The Garden of the Prophet (1933)

Almustafa in the Garden of the Prophet by Kahlil Gibran is the prophet who returned to the garden. Gibran’s writing is melodramatic and mystical. The prophet appears like a Christ-like figure with his disciples. I was particularly struck by the cosmic elements of the poetry. Undoubtedly most lines have rather deep psychological meanings.
The garden was a microcosm of the world. In it was not only water and trees, but a cemetery where the deceased was laid to rest. Gibran’s expressions were often sad and gloomy with glimmerings of wisdom. The writer had stirring messages formulated with nuances, challenges, and conflicts. Interesting was how the prophet related to his disciples by the way he answered their probing questions. But in the end they all dispersed, and the prophet appeared to have been absorbed with the elements. ( )

The Garden of the Prophet didn't strike me as profoundly as did The Prophet, but there are still plenty of thought-provoking and moving passages within it.

It seemed to me that the character of Almustafa was more closely drawn to that of Christ in this volume. The parallels are not, however, overplayed, and the message is a universal one of love, forbearance and simplicity.

Edit: On a second reading I feel I got more from Garden, and have increased my rating accordingly. Gibran deals here with cosmic themes than the personal, human-scale issues in The Prophet and, perhaps, this is the reason it has taken me longer to assimilate. I'm sure to be coming back to Gibran's Garden again. ( )

More writings from Kahlil Gibran. This book was intended to be a companion piece to The Prophet, although I found it less inspiring. Still, I enjoy reading his writing. It's almost musical, and very poetic. ( )

The sequel to Gibrans classic The Prophet. The Prophet Almustafa returns to his homeland. Gibran's writing is pure poetry. Just as good as the Prophet. A very short and wonderful read. ( )

This paperback book, first published posthumously in 1933 to serve as a companion volume to the great Lebanese poet's more famous book 'The Prophet,' carries a strange painting on the cover by the great French Symbolist painter Odilon Redon, entitled 'The Priest of the Kabbala,' later changed to 'The Sphere,' 1895 in the Nigata City Art Museum, Japan.

Although beautiful and mysterious in its own haunting way, somehow it doesn't seem appropriate, and one wonders why the designers of the cover didn't use some of Kahlil Gibran's own sensuous Art-Nouveau-influenced watercolours or drawings?

There are seven of these lovely illustrations, painted by Gibran himself, reproduced here in black and white, and interspersed throughout the text of short melancholic Romantic and strangely haunting stories using the same framework as 'The Prophet:' nine disciples asking questions.

This slim 66 page volume has an introduction by Robin Waterfield, was typeset by Rowland Phototypesetting Ltd., of Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, was printed by Clays Ltd., St. Ives, England and was published in Penguin's Arkana series in 1998.

I bought this particular copy while on honeymoon with my dear wife Dawn in an underground bookshop in Agadir, Maroc in 2001. It still has the sticker from that shop showing the price to have been 68.00 dirhams.

I also bought Professor Said's 'Orientalism,' three novels by Amin Maalouf, 'Leo the African,' 'The Gardens of Light' and 'The First Century After Beatrice' and one by Naguib Mahfouz, 'Wedding Song' from the same Agadir bookshop, all in English translation, of course!