AN ANALYSIS OF
POETIC PROSE WORKS OF KHALIL JIBRAN
i. The Prophet:
Gibran's master
piece, the Prophet is a volume of twenty eight, Prose - Poems full of sayings
representing wisdom of a Prophetic Quality. The book's chapters deal with the
universal theme of all aspects of life love, marriage children, etc. It is
considered as a full representation for a comprehensive survey for all meanings
on earth Gibran considered the Prophet as his greatest achievement. He said;
"I think I
have never been without the Prophet since I first conceived the book back in
Mount Lebanon. It seems to have been a part of me .... I kept the manuscript
four years before I delivered it over to my publisher because I wanted to be
sure, that every word of it was the very best I had to offer".
At the end of
September a small black book, neat but unassuming, and costing $ 2.25, made its
appearance on the overcrowded New York book market. Mary Haskell says on receiving a copy was the
first to recognize that its appeal would be universal, on October 2, 1923 she
wrote;
Beloved Khalil,
the Prophet came today, and it did more than realize my hopes. For it seemed in
its compacted form to open yet future new doors of desire and imagination in
me, and to create about itself the universe in nimbus, so that I read it as the
centre of things. The format is excellent, and lets the idea, and verse flow
quite unhampered. The pictures make my heart jump when I see them. They are
beautifully done. I like the book altogether in style. And the text is more beautiful,
nearer, more revealing, more marvelous in conveying reality and the sweeting
consciousness - than ever ...........The English, the style, the wording, the
music - is exquisite - Khalil just clearly beautiful ... this book will be held
as one of the Treasures of English Literature. And in one darkness we will open
it to find ourselves again and the heaven earth writing ourselves. Generations
will not exhaust it, but instead, generation after generation will find in the
book what they would fain be and it will be better loved as men grow riper and
riper. It is the most loving
book ever written.
Within a month all
T,300 copies of the first edition had been sold, setting in motion a trend that
was to continue steadily up to the present day, and may perhaps be maintained
for years to come. By the end of December 1937, the book has sold 129,233
copies and during the darkness of World War II demand for the life affirming
work sharpened.5 In 1957 it had sold its millionth copy, been translated into
twenty languages and became one of the most widely distributed books of the
century.
Gibran the author
of the Prophet emigrated with his family from Lebanon to USA on 25th June 1894
to escape political persecution and poverty. He is credited as having enriched
the English and Arabic literature with masterpieces that offer an enduring
appeal by virtue of their rich harmonious blend of East and West.? According to
Bushrui (1988) Gibran represented the best of both worlds. Although his parents
are the staunch Christian Maronites, Gibran suffered from the better
denunciation of both religious and political injustice, which brought about his
exile from the country, and secluded him from the church. His continued refusal
to accept injustice is reflected in the ideology and philosophy that underlie
his literary work. The PropTiet (1923) Gibran looks at the world with the eyes
of wise man who wants to build a better society and lead people in the real way
of life. The teachings delivered by the Prophet (Al-Mustafa) before his
departure
from the imaginary
city of Orphalese are said on the purpose of answering the last ultimate
questions of life. Al-Mustafa which in Arabic means the chosen one is one name
among many names used to refer to the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH). It would appear
that choosing the name Al-Mustafa does not come arbitrarily but because of the
influence of Islam and Sufism upon Gibran's mind and soul. Actually this could
be regarded as the high Idealism of Gibran. Bushrui and Jenkins (1998) assert
that "No less influential for Gibran were the views of Sufi poets in
particular Jaial - - Din Rumi, honored among many of the greatest mystical poet
in history".
Theme and format
of the Prophet:
The most obvious
theme in the text is that of teaching and preaching. Gibran believes in the
Prophet's role as a dispenser of social wisdom, this is shown by other
interlocutors in the text who treat, talk about and interact with al-Mustafa as
a Prophetic person. He acts as an orator who wants to teach people moral, wise
and humanistic lessons. People of Orphalese ask him to speak to them and give
them of his truth so that they can pass his words as a teacher from one
generation to another, widow son (1975:116) asserts that the author's style
around the receivers feelings by using appellative expansion that make a'
precise description for literary meaning.
The text of the
Prophet is divided into twenty eight chapters or subtexts (henceforth) that
deal with the most important aspects of life and society. Each T that discusses
an autonomous subtitle topic in a variable number of verse line has been
considered as the basic unit of the bottom -
top analysis
conducted hereunder.
Tl: The coming of
the ship;
T.2. Love
T.3 Marriage;
T4; children
T5;Giving;
T6; Eating and
Drinking;
T7; Work;
T8; Joy and
Sorrow;
T9; Houses;
T10; Clothes ;
T11; Buying and
Selling.
T.12; Crime and
Punishment.
T.13;Laws.
T.14; Freedom.
T.15; Reason and
passion.
T.16; Pain.
T.17; Self
knowledge.
T.18; Teaching,
T.19; Friendship.
T.20; Talking.
T.21; Time.
T.22; Good and
Evil,
T.23; Prayer,
T.24; pleasure,
T.25; Beauty,
T.26;Religion,
T.27; Death,
T.28; Farewell.
Chapters are
considered as a valuable number of verse-lines ranging from a maximum of a
hundred and fifty (T-28); to a minimum of ten (T-19). It is worth mentioning
that the Gibranian
verse-lines assume
quite unconventional forms, with the following characteristics:
a) Put at the
start of separate line, each verse line invariably begins with a capital
letter, ending wither with a stop punctuation (period; Question-mark), or a
non-stop punctuation mark (colon; semi-colon, zero punctuation) e.g.
And you understand
justice how shall you unless you look upon deeds in the fullness of light?
Only then shall
you know that the erect and fallen are but one man standing in twilight between
the night of his pigmy, Self and the day of his god-self (T-12)
b) Lengths of
verse line vary from minimal non-sentence e.g. And you vast sea, sleepless
mother, (Tl; 21) to more than one compound -complex sentences (e.g. Too many
fragments of the spirit have I scattered in these streets and too many are the
children of my longing that walked naked
among these hills
and I cannot withdraw from them without a burden and ache (T1;7)
c) No specific
rhyme-scheme is sought; rhythm variation is the norm. One interesting aspect of
the Prophet is generally retold as conversation in the setting of a crowd
asking questions and responses being extemporaneously given in complex verse
from by Al-Mustafa. Except for Tl and T18, all the other twenty six chapters
take the form of a question raised by one member of the crowd of following -
who gather around the Prophet before his departure - followed by Al-Mustafa's
answer, which takes the form of an uninterrupted speech. The first chapter
introduces Al-Mustafa, who has lived in the city of Orphalese for twelve years
awaiting the ship that will take him back to the Isle of his birth. When the
ship arrives, the people of the Orphalese came to bid him farewell, and a seers
called Almitra the only follower named in (the Prophet) entreat him to provide answers
to all those questions that his followers seek his advice about before his
departure. Al - Mustafa obliges, and his answers comprise the text of the next
twenty -six -chapters the last chapter offers Al-Mustafa's farewell speech.
Universal Appeal
in the Prophet:
Al Mustafa's
formulation of certain fundamentals truths and values which may be considered
as universal themes. These define the wise aims which the Prophet wants his audience
to observe about the topics they ask, as given under.
Unshakable belief
in love and life.
It could be argued
that the most prominent universal theme in the Text Prophet, is its persistent
faith in love in its relationship to life and to most human activities that are
dealt with. As a lexical item, love recurs for (64) times in the whole text
being the highest recurrent general theme, following by life (35 instances).
When dealing with love with love as a discrete topic, the text stresses its
purifying office. In addition love is closely related to the appreciation of
life as a whole, and to the noble feeling of' gratitude and happiness. In
marriage, the texts praise the sharing of togetherness with that of keeping
space and love. Love is also required in dealing with children.
Love and life are
also praised with work - which is defined as noble love that fulfills life
binding the worker to the other and to God - and with friendship. Much have we
loved you? But speechless was our love and with veils has it been veiled (Tl) Love
teaches the appreciation of life, gratitude and happiness; it frees and
purifies the soul because love is self-sufficient. True love does not mean seeking
peace and pleasure only it is self-sufficient as well. Al-Mustafa recommends
his audiences to follow love though it may be painful. Love is sacred; it
envelops completely to satisfy the desire to enjoy it in a peaceful tenderness.
For even as love crowns you so shall be crucify you. Even as he is for your
growth so is love for your pruning when you love you should not say,
"God is in my
heart" but rather I am in the heart of God". Love has no other desire
but to fulfill itself (T2) Togetherness of marriage requires both love and
space, not a bondage to possessive domineering. 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. Give
your hearts but not into each other's keeping (T3) Children require parents
love but not their imposed thought because children cannot be a replica of
their own parents. Your children are not your children they are the sons and
daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you
(T4) Work requires love; it binds oneself to the other and to God. All work is
noble; it is love mode visible. Moreover, working with love needs caring, tenderness
and joy. It is better for those who cannot work with love to become beggars.
Work is love made
visible and
if you cannot work
with love but only with distaste it is
better that you
should leave your work and sit at the gate of the
temple and take
alms of those who work with joy. (T-7)
Friendship can
provide love, warmth, knowledge, assistance and peace.
A friend satisfies
the human need for reciprocal love and thanks giving
your friend is
your need answered.
He is your field
which you saw
with love and
reap with thanks
giving (T-19)
Gibran asserts
that friendship needs the frank disclosure of the self. It can realize sharing
without words. When parting with a friend, one need not grieve because the
absence can make one's love clear, self perseveration.
Glorification of
all human being :
The second
prominent universal theme in The Prophet is the belief in self-preservation,
immorality and the God-self aspect of all human beings. God is mentioned in
(25) places throughout the whole text, always in relation to human beings
whether individual or groups. The idea of man as the image of God is pervasive
in the text e. its function is to glorify humanity and emphasize trust in all
humans e.g. like the ocean; like the ether; and like the sun. Degradation of
the status of human beings is totally rejected even in prayer (T-23)
Like the ocean is
your God-Seif.
It remains forever
undefiled
And like the ether
it lifts
Even like the sun
is your good-self
It knows not the
ways of the mole nor
seeks in the holes
of the serpent but your good-self does not dwell alone in
your being (T-12)
Gibran through his
mouth piece, Al-Mustafa teaches his readers how to arrive to a greater self,
Godhood and self-fulfillment. He clarifies that God only listens to those words
that belong to Himself Nassar and Gibran claim that, "The Prophet is the
extended flight on the wings of a dubious idea that Gibran derived from Blake;
Whitman and Nietzche that the evolving godliness in man is god enough for
exultant worships. They cite verses from Gibran's the Madman:
My God, my aim and
my fulfillment; I am
thy yesterday and
thou art my tomorrow.
I am thy root in the
earth and thou art
my flower in the
sky (The Madman, P.10)
In the following
verses, the theme calls for the unity of religions and
the oneness of
mankind who are born of the mountain and the forests. Even
the seas, forest
and mountains pray to God and one can hear their prayer in.
the stillness of
the night, saying in silence:
We cannot ask the
for aught, for those knowest our needs
before they are
born in us.
"Thou art our
need; and in giving us more of thyself there givest
all". (T-23)
It must be emphasized
on the importance of the emotional worship in which Gibran harbours toward
self-superiority and self transcendence He defines the prayer as the expansion
of self in the living ether: For what is prayer but the expansion of you
into the living together (T-23) Praying is not of Man alone, but
also of mountains, forests and seas. Gibran parallels Man with the most three
greatest things that God has created. And I cannot teach you the prayer of the
seas and the forest and the mountains, but you who are born of mountains and
the forests and the seas can find their prayer in your heart (T-23) Obviously,
the expansion of the self might mean seif infinite
perfection, which
brings it to a growing consciousness of the greater self. It is Gibran's
mystical experience and his mystical experience transforms self into a greater
self and becomes a godlike figure.
And when you work
with love your bind yourself
to yourself, and
to one another, and to God, (T-23)
you are good when
you are one with yourself.
Yet when you are
not with yourself you are not evil. For a
divided house in
not a den of thieves, it is only a divided house.
And a ship without
rudder may wander aimlessly among
perilous isles yet
sink not to the bottom.
You are good when
you strive to give of yourself
yet you are not
evil when you seek gain for yourself. (T-22)
In the sub-text
crime and punishment,-Gibran asserts that man is
essentially good;
however, wrong-doers are still human beinings. In human
wrong-doing is
committed unconsciously by the deformed aspect of man,
wrong -doing harms
other people as well as the wrong-doer himself but each
person has an
undefiled God-self.
And for that wrong
committed must you knock and wait
a while unheeded
at the gate of the blessed
Even like the sun
is your good-self;
But your good-self
does not dwell alone in your being.
Much in you is
still man and much in you is not yet human
And of the man in
you would I now speak
for it is he and
not your god-self nor the pigmy in the mist;
that knows crime
and punishment of crime (t-12)
Committing wrong
deeds bars the wrong-doers from the gate of the blessed. Crime is committed
because of the silence of all the community, when one stumbles befalls for the
benefit of those behind him and for those ahead of him. Wrong doer is no less
human than the righteous. Crime
requires the
attention and care of the totality of the social system because all people in
life together. So the wrong-doer cannot do wrong without the hidden
will of you all Like a procession you walk together towards your
god-self. Justice cannot be fulfilled because some are honest in flesh
thieves in spirit. The erect and the fallen are but one man, both are starting
on a par in between his god-self and pigmy-self. And you would understand
justice how shall you unless you look upon all deed in the fullness of
light?
Only then shall
you know that the erect and the fallen are but one man standing in twilight
between the night of his pigmy-self and the day of his god-self (T-12);
Appreciation of
joy:
The third
prominent universal theme in the text is that of appreciating Joy (24
instances). The feeling of Joy is made relevant to the topics of love, marriage,
children work giving pain, friendship, prayer and death. Gibran allocates a
separate and distinguished part to Joy and sorrow.
When Almitra asks
the Prophet about the marriage he recommends wife and husband to be joyous, he
says;
Sing and dance
together and be Joyous, but each one of you
be alone, (T-3)
Gibran talks about
the relation between generosity and Jubilation or Joy. The Prophet tells his
followers that those who give all are the true believers in life bounty and are
the truly rich people.
There are those
who give with Joy, and that Joy is their reward (T5) He asserts that
giving without return is godly and it is better to give when unasked
than when asked for seeking needy is Joyful.
It is well to give
when asked, but it is better to give unasked through understanding. And to the
open-handed the search for one who shall receive is Joy greater than giving
(T-5). Gibran realizes that Joy is inseparable from sorrow; each heightening
and lessening the balance of the other. Here Gibran is under the influence of
Nietzsche's book. Thus speak Zarathustra (1891), Fredric'h Nietzsche says
"I love because I am afraid if I don't laugh, I may start weeping. My
laughter is nothing but a strategy to hide my tears".Gibran says;
Your Joy is your
sorrow unmasked
And the selfsame
well from which your laughter rises was
often times filled
with your tears, and how else can it be?
The deeper that
sorrow carves into your being.
The more Joy you
contain.
When you are
Joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find is only that which has
given you sorrow that is giving you Joy you can contain. When you are Joyous
look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given
you sorrow that is giving you Joy, (T-8) When Gibran has been asked about the
pain, his answer goes to the deepest core of spiritual, mental, physical pain A
birth of child is almost a pain but Joy, all races and nations are born from
the pain. Joy and pain are essential aspects of religions like Islam,
Christianity, Jewish (Judaism) Buddhism and Zoroastrianism; that means the
relation between Joy and the Pain is known almost the whole world, they offer
universal beliefs. Al-Mustafa tells the youth that friendship can bring joy into
someone's life; the Joy of companionship is spiritual inspiration. Friendship
does not mean seeking hours to kill, but making hours alive. Friendship allows
sharing Joy, laughter, pleasure and refreshment.
For without words,
in friendship, all thoughts
all desires, all
expectations are born and
shared, with Joy
that is unclaimed (T-19)
All I knew your
joy and your pain and in your
sleep dreams were
my dreams (T-28)
The Prophet
teaches his followers the Joy of praying and the power behind it. Human beings,
regardless of their religious need to pray when they are satisfied and Joyful
as well as when they are distress and in need.
You pray in your
distress and in your need,
Would that you
might pray also
in the fullness of
your Joy and
in your abundance.
For what is prayer
but the expansion of
you into the
living ether (T-23)
Appreciation of
Joy is so much spread between mankind and notions. Gibran draws attention of
his readers, who have enjoyed the Prophet, to a universal humanist joy which is
relevant to all cultures and times.
Belief in Freedom:
The fourth salient
universal theme in the Prophet concerns freedom which is defined as worship
(T-14) and liberation from the chains of social norms. The concept of freedom
is the main concern of individuals and nations; each seeks to achieve freedom,
on both personal level and at the
level of the
state. Human beings are hailed for their readiness to sacrifice everything to
gain more and more freedom. In truth that which you call freedom is the
strongest of these chains, though its links glitter in the sun and dazzle the
eyes T-14 Gibran emphasizes that the freedom is the strongest of chains. Free people
rise above their wants and grieve; Al-Mustafa teaches his audiences that one
cannot be great unless become free. They remain slave to the cruelty laws
enacted by their predecessor. Gibran's ideology on freedom is teetering between
Sufism and Semi- Socialism; he thinks that freedom should arise against the
racism in order to restore humanity to divine justice. For how can a tyrant
rule the free and the proved, but for a tyranny in their own freedom and a shame
in their own pride? (t-14) Gibran allocates a full chapter for freedom in his
book the prophet saying that the liberation and freedom can be only achieved by
pain to arrive what should be in future. Gibran is willing to remain logical
and realistic with his readers.
Equality and
Goodness of all Human Beings:
Equality and
Solidarity prevail throughout the whole text of the Prophet. When Gibran
enumerates things that the Prophet wants the addresses to avail themselves at
by transcending the barriers of the city. The Prophet does not characterize the
audience as, say; "Ignorant" or "Sinful" people who deprive
themselves of such great things as "peace", great, "remembrance",
"beauty", etc. Instead their heed for these spiritual attributes is
presented in the form of recurring questions: "Have you beauty",
"Have you peace", "But you children of space" ..... etc.
Then the addresses are encouraged to explore the greatness of exploring nature
beauty through a series of sentences wherein negation is used to assert their
keeping to the desired course of action\: "You shall not be trapped, nor
tamed, etc". All sentences are reinforcing positive stance. Another
technique used to write the Prophet, came with that of the addresses is that of
positive normalizations to "The other", the audience member are
characterized as "children of peace, restless in the rest, the
boundless".
Such a strategy enhances the relationship of solidarity and mutual
value-sharing rather than initiating a negative hegemony of one party over the
other. But yours children of space, you restless in rest, you shall not be trapped
nor tamed (T-9) of the good in you I can speak, but not the evil, for what is
evil but good toruered by its own hunger and thirst? (T-22)
You are good when
you are one with yourself. Yet when you are not one with yourself you are not
evil (T-22) Belief in the goodness of all human beings is dispersed in almost subtexts,
recurring (T-20) times there is even a good side in the unjust wicked, and bad:
You can separate
the just from the unjust and
the good from the
wicked: (T-12)
Humans are good in
countless ways; yet they are not evil when they are not good. Gibran considers
people who are in harmony with themselves are good but when one is not in
harmony with oneself, one is not evil.
You are good in
countless ways, and you are
not evil when you
are not good.
In your longing
for giant-seif lies your goodness:
and that longing
is in all of you (T-22)'
Participants in
the whole texts are only two parties: i) the prophet (Al-Mustafa), and ii) his
followers interlocutors). This means that there is no third party characterized
by "other" (who does not belong) in opposition to "US"9 in
addition Gibran refers to himself as a peace maker using the
pronoun
"1". Would that I could be the peacemaker in your soul that
I might turn the discord and rivalry of your elements into oneness and
melody (T-15) ‘
The Prophet thanks
the people of Orphalese for their generosity and faith in him, praises them,
then he bids them farewell and sets out in his ship after premising to come
back again. All the messages above tackle basic cultural functions that seem to
be acceptable to most competent human beings. They offer universal beliefs and
messages that can be usefully adopted to organize human actions due to their
beneficiality to human beings and because they cannot be justifiably disputed.
They basically define what is universally good and bad for all societies at
large as far as the topics under discussion are concerned. By 1925 the
ever-growing success of the Prophet meant that Gibran found himself an
international figure. The prestigious New orient society in New York asked him
to become an officer and to contribute to its quarterly journal. The man from
Lebanon was honored himself on the same board as Mahatma Gandhi, "Some of leading
thinkers including Annie Besant, Ananda Coomaraswami, George Russel (AE), John
Dewey, Bertrand Russel, Alma Reed, Claude Bragdom and H.G. Wells. In his
editorial for the new orient the Indian editor Syed Hussain expressed the
society's respect for its newest member: there is no more sincere and authentic
or more highly gifted representative of the East functioning today in the west
than Khalil Gibran
Reference:-
The Prophet (1923) Kahlil Gibran
The Prophet is a book of prose poetry that made its Lebanese-American author famous. Commonly found in gift shops and frequently quoted at weddings or any occasion where uplifting 'spiritual' thoughts are required, the work has never been a favorite of intellectuals - to some readers it may seem a bit twee or pompous - yet its author was a genuine artist and scholar (see bio, below right) whose wisdom was hard-earned.
The Prophet begins
with a man named Almustafa living on an island call Orphalese. Locals consider
him something of a sage, but he is from elsewhere, and has waited twelve years
for the right ship to take him home. From a hill above the town, he sees his
ship coming into the harbor, and realizes his sadness at leaving the people he
has come to know. The elders of the city ask him not to leave. He is asked to
tell of his philosophy of life before he goes, to speak his truth to the crowds
gathered. What he has to say forms the basis of the book.
The Prophet provides
timeless spiritual wisdom on a range of subjects, including giving, eating and
drinking, clothes, buying and selling, crime and punishment, laws, teaching,
time, pleasure, religion, death, beauty and friendship. Corresponding to each
chapter are evocative drawings by Gibran himself.
Love and marriage
Foolish is the person, the prophet says, who
'would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure', for to wish this leads to
less of a person, who has seen less pain but also less pure joy. The prophet
says: "When love beckons to you, follow him/Though his ways are hard and
steep".
We cannot wish for love to reach only a certain measure, or to presume that we can direct the way its course, "for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course." As much as love allows for our growth, it also acts to prune us so that we grow straight and tall.
We cannot wish for love to reach only a certain measure, or to presume that we can direct the way its course, "for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course." As much as love allows for our growth, it also acts to prune us so that we grow straight and tall.
When questioned about marriage, the prophet
departs from the conventional wisdom that it involves two people becoming one.
A true marriage gives both people space to develop their individuality, in the
same way that "the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's
shadow".
Work
It is not just the loss of a wage or even status that is so disheartening, but the feeling that you have been left out of the normal procession of life. Neither is it enough just to work for money alone. People think of work as a curse, the prophet says, but in doing your work "you fulfil a part of earth's furthest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born." Through work you express your love for whoever will benefit from it, and satisfy your own need to create. Those who enjoy their work know that it is a secret to fulfillment that we can be saved through what we do.
Work
It is not just the loss of a wage or even status that is so disheartening, but the feeling that you have been left out of the normal procession of life. Neither is it enough just to work for money alone. People think of work as a curse, the prophet says, but in doing your work "you fulfil a part of earth's furthest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born." Through work you express your love for whoever will benefit from it, and satisfy your own need to create. Those who enjoy their work know that it is a secret to fulfillment that we can be saved through what we do.
Sorrow and pain
Sorrow carves out our being, says the prophet,
but the space it makes provides room for more joy in another season of life. In
one of his standout lines, he remarks, "Your pain is the breaking of the
shell that encloses your understanding." Try to marvel at your pain as
another experience of precious life. If you can do this, you can be more serene
about your emotions, like the passing of the seasons.
Few realize, the prophet says, that suffering
is the means to heal ourselves, "the bitter potion by which the physician
within you heals your sick self." Consider, the next time you are in a
state of sorrow, that it may have been self-chosen at some level of your being,
to bring about an enlargement of yourself. Without struggles we would learn
nothing about life.
Property
Guard against the love of houses and things, the prophet warns, for these comforts erode the strength of the soul. If you attach yourself too much to the domestic luxuries of life, "Your house shall not be an anchor but a mast." You will be tied to it when the ship sinks.
Guard against the love of houses and things, the prophet warns, for these comforts erode the strength of the soul. If you attach yourself too much to the domestic luxuries of life, "Your house shall not be an anchor but a mast." You will be tied to it when the ship sinks.
Freedom
The longing for freedom is itself a kind of slavery. When people speak of wanting to be free, often it is aspects of themselves they are trying to get away from.
The longing for freedom is itself a kind of slavery. When people speak of wanting to be free, often it is aspects of themselves they are trying to get away from.
Prayer
You cannot ask for anything in prayer, because God already knows your deepest needs. As God is our main need, so we should not pray for other things, but ask for more of God.
The divided self
You cannot ask for anything in prayer, because God already knows your deepest needs. As God is our main need, so we should not pray for other things, but ask for more of God.
The divided self
The prophet likens the soul to a battlefield,
in which our reason and passion seem eternally opposed. Yet it does not do much
good to fight either: You have to be peacemaker, loving all your warring
elements before you can heal yourself.
The boundless self
The prophet tries to convey to those gathered
that the lives we lead on earth represent only a fraction of our larger selves.
We all have 'giant selves' inside us, but we have to first recognize that they
may exist. "In your longing for your giant self lies your goodness",
the prophet says. In pursuit of self-knowledge, therefore, we are looking for
the best in ourselves.
Final word
Taken as a whole, Gibran's book is a metaphor
for the mystery of life: we come into the world and go back to where we came
from. As the prophet readies himself to board his ship, it is clear that his
words refer not to his journey across the seas but to the world he came from
before he was born. His life now seems to him like a short dream.
The book suggests that we should be glad of the
experience of coming into the world, even if it seems full of pain, because
after death we will see that life had a pattern and a purpose, and that what
seems to us now as 'good' and 'bad' will be appreciated without judgment as
good for our souls.
The prophet also teaches that the separation we
feel from other people and all forms of life while on earth is not real. We are
merely expressions of a greater unity now forgotten. As he looks forward to his
journey, Almustafa likens himself to "a boundless drop in a boundless
ocean." To feel yourself to be a temporary manifestation of an infinite
source is greatly comforting, and perhaps accounts for the feeling of peace and
liberation many experience in reading The Prophet.
Reference
