|
|
The Prophet (Hardcover)
by Kahlil Gibran
| Category:
Spirituality, Inspiraton, Self-help |
| Market price: ¥ 168.00
MSL price:
¥ 158.00
[ Shop incentives ]
|
| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
A supreme literary achievement that has impacted millions of people around the world, The Prophet is the exploration of self, soul, community, nature, and universe, and a must read for everyone. |
| If you want us to help you with the right titles you're looking for, or to make reading recommendations based on your needs, please contact our consultants. |
Detail |
Author |
Description |
Excerpt |
Reviews |
|
|
|
Author: Kahlil Gibran
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf; 47th edition
Pub. in: September, 1923
ISBN: 0394404289
Pages: 107
Measurements: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BA00465
Other information:
|
|
Rate this product:
|
|
- Awards & Credential -
Over 7 million copies sold in North America, translated into 23 languages, and more than 10 years on The New York Times bestseller list. |
|
- MSL Picks -
Khalil Gibran's The Prophet, which Gibran himself recognized as his greatest masterpiece, is a truly awe inspiring work of prosaic poetry, a timeless literary classic. Despite being a native-born Arabic speaker, Gibran wrote The Prophet in English, ensuring that his powerful words lost nothing in translation.
Originally published in 1923, this little gift to the world has been printed and reprinted hundreds of times. It has been distributed and read to an appreciative audience world-wide. The book has been so well received that over 210 reviewers on Amazon.com gave it a collective 5-star rating.
The work's 28 short chapters recount the words of a prophet as he leaves his home to depart on a new journey. The words that flow from the prophet's mouth and onto the pages are philosophical and spiritual treatises on all aspects of life. Chapters discuss the range of human experiences and include discussions such as "On Friendship", "On Pain" and "On Death." What unites the 28 chapters is Gibran's thought provoking and probing literary style as Gibran's prophet invokes his listeners to live life to the fullest. The book is not overtly religious but every word and sentence is filled with a spiritual clarity.
The book is eminently quotable with every chapter providing a nugget of truth worthy of repeating. Amazingly, Gibran packs his masterpiece into less than 100 pages, making it a very quick and easy read. Readers will find themselves returning to The Prophet again and again to recapture the beauty of Gibran's words.
What is difficult to describe about this book is the vast spiritual insight it contains, written in such an utterly elegant fashion. The comparisons and metaphors Kahlil Gibran uses are both beautiful and brilliant. Their meanings tenderly flow across the spirit and gently grasps our conscious- ness, soothing our heart and inspiring our lives. This is truly more than a book- it's an experience. It is an experience that is both personal and universal.
(From quoting Sean McLaughlin and Brian Douthid, USA)
Target readers:
General readers
|
|
Kahlil Gibran, poet, philosopher, and artist was born in Lebanon, in 1883, and received his primary education in Beruit before emigrating with his parents to Boston in 1895. In 1989 he returned to Lebanon to continue his studies in Arabic before returning to Boston in 1903, around which time he met Mart Haskell, who would become his lifelong benefactor. In 1912, he settled in New York City and devoted himself to writing (both in Arabic and English) and to painting. Gibran died in 1931.
|
|
From the Pubilisher:
A brilliant man's philosophy on love, marriage, joy and sorrow, time, friendship and much more. Originally published in 1923 - translated into more than 20 languages. With 12 full page drawings by Gibran.
|
On Children:
Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself... For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
|
On Love:
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.
When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires: To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.
|
On Marriage:
You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days.
Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.
|
And ever it has been that love knows not his own depth until the hour of separation.
When love beckons to you, follow him, though his ways are hard and steep.
Work is love made visible.
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy can it contain.
Your house is your larger body.
And how shall you punish those whose remorse is already greater than thier misdeeds.
For reason, ruling alone is a force confining;
And passion, unattended is a flame that burns to its own destruction.
Your pain is breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.
For self is a sea, boundless and measureless.
For vision of one man lends not its wings to another man.
In longing for your giant self lies your goodness and that longing is in all of you.
Trust your dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.
|
|
| View all 9 comments |
An American reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
All of us have compelx thoughts, ideas and questions about life and what goes in it's circle; the difficult part is how to express them with words, write them down, or asking them and get who ever reads what we write to understand what we mean. Gibran (as I believe) contributed to humanity by writing his The Prophet book; a book that is a must have for any one who seeks to find answers for the deepest questions in life from the time they are born untill death. Deep words that are able to take you to a totally another world, a writing style that is unique by its own. The Prophet will expand your vision of things and make you a better person. As Gibran was not only a writer but an artist too, this would be his ultimate achievment; a book that you will always cherish having, and never get bored reading. |
An American reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
This book helped me through some really rough times when I was in a very dark place in my mind and spirit.
The insightfulness spirituality of his passages gave me hope that one day I could find my way free of the cloud of dispair that was hanging over me. And it has.
Now, when I go back through this book with a soft smile on my face I enjoy reading it aloud to that special person. It still captures the heart of the reader, and if its being read aloud, the listener.
|
Timothy (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
It is a true masterpiece in which almost every, if not every word counts. I have read it over and over again, since a girlfriend gave me a copy just before I left for Berkeley to attend law school. I have given copies to many friends, and recommended to others that they buy it and read it carefully.
There is enormous wisdom in each chapter, especially given the materialistic and secular world in which we live - which often seems for many people to be devoid of of Life, and his words are just as profound today as when they were written in the early years of the last century.
This book should be recommended reading for any young person who is old enough to wonder what Life is really all about. Indeed, it can be picked up at any age, and it offers insights that are brilliant and beautifully written.
I urge anyone, who is thinking about buying it, to do so. Just peruse a copy at a local bookstore or library, and you are apt to become enthralled. It may take several readings to soak up its essence; and even after many years, I still find nuances and learn more each time I reread it. |
Tim Burness (MSL quote), UK
<2007-01-05 00:00>
At least 6 out of 5 stars! "The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain", is my favourite quote from this classic book of magical mystical poetry and philosophy. There is insight and wisdom on every page. 25 years after someone first lent me a copy, it seems to have more relevance to life's fundamental challenges than ever.
Kahlil Gibran tells the story of Almastafa's departure from the city of Orphalese. As he leaves, the prophet (Almastafa) shares his thoughts on just about every aspect of the human experience. "Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding", "Work is love made visible", "And think not that you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course".
However The Prophet is much more than a few inspiring self-help quotes. More a case of some of the deepest Eastern wisdom, universally applicable to the human condition. Long may it continue to inspire countless numbers of people around the world.
|
View all 9 comments |
|
|
|
|
