Book Review: Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet — Seeking the Divine in an Age of Godlessness

Published in

ILLUMINATION Book Chapters

6 min readOct 2, 2023

I’ve recounted my first encounter with Kahlil Gibran in a previous post. I had never heard of him before, but then again I wasn’t much aware of any authors from classical literature at that stage.

Once I started reading The Prophet and partaking in the wisdom of Almustafa’s words, I fell in love with the style of writing that Gibran had portrayed. This was many years ago.

Since I started writing on Medium not too long ago, I felt it would be a good idea to revisit some of my earlier readings—the forerunners to my proficiency as a writer — and share my thoughts about those books in the form of casual reviews.

I am not a critic by profession, and I am sure if a critic stumbles upon my reviews, they’ll be quick to reprimand me on the principles of criticism.

But that’s not my purpose. I intend to share my genuine conviction about the materials I have absorbed and hope that its voice finds listeners on a teeming platform such as Medium.

So, here goes.

In the Footsteps of Kahlil Gibran

“Yesterday is but today’s memory and tomorrow is today’s dream.”

Born on the 6th of January, 1883, in Bsharri, Ottoman Syria, and known as an artist, poet, illustrator, writer, and a lover of life’s longing for the divine realm, Kahlil Gibran is celebrated for his soulful tales, sermons, and fables jotted in ink and crystallized forever among the mystic literature.

Gibran learned to learn from observations and experiences of the heart. In his youth, owing to a few good-natured friends and well-wishers, his artistic works soon found their way to exhibitions and he started gaining recognition among creatives.

His early written works were in Arabic and were translated to English and edited and published by Mary Elizabeth Haskell, a lifelong patron who supported Gibran financially and literarily throughout his writing venture.

Some of his most celebrated works are Sand and Foam, The Madman, Broken Wings, The Prophet, and A Tear and A Smile, among others.

He passed away on 10 April 1931. Almost a century later, he still draws the poetic literati to his fanciful descriptions of the temporal and ethereal life.

Narrative/Plot of The Prophet

“Much have we loved you. But speechless was our love, and with veils has it been veiled.”

The Prophet is a sequential anthology of sermons, fables, and anecdotes that touch upon stark juxtapositions between the earthly, spiritual, and divine realms. The premise of the book is introduced holistically in the first chapter. Almustafa, our protagonist, is said to have been in wait for a ship that was promised to return 12 years after he visited the land of Orphalese.

In his time at Orphalese, he becomes one with the people. The circumstance or purpose of his initial voyage is never stated, but as the pages unfold, we get a sense of the life he has led in his time there.
He sat where the people sat, laughed at what they laughed, cried in their sorrow, rejoiced in their joy, broke bread at their beckon, and became one with them; all the while, his longing for his homeland never faded away.

The elders consider him a son, the women consider him a protector, the men consider him kin, the children consider him to be a caretaker, and the whole land of Orphalese take him to be their wise master, the sycamore under whose shade they take refuge to find spiritual enlightenment.

“Go not yet away from us. A noontide have you been in our twilight, and your youth has given us dreams to dream.”

Are they pained at his going away, he makes it clear that he can’t stay anymore, as much as he is saddened, too. And so, what begins is a farewell address that has been immortalized as Kahlil Gibran’s magnum opus, The Prophet.

Style of Writing

“And he answered: People of Orphalese, of what can I speak save of that which is even now moving within your souls?”

Gibran’s writings were a confluence of different religious traditions.
He sought the divine realm through Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Animism, Pantheism, and several other spiritual disciplines.
Never a proponent of one religious thought, he exceptionally combines and weaves his literature in a way that every believer of God can identify with an aspect of his narrative.

There will be times you’ll say Gibran is wrong, and there will be times you’ll say Gibran is right; regardless of your beliefs, the poetic beauty found in his writings cannot be disputed.

Relying on heavy mysticism, Gibran’s compositions are ripe with references to life and death, heaven and hell, earth and afterlife, love and resentment, God and mortals, spirits and humans, soul and flesh, dust and sky, and endless longing for reunion. What I’ve listed is just a modicum of the richness you can find therein.

“If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.”

The flow of writing is in poetic verse, with a more rhythmic cadence in transitioning between sentences than actual rhyme schemes. He creates an equilibrium between oxymorons by using constant comparisons and setting two opposing ideas side by side in almost every line.

Virtues of mercy, compassion, innocence, celebration, contentment, fulfillment, listening to the heart’s echoes when riddled with reason, and the sound intellect, when gripped with unsound passion, gratitude, charity, and love, are extolled in every passage.

Thoughts about the Book

“For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.”

Gibran, although Christian by religion, was of Arab ethnicity and spent much time in the land of his birth, Lebanon. The influence of Islam is prominent in his writing.

In the name of the book, the character’s name, and the farewell address are undisputed parallels with Islam’s theology and history.
Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is renowned with the epithet ‘The Prophet’, one of his famous titles is Al-Mustafa or ‘the chosen one’, and Gibran has reconstructed the Farewell Sermon of the Prophet, peace be upon him, to kick off the setting of his work.

The Prophet is the kind of book that you read after a long and tiring day while sipping tea to alleviate your heart’s burdens and find some mindful peace.

Kahlil Gibran was not a preacher, although his writings are conspicuous with religion, and he was not a priest, although his beckoning is rife with prayer, and so you must approach his works with a desire to seek mystic wisdom, not reason or scripture — and in that, he does a fantastic job.

Conclusion

I’ll keep it short and sweet. I am not inclined to agnostic or atheistic tendencies; I am a stringent believer in Allah, or God as we say in English.

At the same time, I am not blind to religious sermons by hypocritical teachers nor am I susceptible to the skepticism of atheistic speakers.
I approach Allah with a rational mind and a sound heart, as Islam dictates one to do in his search for God.

And in Gibran’s writings, I find a kindred soul, one who is writing about his experience with God. I don’t proclaim that I agree with every aspect of his writing, but in an age of widespread Godlessness, whether it is faith or general morality, I find comfort in his literature and comfort in the readers who enjoy his works.

That’s my take.

“Fare you well, people of Orphalese.
This day has ended.”

I am an avid reader and a literature enthusiast. If you are an author on Medium and would like me to review your works, contact me with your Medium ID and book link in the response section for a collaboration.

To read my other posts, check out my recent articles here:

For posts by other Illumination writers, check out these reads:

For professional collaborations, you can contact me on Upwork.

To be a patron of my writing, you can get me a Ko-Fi, and I’ll get to sippin’ and writin’ right away.

Thank you for your time.

Get an email whenever Adil Alam publishes.

Get an email whenever Adil Alam publishes. By signing up, you will create a Medium account if you don't already have…

medium.com