Book - The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
Overview
The book centers around a wise, holy man named Almustafa who has lived in the foreign city of Orphalese for 12 years. The time has finally come for his ship to arrive and take him back to the isle of his birth. Before he leaves, the people of Orphalese gather around him, saddened by his leaving but eager to receive his final words of wisdom on various fundamental aspects of human life and experience. The book is a collection of 26 poetic essays or prose poems delivered as sermons by Almustafa.
The book offers the following:
- Spiritual Wisdom: The book offers universal spiritual guidance applicable across different faiths and philosophies.
- Balance: Finding harmony between seemingly opposing forces (joy/sorrow, reason/passion, self/community).
- Inner Knowing: Emphasis on looking within for truth and understanding.
- Interconnectedness: Recognizing the unity of life and the divine spark within all things.
Each chapter addresses a fundamental aspect of human life and experience.
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Love
He speaks of love’s power, its demands, and its spiritual nature, advising against possessiveness.
Love gives nothing but itself and takes nothing but from itself. Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; For love is sufficient unto love.
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Marriage
He emphasizes partnership with individuality, suggesting “spaces in your togetherness.”
Let there be spaces in your togetherness. Love one another, but make not a bond of love.
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Children
He famously describes children as “the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself,” belonging not to parents but coming through them.
Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you.
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Giving
True giving comes from the heart, without expectation or attachment.
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Work
Work should be love made visible, a way to express oneself and contribute meaningfully.
When you work, you fulfill a part of earth’s furthest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born, and in keeping yourself with labour, you are in truth loving life, and to love life through labour is to be intimate with life’s inmost secret.
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Joy and Sorrow
These are inseparable, two sides of the same coin; the deeper the sorrow carves, the more joy one can contain.
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Laws, Freedom, Reason & Passion
He explores the balance needed between societal structures and inner liberty, and between the guiding mind and the driving heart.
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Pain
Often a necessary catalyst for self-awareness and growth.
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Self-Knowledge, Teaching, Friendship, Talking
Insights into understanding oneself and relating authentically to others.
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Prayer, Pleasure, Beauty, Religion, Death
Reflections on the spiritual dimensions of life, finding the sacred in the everyday, and accepting life’s full cycle.
Conclusion
After delivering his wisdom, Almustafa bids farewell to the people of Orphalese and boards his ship, leaving them with timeless guidance on how to live a more meaningful, compassionate, and spiritually aware life. The book is not a story with a plot. It is a collection of philosophical and spiritual reflections presented through the voice of the departing prophet.