The Prophet

The Prophet is Lebanese-American writer Khalil Gibran's best known work. In the book, the prophet Almustafa is returning home after 12 years in the fictional city of Orphalese. Before he boards his ship, he speaks to the people of Orphalese on a number of universal themes such as love, work, marriage, beauty, and death, which form this collection of 26 short fables or prose poetry. First published in 1923, The Prophet has never been out of print since, and has been translated into over a hundred languages. Khalil Gibran was a significant literary figure whose work has stood the test of time. This public domain edition preserves the original text in its entirety, making it accessible to modern readers and scholars alike. The short story is one of the most demanding and rewarding of literary forms, requiring a writer to achieve in a few pages what a novelist might take hundreds to accomplish. The stories gathered in The Prophet showcase the author's mastery of compression, suggestion, and the perfectly chosen detail.