The Prophet is a book mean an outstanding one written by Khalil Gibran. The book story goes like this on, social media, I took a little time out to actually digest the story properly. Perhaps instinctively realizing what story writers are trained to know now – that no one likes to be lectured by the narrator – Gibran presents a philosophical treatise on how to live a good and peaceful life under the guise of telling the story of the titular Prophet leaving the town where he has lived many years to return to his own home at long last. Before he can go, the adoring crowd asks him for last words of wisdom on various issues. Over twenty chapters cover, love, children, money, clothes, friendship, pleasure, religion, and many others.
The Prophet gives his pithy conclusions before setting sail. I was not expecting much, I have to admit. While those many memes I’ve seen trot out semi-trite truisms which sound good but have very little use, I figured the whole would be worse, not least because Gibran wrote the book in 1923. A lot has happened since then and it is hard to believe a naïve and simplistic book could offer anything of worth a century later. Initially, I felt my suspicions justified. Stylistically somewhere between a tacky Paulo Coelho novel and a pompous teaching from the Bible/Qur’an, the book had all the trappings of an empty set of words, albeit beautifully written. Inside, my heart’s arms were well and truly folded with scepticism. But after just a few chapters, said arms began to unfold and began to focus a little more. What this Prophet said actually made sense and seemed in tune with much of my own philosophy. As time went on, I found myself nodding vigorously. The words were soothing and the messages were conveyed meaningfully. Far from being full of fluffy nonsense, these passages were truly helpful.
I immediately began thinking of people I know who would benefit considerably from reading this book. I can see why 'The Prophet' became the Sixties Bible in many ways. The philosophies do boil down to the premise of "do nothing wrong to thy neighbor" but don’t restrict the enjoyment of pleasure. That is not to say this is a collection of hedonist sayings. Some are hard " Your children are not your children: they belong to life; joy and sorrow are inseparable" and so on. Gibran was a convert to the Baha’i faith and the maturity of a theological view shows through. These are not trite sayings for teenagers who want easy things to believe. These are comforting and wise words for the mature who want to better understand the nature of the world and how to ride its ups and downs. In short, this is an ideal book for anyone who considers themselves thoughtful and wants to ponder the world. Short enough to be given as a gift that might actually be read.
‘The Prophet’ is, at its worst, harmless. At its best, I suspect it is life-changing. This book is one of the few I really wish I’d read when I was much younger. It might well have been a major influence. As it is, I’ll take comfort in it while sitting in my garden on a calm, peaceful spring day. Absolutely it's worth reading. I've read this book a few months ago and I was really mesmerised by the style of writing of Kahlil Gibran. The book is full of wisdom on every aspect of human life from friendship to relationship to death. It contains 26 chapters of poetic essay and it's famous till date. Everyone should read this book at least once in their lifetime. It can change our way of thinking, and our perspective about certain things.
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