1 h 24 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 34 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 34 pagesAbout this book
What might a farewell teach you about love, work, and the sorrow that lives beside joy?
In Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet, Almustafa waits for a ship to carry him home. He has lived in Orphalese for twelve years. Before he leaves, the townspeople gather and ask him to speak about the things that shape their lives: love, giving, work, pain, and freedom.
His replies form twenty-six short sermons in prose poetry. Rather than build an argument, Gibran offers calm, image-rich reflections on ordinary life and its largest questions. Almustafa speaks of love’s demands, the ties between joy and sorrow, and the care people owe one another. Each subject offers a place to pause and consider your own experience.
What you’ll discover
- Love with room to grow Explore Almustafa’s view of love as both a calling and a difficult path.
- Giving beyond your possessions Consider what it means to give freely and bring love into daily work.
- Joy beside sorrow Sit with the thought that laughter and tears draw from the same well.
- Judgment with human care Follow reflections on wrongdoing that refuse to treat the wrongdoer as a stranger.
- Questions without easy measures Turn toward beauty, prayer, time, and death through Almustafa’s quiet, searching reflections.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who like short, reflective writing on love, work, family and grief, and anyone who wants a book to return to in small pieces. If you want argument, evidence or a plot, you may find it less suited.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Wise Man Is Asked to Speak
- Love Asks Everything and Leaves Room
- Give Freely and Work With Love
- Joy and Sorrow Grow From One Root
- Judge Gently and Guard Real Freedom
- Beauty, Prayer and Death Close the Book
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 1 h 24 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in, 34 pages: 5,95 USD when you start free, 11,95 USD on its own.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in, 34 pages: 12,95 USD when you start free, 18,95 USD on its own.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works · 60-day guarantee
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, for the whole household.
- We remind you first. We email you 7 days before your first payment. Then your first year is 50% off: 0,14 USD a day, then 0,27 USD a day, never raised. Or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
60-day money-back guarantee. If the library is not for you, ask within 60 days of your first payment and we refund it in full.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear The Prophet in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Read it side by side
The Prophet
by Kahlil Gibran· 1923
A departing prophet shares thoughts on love, work, and loss.
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- The whole household
Starts right away, on any device
Read free60-day money-back guaranteeRenews every yearCancel anytimeHow it works
Language: Deutsch
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A Wise Man Is Asked to Speak
The book opens in the port city of Orphalese. Almustafa, called the chosen and the beloved, has lived there for twelve years while waiting for his ship. When it appears on the horizon, he feels joy at going home but also sadness at leaving the people who have become his neighbours.
A seeress named Almitra speaks for the crowd. She asks him not to leave them before he has told them what he knows. She wants him to share the truth he has seen, and the people echo her wish. This sets up the pattern of the whole book, in which someone asks a question and Almustafa answers.
Renews every year · Cancel anytime
The author
Kahlil Gibran
1883–1931 · Lebanese American poet and writer
Kahlil Gibran was a writer, poet, and painter born in Bsharri, in present-day Lebanon, in 1883. He moved to Boston in 1895 and settled in New York in 1911. He wrote in Arabic and English. His book The Prophet was published in 1923. He died in New York in 1931.
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, for the whole household. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - The whole householdUp to 5 readers
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
More like this
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
FreeOur mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
Questions about The Prophet
Can I read it free?
Yes. The beginning, from the first page to the end of chapter 1, and the first 5 minutes of the audiobook are free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 90 days, with the eBook to keep. After that, your first year is 50% off. You also get 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy just the printed book?
Yes. The paperback costs 11,95 USD on its own. Start free and you pay the cost of printing: 5,95 USD for this paperback, and any other book at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print.
Can my family read too?
Yes. The whole household reads and listens: up to 5 readers, each with their own shelf and their own place in every book.
What if it is not for me?
Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. If you have paid and the library is not for you, ask within 60 days of your first payment and we refund it in full.
What is The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran about?
It is a book of twenty-six prose poems in which a wise man named Almustafa, about to sail home, answers the questions of a city's people on love, work, marriage, children, pain, freedom and death.
Who is Almustafa in The Prophet?
Almustafa is the central speaker, a prophet who has lived twelve years in the city of Orphalese. He is waiting for a ship home, and the people ask him to share his wisdom before he goes.
When was The Prophet written and is it a true story?
It was published in 1923. It is a work of imagination, not a true story, and the city of Orphalese and the figure of Almustafa were invented by Gibran.
Popular in poetry and plays
See all
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
