The Prophet
Kahlil Gibran 1923
A departing prophet answers townspeople's questions about love, work, and death in short, poetic speeches. Before his ship leaves Orphalese, Almustafa speaks of children as arrows sent from a bow.
46 pages 53 min reading time
- One of the most widely read books of spiritual poetry of the twentieth century, translated into more than 100 languages.
- Argues that love should leave room for freedom, so that two people in a marriage stand together but are not bound so tightly that neither can grow.
- Teaches that joy and sorrow come from the same place, and that work done with care is "love made visible."
- Its passages on love and marriage became common readings at weddings, and its words on death are often read at funerals.
- It found a large new audience in the 1960s, when young people looking for a spiritual path outside organized religion took it up as a guide.
Royalties left to his village
Gibran left the book's future earnings in his will to Bsharri, his home village in Lebanon.
Written in a second language
Gibran grew up speaking Arabic but wrote the book in English, reworking it over many years.
Polished with a friend's help
His close friend and supporter Mary Haskell went over his English drafts with him, helping polish the wording.
Spread by word of mouth
Critics mostly ignored it at first, but readers kept passing it along, and it has never gone out of print.