this ruined all other poetry books for me.

this is the best poem book you'll ever read.

I admit that I was curious about this book, though it is not something that I would usually gravitate toward. I don't get down with preachy-type stuff. BUT, still I was curious, so when a friend bought me this book for Christmas, I decided to not let it languish on my shelves until I forgot I had it and just go forth and read it.

And now I can say that I have read it... but I don't think that it really did much for me. I'm not much into spiritual or inspirational stuff for its own sake. I can enjoy it when it adds a layer to a story or when it connects me to a character, but on its own I think that I'm too cynical to appreciate it.

Take, for instance, the fact that the first chapter of the book introduces the reader to the prophet, Almustafa. He's named, claimed the "chosen and the beloved" (though who chose him, I still don't know), and we're told that he's been in this place, Orphalese, for twelve years. Now his ship has come in, his bags (theoretically) have been packed, and he's on his way to the ship to go back home. Except that it's NOW that all of the people of Orphalese are like "WAIT! We know that we've had almost 5000 days in which to ask you things, and now you're ready to leave, but our needs trump yours, so if you're any kind of prophet at all, you'll delay getting on that ship another day so you can educate us all super-speedy-like."

So, if I were Almustafa, my lesson to them would have been a very short one: You snooze, you lose.

But apparently this prophet is patient and forgiving, because he answered all of their questions about marriage, and kids, and clothes, and good and evil, and beauty, and talking... And some of the things that he had to say were insightful and interesting, but others just seemed trite, or even worse, like bad advice.

Some examples:
The sections on marriage and children were both ones that I mostly agreed with and found interesting. Both suggest viewing one's partner or child as their own person, rather than as a part of oneself. A child is not a clone of the mother or father, they are their own person who will grow up to be an individual.

But the section on giving was just banal. Give out of joy or give as a kind of penance, but don't give for a selfish reason, otherwise it's a meaningless gesture. I guess, if one is only considering themselves in the equation. The help or goods given, regardless of internal reason, still benefit the recipient. A starving family is not going to care whether you're giving them food because you enjoy helping or if you're only trying to one-up the Joneses - it's still food they didn't have before.

And then there's the self-knowledge section, in which he advises against testing the depth of our knowledge. It sounds good - we're vastly capable, and learning our limitations only limits us, right? But on the other hand, it's only by finding out the limits of our knowledge that we can expand on it and grow.

Overall, I can't say that I feel any different having read this book. I don't feel enlightened or inspired, or changed in any way other than having my curiosity assuaged because now I've read it. This is one of those books that will either have meaning for you or it won't. You can really only find out if you give it a try.

موعظة في المدينة الفاضلة.

Halil Cibran ile tanışma kitabım. Kendisine daha ilk sayfalarda hayranlık duyduğumu içtenlikle söyleyebilirim. Muhtemelen "Ermiş" de bundan sonra baş ucu kitaplarımdan biri olacak. Çünkü "doğumla ölüm arasında olana dair ne varsa" en güzel şekilde anlatılmış bu kitapta. Kim anlatmış? Yıllar önce Orphalese kentine gelen ve kendisine inanıp düşüncelerine saygı gösteren insanlara bildiklerini öğreten bilge El Mustafa.

Okuyan herkesin hayatına anlam katması dileğiyle.


n  n    Alıntılar:n  n

n  Evliliğe dair n
* "Birlikte doğdunuz ve sonsuza kadar birlikte olacaksınız. Ölümün ak kanatları ömrünüzü dağıtıp savurduğunda birlikte olacaksınız. Evet, Tanrı'nın sessiz benliğinde bile birlikte olacaksınız fakat bırakın mesafeler olsun birlikteliğinizde, bırakın dans etsin göklerin rüzgarları aranızda. Birbirinizi sevin ama aşkı pranga eylemeyin.
...
Birbirinizin tasını doldurun ama aynı tastan içmeyin. Birbirinize ekmeğinizden verin ama aynı somundan yemeyin. Şarkı söyleyip dans edin birlikte, eğlenin ama yalnız başınıza olun ikiniz de.
...
Birlikte durun ama yapışmayın birbirinize çünkü ayrı durur tapınağın sütunları. Hem birbirinin gölgesinde büyümez meşe ile selvi."

n   Çocuklara dair n
* "Çocuklarınız sizin çocuklarınız değil. Onlar hayatın kendine duyduğu hasretin kızları ve oğulları. Onlar sizin sayenizde gelir ama sizden değildir. Sizinle birlikte olsalar da size ait değildir. Onlara sevginizi verebilirsiniz ama düşüncenizi değil. Zira kendi düşünceleri var onların. Onların bedenlerini barındırabilirsiniz ama ruhlarını değil çünkü ruhları geleceğin evinde sizin düşlerinizde bile ziyaret edemeyeceğiniz o yerde yaşar. Onlar gibi olmaya çabalayabilirsiniz ama onları kendinize benzetmeye çalışmayn çünkü ne geri gider yaşam ne de oyalanır dünle. Sizler yaysınız, çocuklarınız da bu yaylardan fırlatılan canlı oklar. Okçu sonsuza giden yoldaki hedefi görür ve okları tez gitsin, ırak gitsin diye gerer sizi var gücüyle. Okçunun erinde gerilmek mutluluk versin size çünkü o sağlam yayı da sever uçan oku sevdiği kadar."

n   Acıya dair n
* "Acıların çoğu kendi seçiminizdir."

n  Kendini Bilmeye dair n
* "Hakikatı buldum değil bir hakikat buldum deyin. Ruhun yolunu buldum demeyin, kendi yolumda yürürken ruhla karşılaştım deyin çünkü ruh her yolda yürür. Ruh ne bir hat üzerinde yürür ne de saz gibi büyür. Ruh sayısız taç yapraklı lotus çiçeği gibi kat kat açılır."

n   Duaya dair n
* "Sıkıntıya ve dara düşünce dua ediyorsunuz. Keşke sevinciniz doruklarda olduğunda ve bolluk günlerinizde de dua etseniz. Zira dua benliğinizin berrak ve canlı esire yayılmasından başka nedir ki? İçinizin karanlığını evrene dökmek rahatlatıyorsa sizi yüreğinizde doğan güneşi dökmek de sevindirecektir.

Ey Tanrımız bize kanatlanmış benliğimiz, irademiz içimizdeki iradendir. Bizde arzulayan içimizdeki arzundur. Sana ait gecelerimizi yine sana ait gündüzlere çeviren içimizdeki itici gücündür. Senden birşey istemeyiz çünkü sen bizim ihtiyaclarımızı daha içimize doğmadan bilirsin. Bizim ihtiyacımız sensin. Bize kendinden daha fazla verirken aslında herşeyi vermiş olursun. "

T.

تقييمي للكتاب: 4.5

في الحقيقة كنت أود إعطائه التقييم الكامل ولكن كنت أنتظر حدوث شي ما يجذبني أكثر للكتاب، و هذا الأخير لم يحصل.

ولكن هذا لا يمنعني من قول أن هذا الكتاب رائع، رائع جدا. يستحق لقب 'رائعة جبران العالمية' بجدارة~♡ كتب بلغة جميلة و عبارات مختارة بعناية..
بعض الإقتباسات التي أريد أن أشاركها معكم:

" فإن المحبة منذ البدء لا تعرف عمقها إلا ساعة الفراق. "
" ليعط كل منكم قلبه لرفيقه، ولكن، حذار أن يكون هذا العطاء لأجل الحفظ، لأن يد الحياة وحدها تستطيع أن تحتفظ بقلوبكم. "
"...لأن الذي يعتني بالواحد و يهمل الآخر، يخسر محبة الإثنين و ثقتهما."

و في الأخير أريد أن أضيف بأن كل كتاب أقرأه يضيف لي شيئا..♥

Rating: 4.5 !!!

I initially thought this book of Gibran was originally written in arabic, but when I came to find out the truth, I have the desire to read it in its original language. That is english.

That book is indeed a masterpiece. For those who haven't had the pleasure to read it, what a treat you have ahead of you!!.. It is so beautifully written..

#TheProphet #LeProphète #النبي #جبران_خليل_جبران

The Prophet made me feel profoundly spiritual when I was nineteen. It was a great way to experience spirituality and romance as a teenager, but as I got older, its lusty descriptions of the true meaning of love, marriage, and life just seem like pretty, but shallow, wordplay.

Now, don't write to me and prove me wrong on this, because I like the idea very much. I believe that Khalil Gibran was quite the player. The Prophet has a seductive tone that avoids making any concrete statements, which is the strategy used by career players (see SNL's The Ladies' Man).

Nonetheless, I still recommend everyone read The Prophet. Whether you take the prose as deep advice or empty rhetoric, it is beautiful wordplay.

Excellent and recommend all take the time to read a few pages

This book shows us that love is central to everything. Gibran expresses his ideas as poetic essays. He talks about life and death, love, religion, and spiritualism in such a profound manner that it will sink deep into our souls. This is my favorite book among all the works of Gibran.

n  “Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.
But you are eternity and you are the mirror.” n

This has been sitting on my shelves unread for over 12 years. Having read it now, I'm not so sure I should have changed that.
There were a few surprisingly "untraditionalist" bits when it came to guidelines for social relations of various types. But the main part of the book was spent on esotericism and "common sense" platitudes dressed up in shiny poetic (and lengthy) phrases. I was briefly amused by how "date-able" this was because of the author dragging in ether theories.
All in all, off you go now, little Prophet - go play with The Little Prince in the section for the inexplicably over-praised...

"Much of your pain is self chosen."

When reality sounds beautiful.

I am the one mesmerized here like it's the first ever book I have read in my life.
.
.
.

If there's one book I have to read combined all the philosophical, self-help, and whatever there is to give the best of how life should be then I must say this is the one.

I really do not understand what happened the first few times I picked up this book during these past few years trying to read it but not feeling the words when I did.

But today happened to be the day the book took hold of me and said what it had to.

And like a fleeting wisp of life, I felt understood.

"A seeker of silences am I, and what treasure have I found in silences that I may dispense with confidence?"

This little book speaks too much truth that if I happened to read it on a day I needed to be rescued I would have cried like I was dying relieved that I was saved.

It talks about loneliness and solitude yet it does not glorify them.

It explains about love in terms of what we would have felt about hate but it's the reality of it.

It further talks about marriage, children, about giving and receiving, and much about everything else.

Just read this book today.

Actually I am speechless.

An amazing piece!

- مع بداية العام 2019 لدي إعادة لكتابات جبران، لكتابة مراجعة تفيه بعض حقه علينا، سأكتفي الآن بقول قيل عند إصدار هذا الكتاب وانتشاره في الغرب :"هذا هو الإنجيل الجديد"!