The Prophet (Vintage International),New

About the AuthorKahlil Gibran was born in 1883 in Lebanon and died in New York in 1931. His family emigrated to the United States in 1895. In his early teens, the artistry of Gibran's drawings caught the eye of his teachers and he was introduced to the avantgarde Boston artist, photographer, and publisher Fred Holland Day, who encouraged and supported Gibran in his creative endeavors. A publisher used some of Gibran's drawings for book covers in 1898, and Gibran held his first art exhibition in 1904 in Boston. In 1908, Gibran went to study art with Auguste Rodin in Paris for two years, and he later studied art in Boston. While most of Gibran's early writing was in Arabic, most of his work published after 1918 was in English. Gibran's bestknown work is The Prophet, a book composed of 28 poetic essays.Product DescriptionKahlil Gibrans masterpiece, The Prophet, is one of the most beloved classics of our timea collection of poetic essays that are philosophical, spiritual, and, above all, inspirational. Published in 1923, it has been translated into more than twenty languages.The Prophet contains powerful words of wisdom on such essential subjects as marriage, children, friendship, work, and pleasurewords that readers from around the world have found inspirational and lifechanging. A poet, artist, and mystic, Gibran was born to a poor Christian family in Lebanon and emigrated to the United States as an adolescent, where he began studying art. The twentyeight poetic essays collected in The Prophet are illustrated with twelve of his fullpage drawings. Perhaps no other twentiethcentury writer has touched the hearts and minds of so remarkably varied and widespread a readership.Review'Cadenced and vibrant with feeling, the words of Kahlil Gibran bring to one's ears the majestic rhythm of Ecclesiastes... If there is a man or woman who can read this book without a quiet acceptance of a great man's philosophy and a singing in the heart as of music born within, that man or woman is indeed dead to life and truth.' Chicago PostExcerpt. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.ON LOVEThen said Almitra, Speak to us of Love.And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them. And with a great voice he said:When love beckons to you, follow him,Though his ways are hard and steep.And when his wings enfold you yield to him,Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.And when he speaks to you believe in him,Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.He threshes you to make you naked.He sifts you to free you from your husks.He grinds you to whiteness.He kneads you until you are pliant;And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for Gods sacred feast.All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Lifes heart.But if in your fear you would seek only loves peace and loves pleasure,Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of loves threshingfloor,Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears. Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;For love is sufficient unto love.When you love you should not say, God is in my heart, but rather, I am in the heart of God.And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.Love has no other desire but