The Prophet

“The Prophet”, by Lebanese-American poet and artist Kahlil Gibran, is one of the world’s most famous books. Published in 1923, it has been translated into over one hundred languages and has sold nearly ten million copies in the United States. Gibran was born to a poor, Christian family in Lebanon in 1883 and emigrated to America with his mother and siblings at age 12. While he received little education as a child, he became a serious art student as a young adult and studied at the Académie Julian in Paris. Gibran began working on “The Prophet” in 1912 and continued perfecting his most well-known work for over a decade. Gibran was greatly influenced by his Catholic upbringing, as well as Islam, Sufi mystics, Western Classicism and Romanticism, surrealism, and the Bahai Faith. These varied religions are evident in the wisdom that the main character, Al Mustafa, shares with his fellow shipmates in “The Prophet”. The diverse topics he discusses include love, marriage, laws, freedom, pain, friendship, religion, death, and most every important aspect of the human condition. This masterpiece of spiritual wisdom, told in 26 prose and poetry fables, is widely considered one of the most beautiful books ever written.