trgllylibrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pretty quick read with some wise insights into human nature and our relationship with God. Some favorites:

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

On search for freedom:
"And my heart bled within me; for you can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you, and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goal and a fulfillment."

On the mystery of death and afterlife:
"In the depths of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;
And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.
Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity."

[regularguy5mb · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I feel like this is one of those essential books that everyone should read at least once in their lives. And, while it took me longer than it probably should have, I've finally read it.So much insight in Gibran's narrative, things that are timeless because they speak to the basics of human nature, which regardless of how much we "advance" as a society, will always remain true.Freedom, Time, Beauty, Crime & Punishment, Beauty, Teaching, Speaking; all concepts that the Prophet touches upon. Just do yourself a favor and pick this one up, it's definitely worth the read.This is one I'm going to keep close to me so I can reference it often.

[benuathanasia · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm not very religious, but this had some great and beautiful thoughts and advice in it.

[murderbydeath · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

20 years ago my sister passed away and a professor at my university handed me this book to read "On Joy and Sorrow". It stayed with me for the next 20 years until I finally tracked it down to this book. The message in "On Joy and Sorrow" is one I've tried to pass on to a friend or two when it seemed it would be helpful.

Having just finished the whole book, there are many passages here that are as thought provoking. Just about every aspect of life is covered in this small tome, and I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys looking at the deeper meanings in everyday life.

[5hrdrive · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Sometimes you read a book, sometimes a book reads you.

[sturlington_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I just now got around to reading The Prophet. A lot of what's in here is common sense, easily recognized truths. One wishes that human beings would live by these sentiments, rather than just nodding their heads when they read them and then forgetting them in the context of real life. Some of the talk about God didn't appeal to me, although I recognize that Gibran seems to be talking about God more in the sense of a benign force in the universe rather than a being to be worshipped. Other bits flew right past me and would require rereading and further thought. And the ending bit about reincarnation--well, isn't it pretty to think so?Even though this reads like an early version of the New Age self-help books that are now ubiquitous, Gibran certainly had a gift for poetic language and simple but evocative imagery, which elevates his writing above all that other claptrap. This is a book that I can see myself returning to often. Read in 2014 for the RandomCAT Challenge.

[spiritedtruthseeke-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

another MUST read for EVERYONE

[jvioland_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Reminds me of Wisdom and Proverbs. Very insightful and soothing to wounded souls.