Books › The Prophet
The Prophet
First published 1923 · 422 pages
A timeless, poetic meditation on the human condition that feels like receiving advice from a deeply wise friend.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like sitting in a sunlit, quiet room with a deeply wise friend who understands the very core of the human heart. It is a leisurely, meditative experience, meant to be sipped rather than swallowed whole. The prose is intensely lyrical and aphoristic, echoing the rhythmic cadences of sacred texts while remaining intimately accessible. You do not read it for a plot; you read it to be reminded of the profound beauty hidden within everyday experiences, from the depths of sorrow to the heights of joy. It wraps the reader in a serene, uplifting atmosphere, offering gentle guidance on love, work, and mortality. This is a perfect companion for spiritual seekers, lovers of philosophical poetry, and anyone needing a quiet moment of profound comfort and realignment.
- Mood
- meditative
- serene
- uplifting
- timeless
- Tone
- earnest
- reverent
- gentle
- philosophical
- Pace
- leisurely
- Themes
- spiritual wisdom · duality of joy and sorrow · interconnectedness of life · finding the divine in the everyday · the nature of love
- The writing
- Lyrical, aphoristic, and deeply poetic, utilizing rhythmic cadences and rich metaphors that echo sacred texts.
- The arc
- Moves from a sense of gentle longing and departure to a profound, comforting acceptance of life's mysteries.
- Who it's for
- Seekers of spiritual comfort, lovers of philosophical poetry, and anyone looking for gentle guidance on the human condition.
Content notes
- grief
- death and dying
About the book
The Prophet is a book of 26 poetic essays written in English in 1923 by the Lebanese-American artist, philosopher and writer Khalil Gibran. In the book, the prophet Almustafa who has lived in the foreign city of Orphalese for 12 years is about to board a ship which will carry him home. He is stopped by a group of people, with whom he discusses many issues of life and the human condition. The book is divided into chapters dealing with love, marriage, children, giving, eating and drinking, work, joy and sorrow, houses, 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.
Description from Open Library.
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