1883–1931 · Lebanon and the United States
Poetry · Prose · Visual art
Kahlil Gibran was born in Bsharri, in present-day Lebanon, then part of the Ottoman Empire. He moved to the United States as a child and later studied in Beirut and Paris. Boston and New York became important settings for his work as a writer and visual artist. He wrote in both Arabic and English, participating in the literary life of the Arab diaspora while reaching a large readership through his English books.
His work includes poems, parables, drawings, and lyrical prose. The Madman appeared in English in 1918, followed by The Prophet in 1923. The latter is framed around Almustafa, an imagined teacher preparing to leave a city. Its inhabitants ask about love, children, work, giving, freedom, and other parts of a shared life. The answers use images and rhythmic language rather than systematic philosophical proofs.
Gibran’s spiritual vocabulary draws on several traditions, but the voices in his books remain literary creations. Their warmth often comes with demanding claims about love and attachment. Their lyrical ideals leave practical questions about relationships and obligations unresolved.
Quotations retain the wording of the cited editions. The explanations are Alrewaq’s editorial readings.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
Almustafa describes love as a force that exceeds ownership and control. The statement belongs to a lyrical address that also depicts love as demanding and transformative. Alrewaq’s question is how affection and freedom can coexist.
The Prophet
On Love · 1923
Written in English.
A continuous excerpt ending at the semicolon.
Read the source (opens in a new tab)You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts.
The imagined teacher distinguishes parental love from ownership of a child’s inner life. The surrounding passage places children within a future their parents cannot fully enter. This is a poetic way to honor developing individuality; it leaves the practical work of care, guidance, and responsibility to the circumstances of real families.
The Prophet
On Children
Written in English, 1923.
Read the source (opens in a new tab)It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
Asked about giving by a wealthy man, Almustafa turns from the transfer of possessions toward the disposition of the giver. The wider address questions fear, recognition, and judgments about who deserves help. A modern reader might think of time or attention, without reading generosity as a duty to disregard personal limits.
The Prophet
On Giving · opening answer
Written in English, 1923.
Read the source (opens in a new tab)Work is love made visible.
Gibran’s teacher imagines work as participation in the life of the earth and as care taking material form. The claim is an ideal within the book’s spiritual vision. It can illuminate the attention brought to a task without implying that every job is fulfilling, that exploitation is meaningful, or that a person’s worth depends on employment.
The Prophet
On Work · near the conclusion
Written in English, 1923.
Read the source (opens in a new tab)And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;
The friendship address makes room for both candid speech and quiet companionship. Its image suggests that attention can continue without a stream of words. Quiet companionship can be attentive, though understanding another person still calls for listening to what they say.
The Prophet
On Friendship
Written in English, 1923.
One clause from a sentence that continues after the semicolon.
Read the source (opens in a new tab)An English-language collection of poems and parables, published in 1918.
Lyrical prose published in English in 1923, framed as a departing teacher’s addresses.
A collection of poems and aphorisms, published in 1926.