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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Serie: Capstone Classics
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020
Part of the bestselling Capstone Classics Series edited by Tom Butler-Bowdon, this collectible, hard-back edition of The Prophet provides an accessible and insightful introduction to this timeless spiritual work The Prophet is an inspirational book of 26 poetry fables written in English by Lebanese-American poet and writer Kahlil Gibran. One of the most translated books in history, Gibran's famous work has been translated into over 100 different languages since its first publication in 1923. The book provides timeless spiritual wisdom on universally-shared aspects of life, such as giving, buying and selling, beauty and friendship, eating and drinking, crime and punishment and spirituality and religion. The book follows Almustafa, a man who has waited for twelve years for a ship to take him from the island of Orphalese back to his home. He has come to know the people on the island, who consider him a wise and insightful man. On the day Almustafa's ship finally arrives, he feels a deep sadness. The local elders ask him not to leave. Almustafa speaks of his philosophy of life and the truths he has discovered to the gathered crowd. His words have an almost magical quality to them. As he prepares to board his ship, it becomes clear that Almustafa's words do not refer to his journey home, but rather to the world he came from before he was born. The Prophet is a metaphor for the mystery of life and an exploration of the human condition. Inspirational and extremely readable for modern audiences, this classic text teaches us: * We should be glad of the experience of coming into the world * The separation you feel from other people is not real * True marriage gives both people space to develop their individuality * Enjoying your work is expressing your love for whoever benefits from it * Sorrow makes space for more joy in another season of life Featuring an insightful introduction from the editor, The Prophet: The Spirituality Classic is a must-read book for anyone interested in exploring the undeniable truths of life we all share.
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THE PROPHET
The Spiritual Classic
Kahlil Gibran
With an Introduction by TOM BUTLER-BOWDON
This edition first published 2020
Introduction copyright © Tom Butler-Bowdon, 2020
The material for The Prophet is based on the 1923 edition, published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York, and is now in the public domain. This edition is not sponsored or endorsed by, or otherwise affiliated with Kahlil Gibran, their families or heirs.
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The right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher.
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Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services and neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978–0–857–08855-0 (hardback) ISBN 978–0–857–08852-9 (ebk)
ISBN 978–0–857–08839-0 (ebk)
Cover design: Wiley
Printed in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall, UK
CONTENTS
Cover
An Introduction
About Tom Butler-Bowdon
Chapter I: On the Coming of the Ship
Chapter II: On Love
Chapter III: On Marriage
Chapter IV: On Children
Chapter V: On Giving
Chapter VI: On Eating and Drinking
Chapter VII: On Work
Chapter VIII: On Joy and Sorrow
Chapter IX: On Houses
Chapter X: On Clothes
Chapter XI: On Buying and Selling
Chapter XII: On Crime and Punishment
Chapter XIII: On Laws
Chapter XIV: On Freedom
Chapter XV: On Reason and Passion
Chapter XVI: On Pain
Chapter XVII: On Self-Knowledge
Chapter XVIII: On Teaching
Chapter XIX: On Friendship
Chapter XX: On Talking
Chapter XXI: On Time
Chapter XXII: On Good and Evil
Chapter XXIII: On Prayer
Chapter XXIV: On Pleasure
Chapter XXV: On Beauty
Chapter XXVI: On Religion
Chapter XXVII: On Death
Chapter XXVIII: The Farewell
End User License Agreement
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Introduction
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An Introduction
By Tom Butler-Bowdon
Along with the Bible and Shakespeare, The Prophet is one of those timeless pieces of literature that you have probably heard in a wedding speech or funeral eulogy. There is nothing quite like it, and it holds a special place in millions of people's hearts. It has sold ten million copies in English, and at least double that across 100 translations.
Despite the book's fame, not many people know much about the man behind it, Kahlil Gibran.
Who Was Kahlil Gibran?
Given that the title of The Prophet is suggestive of Muhammad, we presume that Kahlil Gibran lived in the Islamic world. He was in fact born in Lebanon, but his heritage was Maronite Christian, and he would spend much of his life in the United States.
His deep knowledge of Arabic literature, his understanding of the spiritual yearnings of life in the West, and his skill as a poet and artist, arguably made him the perfect person to create The Prophet. Yet the book only came together at a mature point in his career as a writer and artist. He had already had eleven books published (eight in Arabic and three in English), and was considered an important figure in attempts to revive Arabic literature.
Born in Lebanon in 1883, Gibran carried with him the religious and political conflicts of his home country. Only a couple of decades before he was born, for instance, thousands of Christians had been slaughtered in Lebanon. He wrote tracts calling for the country's various sects to come together to fight oppressive Turkish Ottoman rule over Lebanon and Syria, and organized a relief committee to fight famine in the Middle East during the years of World War One. But politics was never a passion. He was more concerned to build bridges between the world's religions, and across East and West. He was first and foremost a poet, and from an early age was seen as ‘wise’.
His background was inauspicious. Kahlil's father owned some land around the village of Bsharri in Lebanon, but he wasn't a hard worker and preferred to gamble and drink. While working as a tax collector, Gibran Snr embezzled money and was found out. The family faced financial ruin, and Gibran's mother Kamila decided that her four children, including sons Bhutros and Kahlil, and daughters Marianna and Sultana, would be better off in the United States (without her husband).
By 1895 the Gibrans were living in Boston's impoverished South End with thousands of other poor immigrants. Kahlil, then twelve, attended school for the first time. He enrolled in art classes run by the photographer and publisher Fred Holland Day, who introduced him to Western literature. Three years later, he was sent back to Lebanon to finish his schooling.
On his return, at nineteen, Kahlil might have felt excitement at returning to America, and the possibilities before him. But two weeks before he arrived, his sister Sultana died of tuberculosis. Bhutros would fall victim to TB a year later, and then Kamila to cancer.
Some of the pain was alleviated by a new friendship. Mary Haskell was a radical headmistress with an interest in orphans and she supported Gibran's career. She encouraged him to exhibit his art, and to publish his prose poetry, short stories, and essays in English. It never turned into the romantic partnership she wished for, but she remained a loyal editor of all his English language works.
Gibran would go on to have several other close friendships with women, some of which turned to romance, but he had the air of a person with a vocation – with all the costs which that brings in terms of attention to others.
Kahlil Gibran, 1913
In 1908 Gibran began a two-year stay in Paris, funded by Mary Haskell. He studied art, read widely, and mixed with intellectuals and artists. In 1912 he moved from Boston to New York where he was able to exhibit his paintings and have works published, including Al-Ajniha Al-Mutakassirah (The Broken Wings) and The Madman. In 1920 he established a society of Arab writers and continued his writings in Arabic in support of the emancipation from Ottoman rule of Lebanon and Syria.
