Cover: Standard Ebooks edition cover · CC0 public domain dedication · source
The Prophet
Kahlil Gibran · 1883–1931
Before boarding the ship that will take him home, the prophet Almustafa answers the people of Orphalese on love, marriage, children, giving, work, joy and sorrow, freedom, pain, friendship and death. Twenty-six prose poems, each one short enough to read aloud to open a gathering.
- First published
- 1923
- Difficulty
- Accessible
- Reading time
- About 55 minutes
- Translation
- Written in English
Reading time: 12,495 words in Project Gutenberg text #58585, read at 238 words per minute.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1923. Written in English.
- love
- work
- giving
- freedom
- death
Where to read it
- Read free — Standard EbooksPublic domain text, carefully proofread and produced. · checked 11 Oct 2026(opens in a new tab)
- Read free — Project GutenbergPublic domain in the USA; check your local law outside it. · checked 11 Oct 2026(opens in a new tab)
Copyright
- Kenya
- Public domain (author d. 1931)
- United States
- Public domain (published 1923)
NOESIS hosts no book files. Links lead to the sources named.
Questions for discussion
'Your children are not your children.' How does that land in a Kenyan family?
'Work is love made visible.' Is it, in the work you do?
Which of the prophet's answers would you argue with?
Member reviews
No member has reviewed this book yet. Reviews come only from members, and a moderator reads each one before it appears.