Book Review: The Prophet

Kahlil Gibran [1887 - April 10, 1931] was a Lebanese American artist, poet, and writer. He is chiefly known in the English speaking world for his 1923 book "The Prophet", a series of philosophical essays written in English prose. An early example of Inspirational fiction, the book sold well despite a cool critical reception, and became extremely popular in the 1960s counterculture. Much of Gibran's writings deal with Christianity, especially on the topic of spiritual love. His poetry is notable for its use of formal language, as well as insights on topics of life using spiritual terms. "The Prophet" is of composed of twenty-six poetic essays. The book became especially popular during the 1960s with the American counterculture and New Age movements. Since it was first published in 1923, it has never been has never been out of print. Having been translated into more than forty languages, it was one of the bestselling books of the twentieth century in the United States. Gibran is the third best-selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare and Lao-Tzu.

The Prophet represents the acme of Kahlil Gibran's achievement. Writing in English, Gibran adopted the tone and cadence of King James I's Bible, fusing his personalised Christian philosophy with a spirit and oriental wisdom that derives from the richly mixed influences of his native Lebanon.

His language has a breath-taking beauty. Before returning to his birthplace, Almustafa, the 'prophet', is asked for guidance by the people of Orphalese. His words, redolent with love and understanding, call for universal unity, and affirm Gibran's certainty of the correlated nature of all existence, and of reinca
ation. The Prophet has never lost its immediate appeal and has become a ubiquitous touchstone of spiritual literature.

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About the Author

Kahlil Gibran was a Lebanese-American philosophical essayist, novelist, mystical poet, and artist. He believed that if a sensible way of living and thinking could be found, people would have mastery over their lives. His work influenced American popular culture in the 1960s, and his style, a combination of beauty and spirituality, became known as “Gibranism.”

Born in Bechari (Bsharri), Lebanon in 1883, Gibran was modeling, drawing, and writing at an early age. After coming to the United States, Gibran was introduced to F. Holland Day, a photographer, who tutored him in art and literature. In 1904, Gibran had his first art exhibition in Boston, and in 1912, he settled in New York, where he devoted himself to writing and painting. The basic subject in Gibran’s art was naked human bodies, tenderly intertwined.

Gibran’s early works were written in Arabic, but he wrote mostly in English from 1918 and managed to revolutionize the language of poetry in the 1920s and 30s. Gibran typically used prophetic tone to condemn the evils that tormented his homeland or threatened the humankind. After his death in 1931, the Gibran Museum was established, and in his will, he left all the royalties of his books to his native village.

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