MY COMMENTS :
In the work written by the famous Lebanese writer Khalil Gibran, as in the author's other books, his views on universal concepts in life are discussed under headings in order.
At the beginning of the book, before moving on to the work, the author's biography is also mentioned. As can be seen in the excerpts from the biography section, it is seen that the author aimed to establish a Greater Syrian State before the First World War. Although it is understood from history that he did not quite achieve these goals, it is also clear that he played a role in instigating the events that took place during the breakaway of Syria and the Arab countries from the Ottoman Empire.
The author, who was born in Lebanon to a Christian family, stated that he took on the role of being the shadow of the saintly character by describing the important virtues of Jesus Christ in The Prophet. The author, who also conveys his observations in Europe and the USA, where he lived since his childhood and youth, can only be described as an Easterner by origin. On the other hand, it is seen that there are some aspects in which he preserves some of the basic values of the East.
It is clearly understood from the quotations in the work that he shares a lot of common ground with the Islamic view, especially in terms of his outlook on life and basic moral values. His evaluations in terms of social cooperation, family ties and children also show that the basic moral values between the two religions overlap.
The most important distinction of the author here is that he expresses some of his views in his work on the subject of adaptation to Eastern culture as a result of the individualistic understanding, the basic notions of which he acquired at a young age in Europe and especially in the USA. However, this situation does not constitute a contradiction to the family structure and social values in Eastern culture, as it is the case with Western writers.
In the determinations regarding universal human values mentioned in the work, it should be stated that everything has a meaning with its opposite as one of the issues that should be especially addressed. It is stated that man contains both good and bad in his essence and that he is granted the will to distinguish between them, and it is explained with clear examples that the responsibility for our actions belongs to us. Here, it is seen that the author especially differs from other thinkers who represent the concept of pleasure-seeking, such as Omar Khayyam, and that he attributes a meaning to human will. The importance of the responsibility of the will, which our religion also emphasizes, is touched upon quite effectively.
Again, as a result of this understanding, the author, who touched upon the fact that people should create their own added value, stated that some people distract themselves with human pleasures instead of achieving this. It was stated that some people's steps towards achieving themselves are fast, while others progress slowly at the speed of a lame person. No matter what, progressing, even if lame, is better than stopping or counting backwards.
Therefore, the work contains thoughts that simplify one's perspective on life and make one's goals clearer and easier to achieve if one realizes one's self-knowledge. Therefore, it can be considered as one of the books that manages to contain common messages for all of humanity.
In conclusion, it should be stated that the work is one of the books that people of all ages should definitely have in their libraries and read.
MY QUOTATIONS(*) :
The nationalist curriculum of this Maronite school included church writings, theology, and history. Gibran, who was rebellious and individualistic in nature, opposed the narrow curriculum and demanded a separate curriculum that would meet his own educational needs at the college level. The school accepted his request and added courses to the curriculum in accordance with Gibran's wishes.
During this period of intense political activity that resulted in the Arab lands being freed from Ottoman rule, Gibran joined the Golden Circle, one of the semi-political Arab societies that emerged in many centers such as Syria, Lebanon, Istanbul, Paris and New York. Founded by a group of young Syrian immigrants, this society worked to improve the lifestyle of Syrian citizens wherever they were.
Gibran's dream of an independent Syria was further strengthened by his meeting with the Italian general Garibaldi, with whom he discussed the idea of leading a legion of Syrian immigrants to overthrow Ottoman rule. Later, after World War I, Gibran became a major advocate and instigator of united Arab military action against Ottoman rule.
He died at the age of forty-eight on April 10, 1931, in St. Vincent's Hospital in New York, unconscious from cirrhosis of the liver and advanced tuberculosis of the lungs. His body was brought to Beirut on August 21.
However, the exile he lived throughout his life must have continued after his death, because his bones, which were stolen from his grave with a sentence written on them, " Close your eyes and look around, you will see me, I am with you .", are now continuing their life in exile who knows where. The marble sarcophagus is kept chained to the ground so that the insane do not steal it either. ( Excerpts from the Author's Biography Section )
If love has found you, instead of saying, “ I carry God in my heart, ” say, “ I have found the heart of God .”
On the subject of marriage, “ Give each other your bread, but do not bite off the same piece of bread. Sing, dance, and have fun together, but do not forget that you are both alone. Give your hearts, but not to the protection of the other. Be always side by side, but do not press too close together. Because the pillars that support the temple are also separate from each other .”
Regarding children, “ They live with you, but they are not your property. You may give them your love, but never your thoughts .”
On the subject of giving, “ It is good to give when asked, but it is better to give before the person in need asks for it. You keep saying, ‘I want to give, but what I give should find its place, it should be worth it.’ A person who has seen days and nights worth living is certainly worth receiving what you can give .”
To love life through labor is to be a sincere friend with the most mysterious secret of life.
And I say that life is indeed darkness, one thing when there is motive, and every motive is blind, another thing when there is knowledge, and all knowledge is vain, another thing when there is work. And all work is vain, another thing when there is love, and whenever you work with love you bring yourself closer to yourself and to the other and to God.
Your joy is really your sorrow unveiled.
You will live in the tombs that the dead have made for you, the living. Your dwellings are magnificent and beautiful, but they will not contain your secrets, nor will they shelter your longings. For the boundlessness that is within you dwells in the mansion of the sky, whose door is the mist of the morning and whose windows are the songs and silences of the night.
Your clothes hide most of your beauty, but they don't cover much of what's not.
Remember that being modest and unpretentious is a shield that helps protect you from the dark, emotional gazes of the clean and impure.
If one of you stumbles and falls, it is as if he has fallen to those who come after him; the stone that he trips over should be a warning to those behind him.
He who will punish a criminal should also look into the heart of the person who caused the crime. If one of you comes along and decides to bring down his axe on an evil tree because he thinks it is right, let him first look at its roots. For there, in the silent heart of the earth, he will see the good and the bad, the fruitful and the barren roots intertwined together.
" You like making laws, but you like breaking laws even more ," he told the lawyer.
People of Orphales, you can muffle the drum and loosen the strings of the lyre, but which of you can stop the lark from singing?
I have felt the pain deep down in my heart, because only if your search for freedom can be your security and if you can stop talking about freedom as a goal or a satisfaction, then you can be free. Or rather, you can be free when such troubles turn your life upside down and you can overcome them with your own independence and will.
The truth is that everything within your being is intertwined. The desired and the feared, the hated and the celebrated, the sought after and the avoided are intertwined.
Your thought and your ambition are the rudder and sails of your soul, which has set sail on the wide seas. For reason, when governed alone, is a limiting force, and passion, when left unaccompanied, is a flame that burns itself to ashes.
Your suffering is the breaking of the shell that covers your perception. Just as the shell of a fruit must be cracked in order for its heart to see the sun, so is pain for you.
If the teacher is truly wise, he will not try to lead you into the house of his mind, but will try to lead you to the threshold of your own mind.
Your friend is your fulfilled need. He is your field, which you sow with love and reap with gratitude.
Do not be sad when you are separated from your friend. For the thing you admire most about your friend becomes more apparent in his absence, just as a mountain becomes clearer to the viewer from the plain, not to the climber.
What is a friend that you seek just to pass the time? Because he is there to meet your needs, not to fill your meaningless emptiness.
In most of your speeches, thought is half killed. Because thought is a bird of space, when put in a cage made of words it may spread its wings but it cannot fly.
There are some among you who, because they are afraid of being alone, seek out talkative people. Such people want to escape because they fear that the silence of their solitude will expose their naked selves.
You are good when you give of yourself. But you are not bad when you seek to gain something for yourself. Because when you seek to gain something for yourself, you are nothing but a root attached to the earth and sucking its breast.
When you are advancing towards your chosen goal with firm and courageous steps, you are good. But when you are limping, you are not bad. Because even those who limp are not walking backwards, they are moving forward.
You are good in countless ways, and when you are not good, you are not bad. You are just too lazy and lazy in your ways. Unfortunately, gazelles cannot teach tortoises how to speed.
You pray in times of distress and need; if only you could pray when you are joyful and on blessed days.
We cannot ask of You for anything, for You know what we need before it is born in us. You are what we need, and You grant us everything by granting us more than You.
Pleasure is a song of freedom. But it is not freedom. It is the blossoming of our passions. But it is not their fruit.
Even the human body knows its heritage and its legitimate needs and can never be deceived. Your body is the instrument of your soul. It is up to you to extract sweet melodies or distorted sounds from it.
Where do you look for beauty and how do you find it, unless beauty itself gets in your way and shows you the way.
The passionate one says, " Beauty is something that inspires power and fear ."
All these words you say about beauty are not actually about beauty, but about unfulfilled deficiencies. However, beauty is not a need, but the joy of fulfillment.
People of Orphales, the beautiful life is life seen when it lifts the veil that covers its blessed face. But life and veil are you.
Your daily life is your temple and your religion. Enter it with all your integrity. Take your plough, your anvil, your trowel, your instrument, and everything else you have that you can use or that will enlighten you.
Your fear of death is like a shepherd trembling before the king who is about to bless him.
You have been told, “ Just like a chain, you are as weak as your weakest link .” This is only a half-truth. You are also as strong as your strongest link.
The part of you that seems the weakest and most exhausted is actually the part of you that is the strongest and most dedicated.
MY EVALUATIONS:
Subject : In the work, as in the author's other books, his views on universal concepts in life are discussed under headings in order.
Style: The messages intended to be given are conveyed quite clearly thanks to the simple and short paragraph structures seen in the author's other books. It is stated in the biography section that this structure was specifically worked on by the author and that the book was prepared for approximately 4 years before publication. When the work is read, the really detailed structure of the style manages to attract everyone's attention. Again, the fact that the author concretizes the messages given with examples immediately after them has a positive effect on the reader in terms of accustoming the given messages.
Originality : The work does not aim to be an original book due to its type. Therefore, in such works, it is necessary to focus on other elements rather than the evaluation given to the originality criterion.
Character : The work will not be evaluated in this category due to its nature.
Fluency : When the issues mentioned in the style section are taken into consideration, it should definitely be stated that the work is one of the books that flows from beginning to end. When the type of the work is also taken into consideration, it should be stated that it is impressive that it has this level of fluency. However, it is obvious that it is not an engaging work due to its type.
General : In the evaluation made out of 10 according to the criteria stated above:
Subject: 9
Style: 9.5
Originality: 4
Fluency: 8.5
The overall average of the work that received the scores is 7.8 points . It should be stated again that the work, which almost reached the 8 threshold and received 8 and above in 3 categories, is one of the books that should definitely be read when other criteria are taken into consideration rather than its score, as stated in the originality element evaluation.
(*) : All parts in the title Quotations:
THE PROPHET
Author : Khalil Gibran
Publisher : Olympia Publications
The photo used on the cover was used as a quote from the book.
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