Review Sang Nabi

Sang Nabi

by Khalil Gibran, Sri Kusdayantinah (Translator)

Sang Nabi adalah sebuah novel-puisi yang bercerita tentang seseorang yang bernama Al-Mustafa—yang dalam bahasa Arab berarti "Yang Terpilih". Setelah mengasingkan diri di sebuah pulau terpencil selama dua belas tahun, Al-Mustafa pergi menuju sebuah kota kecil Orphalese dan mengajari manusia tentang berbagai hakikat kehidupan.

Pustaka Jaya

Saya: Mengajarkan semua keutamaan hidupmu..

Katie: "The Prophet" is a beautiful and timeless work of art. From the mouth of an old man about to sail away to a far off place, we hear the simple and lyrical wisdom of life and all its components, such as love, work, materialism, crime, freedom, friendship, pleasure, and death. This is a classic guide book for life, full of philosophical eloquence. It is a profound and poetic serman that puts much into perspective without feeling dogmatic or religious. Especially poignant were the writings on Marriage, Children, and Joy and Sorrow. The book can be read in less than an hour, but I'd suggest spending more time with it, allowing yourself to fully absorb this masterpiece. Ten stars.

Malynda: A surrogate Bible, this prophetic book looks forward to every corner of our experience and gives words of simple guidance and celebration. Written in 1925 by Lebanese author Khalil Gibran, The Prophet is a blend of Arabic philosophy and Christian Doctrine. In the novel, the Stranger Almustafa is about to depart the city of Orphalese on a ship. The people of the city crowd before him, asking for council before his assumption. He addresses such issues as Work, Marriage, Death and Love with clarity and compassion.

Gibran is often compared to blake in his poetic prose/prosey poetry and combination of drawings and text. The rule on this book is that it must be given to you, preferably a second-hand copy. The more loved and filled with cryptic enscriptions, the better.

Natalie: A few years ago my husband was in a van pool. The people in this D.C. bound van pool took turns driving the van while the others rode in the back. One day my husband's friend was driving and got a speeding ticket. (He was going 80 in a 65, just like everyone does on Interstate 95). Well, the guy was upset that he got caught doing what anyone else would have been doing if they had been driving so he asked if people could help him pay the ticket. My husband was one of two people in the pool of 15 people that contributed to the ticket. So in thanks for his gesture the friend gave us this book.

This book was also featured in the movie Walk the Line. It reads like scripture- and has 28 sections on things the people asked the 'prophet' and I'll give you a little taste of section 4 entitled Children: You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

This Kahlil Gibran was pretty cool in the 50s I guess. His writings are cool now. My mom had a Kahlil Gibran journal she wrote in in the 70s. How cool is that?

Irinina: This book was given to me as a gift from my director in the last show that I did. I carried it with me everywhere and read it on the train, anytime I was waiting or bored. It brought me such immense comfort and inspiration. When I would read it’s pages before a long day at work, I came to work much more peaceful, than crabby. It’s messages are simple, yet profound and there is room in them to interpret them and hear them according to wherever you are in your life. I think that this book came into my life at the right time, it was a gift, then both my boyfriend and my mother highly praised it while I was reading it.

Ryan: a book for anyone willing to step outside of the insitutionalized perspective of life that most of America and the world finds itself in. Every line is an intuitive and insightful proclamation of the gut feelings we all have about the way life can be lived and should be lived. I have heard the quote on marriage being like two trees standing near each other with a little space between them so the wind (God) can come between them. it's an extremely popular and inspirational book!

Karye: Now that I'm reading The Prophet again, words that I read twenty-seven years ago still ring clearly in my mind as I read them again today. It was a wonderful moment a few evenings ago to find myself reciting aloud and from memory passages that had struck me then--and now--to the very core. Kahlil Gibran spent a couple of years revising The Prophet. Since it is a short book, the concepts come across as distilled. The influences of his native Lebanon as well as his love for scripture, come through in the scriptural-like language. I am savoring this book slowly this time, taking little sips at a time.

Mansoor: 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.