A book of poetic essays written in English, Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet is full of religious inspirations. With the twelve illustrations drawn by the author himself, the book took more than eleven years to be formulated and perfected and is Gibran's best-known work. It represents the height of his literary career as he came to be noted as ‘the Bard of Washington Street.’ Captivating and vivified with feeling, The Prophet has been translated into forty languages throughout the world, and is considered the most widely read book of the twentieth century. Its first edition of 1300 copies sold out within a month.

Khalil Gibran, a Lebanese-American artist, poet and writer was born on 6 January 1883, in Bsharri, Lebanon. His mother Kamila, daughter of a priest, was thirty when he was born; his father Kahlil was her third husband. As a result of his family’s poverty, Gibran received no formal schooling during his youth.

Sayings, poems and short pieces from one of the 20th centuries most revered writers. Born in Lebanon in 1883, Gibran's groundbreaking philosophy and simple, elegant poetry made him a figure of international renown. His writing - infused with timeless and provocative truths touching on subjects as diverse as love, friendship, beauty, wealth, sorrow and destiny - has been translated into more than 20 languages and his reflections on the nature of humanity continue to bring joy and inspiration to millions.

"If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don't, they never were." -- Kahlil Gibran Selected Quotes by Kahlil Gibran now at your fingertips Perfect for casual reading, taking ideas, inspiration Makes for a great gift choice "But let there be spaces in your togetherness and let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls." kahlil gibran

I met him at the crossroads, a man with but a cloak and a staff, and a veil of pain upon his face. And we greeted one another, and I said to him, “Come to my house and be my guest.” And he came. My wife and my children met us at the threshold, and he smiled at them, and they loved his coming. Then we all sat together at the board and we were happy with the man for there was a silence and a mystery in him. And after supper we gathered to the fire and I asked him about his wanderings. He told us many a tale that night and also the next day, but what I now record was born out of the bitterness of his days though he himself was kindly, and these tales are of the dust and patience of his road. And when he left us after three days we did not feel that a guest had departed but rather that one of us was still out in the garden and had not yet come in.

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) was a Lebanese American of Assyrian descent, an artist, poet and writer. He was born Gibran Khalil Gibran in Lebanon (at the time a Syrian Province of the Ottoman Empire) and spent much of his productive life in the United States. While most of Gibran's early writings were in Syriac and Arabic, most of his work published after 1918 was in English. Gibran also took part in the New York Pen League, also known as the "immigrant poets" (al-mahjar), alongside other important Lebanese American authors such as Ameen Rihani ("the father of Lebanese American literature"), Mikhail Naimy and Elia Abu Madi. Gibran's best-known work is The Prophet, a book composed of 26 poetic essays, first written in English in 1923. The Prophet remains famous to this day, having been translated into more than 20 languages. Other works in English include: Spirits Rebellious, (1908), The Broken Wings (1912), A Tear and a Smile (1914), The Forerunner (1920), Sand and Foam (1926), Jesus the Son of Man (1928), The Earth Gods (1929), The Wanderer (1932) and The Garden of the Prophet (1933).