The Prophet - Kahlil Gibran

 

Choosing the next-read is always exciting; it’s a time when I turn to a toddler in the toy shop – choices are too many, shiny glossy books of all sorts, but you are allowed to take only one! Gaping at my own home-library I took out the tiny ‘The Prophet’ out of the corner and thought its time I gave this a try.

‘The Prophet’ by Kahlil Gibran – one of the greatest classics of all time, one of the most translated books ever, one of most sold books in the world, the adjectives are endless. A stunning collection of 28 prose-poems on 28 vital aspects of life.

The backdrop is the city of Orphalese which housed the prophet – Al Mustafa for twelve years: one morning when his ship arrives the prophet decides to take leave, the mourning people of Orphalese gets together with the Prophet one last time to hear his words of wisdom. They ask him about everything – love, marriage, beauty, crime and punishment, law, everything they can think of, and he answers them with love, poise and grace, pouring his soul to them. At the end, while bidding farewell, he promises they shall meet again, if not in this life, then another.

What I like

-       -  The philosophy infused in each topic is so profound and beautiful and honest. There are times when we realize that at some level these truths were always known to us.

-      -    If you are familiar with the concept of ‘elevator speech’  this book is a classic example of such short meaningful speeches, each topic is covered in hardly 2 - 3 pages mostly in about 40 lines, of which all are equally meaningful and relevant.

What I did not like

-        -  Though it cannot be strictly categorised under this section, and it may be more of a personal issue – as comprehending and eloquent as most of the topics are, some others reman grey. For example, the part covering ‘Religion’, ‘Time’ and ‘Work’ seemed out of grasp hard concepts.

Collectibles

This is one of those books, as a whole is worth collecting. I wrote down 3 pages full of beautiful play of words from the book, of which I’ll share a couple here:

About Love: And ever has it been that love knows not its own until the hour of separation.

About Marriage: And stand together yet not too near together. For the pillars of the temple stand apart and the oak tree and the cypress tree grow not in each other’s shadow.

About Children: Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of life’s belonging for itself. You may give them love, but not your thought, for they have their own thought.

About teaching: No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.

About good and evil: Of the good in you I can speak, but not of the evil. For what is evil but good tortured by its own hunger and thirst.