The Lemon Book Club - The Prophet

The Prophet by Khalil Gibran is an interesting book, not only for the story it tells, but for the effect it has on people.

I first found a tattered copy of The Prophet in my home, it had belonged to my grandmother. That alone gave this book a sense of poignancy for me. As if knowing that we had both read this book and contemplated its wisdom gave us a common reference point, a shared experience although experienced at different times. At least, I like to think so.

The Prophet is not an easy book to describe. It is full of poetry and wisdom, told through the story of a sailor, long shipwrecked on an island, whose crew finally comes for him. As he sets to depart, the people of the island, whom it appears he never had much contact with before, come to him. They ask him to tell them about different aspects of life, including love, giving, freedom, and death. This alone, that they waited until he was departing to begin to speak with him, is a lesson in itself.

The first time I set out to read my own copy of the book was the very first time I came to Sicily, the island my ancestors emigrated from. I spent a few days in Palermo, mostly wandering around by myself, timidly exploring a place that, little did I know then, would not too long after become my home.

I have probably only read the book straight through that first time. Since then, my well-loved copy has traveled with me, almost always. Poems like, “On Joy and Sorrow,” “On Pain,” and '“On Time” have been my comfort through difficult times. Ones like “On Love,” “On Pleasure,” and “On Beauty” have given me hope.

The Prophet becomes for some, like me, a companion. Certainly it is the book I have read the most and kept closest to me. Passages that did not resonate with me before I can turn to one day and they will spark a new understanding. Some I still have yet to begin to comprehend what they have to say. I sometimes forget how much wisdom is in this book until I find myself coming back to it in times of need. The Prophet was one of Gibran’s first works in English, after having previously written in his native Arabic. If you can find a copy with his original drawings, you can glimpse even more into his vision.

Sometimes, I go to my copy of The Prophet when I am searching a certain comfort, but more often these days I find myself turning to random page, and finding some solace in whatever it is that I read. Maybe for you, you can find the same.

Note: The header image is of an olive tree outside of Al-Khalil, Palestine