Kahlil Gibran · 1923
The Prophet
Almustafa is leaving Orphalese. The people ask him to speak of that which is between birth and death.
Twenty-six short chapters. A harbour, a ship, and the hours before farewell. Read them here, free, as a book — not a scan.
The twenty-six
Doors of Orphalese
- Prologue01
The Coming of the Ship
Almustafa sees his ship, and the people of Orphalese gather to hear him speak.
- I02
On Love
When love beckons to you, follow him, though his ways are hard and steep.
- II03
On Marriage
Love one another, but make not a bond of love.
- III04
On Children
Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
- IV05
On Giving
You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
- V06
On Eating and Drinking
Would that you could live on the fragrance of the earth.
- VI07
On Work
Work is love made visible.
- VII08
On Joy and Sorrow
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
- VIII09
On Houses
Your house is your larger body.
- IX10
On Clothes
Your clothes conceal much of your beauty, yet they hide not the unbeautiful.
- X11
On Buying and Selling
It is in exchanging the gifts of the earth that you shall find abundance.
- XI12
On Crime and Punishment
The murdered is not unaccountable for his own murder, and the robbed is not blameless in being robbed.
- XII13
On Laws
You delight in laying down laws, yet you delight more in breaking them.
- XIII14
On Freedom
You can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you.
- XIV15
On Reason and Passion
Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield.
- XV16
On Pain
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.
- XVI17
On Self-Knowledge
Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights.
- XVII18
On Teaching
No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.
- XVIII19
On Friendship
Your friend is your needs answered.
- XIX20
On Talking
You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts.
- XX21
On Time
Yesterday is but today’s memory and tomorrow is today’s dream.
- XXI22
On Good and Evil
You are good when you are one with yourself.
- XXII23
On Prayer
You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy.
- XXIII24
On Pleasure
Pleasure is a freedom-song, but it is not freedom.
- XXIV25
On Beauty
Beauty is not a need but an ecstasy.
- XXV26
On Religion
Is not religion all deeds and all reflection?
- XXVI27
On Death
For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
- Coda28
The Farewell
A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind, and another woman shall bear me.
A line for the day
Keep one sentence.
The quotes people already carry to weddings and funerals, set as cards you can save. The words are Gibran’s. The object is yours.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;For love is sufficient unto love.
For the hours that ask for a reading
Ceremony packs
- MarriageFor a weddingThe three readings couples ask for most: love, marriage, and children. Print them, or read them aloud.
- RemembranceFor a memorialJoy and sorrow, death, and the farewell — for a service, a letter, or a quiet hour.
- ArrivalFor a birthOn children, on giving, on love — a reading for the first days.
- ThresholdFor work, or a beginningWork, teaching, and self-knowledge — for a desk, a studio, a new year.