The Depths of One’s Soul
Poetry, despite being words of emotional expression, can also take the mind on a journey into the fantastic. Kahlil Gibran’s masterpiece, The Prophet, dives into the misperceptions of joy and sorrow. Almustafa, who has lived homeless in a fictional city, is preparing to leave its shores and never return. When the ship finally boards Orphalese, the townspeople gather around him to persuade him to stay. Almustafa, although ignored, was no ordinary man.
Almustafa is asked many questions while getting ready to board his ship ride home. Citizens ask him about love, marriage, death, children, knowledge, friendship, etc. When asked about love, Almustafa answers with brutal honesty and brilliance.
“For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning,” (Prophet, 11).
Almustafa explains to them that every one of life’s important lessons has a negative side that can be avoided, however, will help strengthen one’s soul. The common questions of the Orphalese people relate to the reader and allow them to easily identify themselves with the questions being asked of Almustafa.
The Prophet does not focus on character development, themes, or mind-blowing ideas. However, it does focus on the beauty of words, visions, and the capabilities of the human soul. The Prophet reaches into the essence of who we are as human beings. Each of the twenty-eight questions that are directed at him is asked by simple town people. It is only when Almustafa decides to leave, that they finally take notice of him. Despite ignoring him and passing him up on the streets, the people of Orphalese find it necessary to take advice from the very man they failed to acknowledge existed.
The advice that Almustafa gives the people of Orphalese is promising, yet very critical of their own lack of compassion towards him during his twelve year stay.
Gibran provides the name of only one other character. The character, Almitra, is also the first person to ask Almustafa to speak about love. There could be a possibility of a romantic link between the two, but this could never be accurately drawn or concluded. Before Almitra spoke, Almustafa was boarding the ship refusing to speak. It was only when she spoke to him that he decides to delay his departure to answer the many questions of the people of Orphalese. The choice to give hope to the people of Orphalese was not to be given without some criticism.
When asked about self-knowledge, Almustafa answers, “Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights. But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart’s knowledge. You would know in words that which you have always known in thought. You would touch with your fingers the naked body of your dreams,” (The Prophet, 54). This particular passage is a direct criticism of the townspeople. It’s making reference to the fact that their hearts know their darkest secrets and that their own ears thirst to hear their own faults. This is a wonderful way in which Gibran disguises criticism in the form of self-help.
The beautiful short-story The Prophet encourages the reader to look into their own soul and to understand the meaning of their own lives.
“And beauty is not a need but an ecstasy. It is not a mouth thirsting nor an empty hand stretched forth, But rather a heart enflamed and a soul enchanted,” (The Prophet, 75).
It is the beauty of each person’s life that Gibran tries to accurately depict. He gives hope in the form of self-realization and self-correction. The faults of society and the world are the faults of each person not finding and embracing what is truly beautiful in life. The Prophet, being the beautifully written masterpiece that it is, deserves serious consideration to be included in the Literatures of the Fantastic course.
Gibran, Khalil. The Prophet. New York: Alfred. A. Knopf, Inc., 1923
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