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Re-readings

Travels down the pathways of the soul

Tulip Chowdhury recreates the serenity of old tales
rHE Prophet is a novella the reader can complete reading within a short span of time. It is comprised of 115 pages only. And yet the wisdom and the insights that the reader gains from this book can seldom be achieved in a whole lifetime. Kahlil Gibran was bom in Lebanon and was a poet, philosopher and an artist. The book, a spiritual reincarnation with twenty-six poetic essays, is a pure treasure grove. The reader only has dig into it to come out feeling that he or she has found tire ultimate light of life. It is a book that grips your soul from the first page to the last and shakes your senses awake.
The book opens with the Prophet Almustafa about to leave Orphalese after living in the foreign land for twelve years. His ship awaits him as he is about to return to his home. On his way he is stopped by a group of people to whom he speaks of the revelations and the insights he has found in life. Almitra, the first woman to believe in him, begins by asking him to speak of love. Then he continues to speak of human life and the different conditions under which life holds out new meanings to people. The book is divided into chapters on love, marriage, children, buying and selling, crime and punishment and several other subjects concerning human life. The chapters delve into each of its subject very deeply and come up with worldly conclusions.
Answering Almitra and speaking of love Almustafa starts with these words,
“ When love beckons to you, follow
him, though his ways are hard and steep. When his wings enfold you yield to him. Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you. When he speaks believe in him.”
Love is forever a subject held in awe by mankind. Each and every person finds his or her own world of love. And yet we seek the true meaning of love from those who can shed light on it Speaking of love, Almustafa further says, " Think not that you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course. Love has no desire but to fulfill itself. Let your desires of love be to melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night, to know the pain of too much tenderness, to be wounded by your own understanding of love and to bleed willingly and joyfully’ Among the group of people saying farewell is a woman holding a baby. She requests Almustafa to speak of children. Almustafa says,
" Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of life's longing for itself. They come to you but not from you. And though they are with you they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts for they have their own thoughts."
As Almustafa continues to speak to the people of Orphalese we see that he is a great believer in individual freedom. Even when people are held in the great bondage of love he still speaks of each other's freedom. Almustafa also speaks of everyday things like giving, joy and sorrow and of teaching.
Everyday things like eating and
drinking have a special place with Almustafa. It is an old man, a keeper of an inn, who wants to know of these daily rites. Almustafa notes that eating and drinking shall be like an act of worship.
After speaking about eating and drinking, Almustafa speaks of work. Work bears the fruits of life that keep us going. The people of Orphalese want to know the prophet's insights into work. And Almustafa says,
"You work that you may keep pace
THE PROPHET
KAHLIL GIBRAN
with the earth and the soul of the earth. To be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons. When you work you become a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music.”
As Almustafa gives his sermons he repeatedly advocates freedom. And about freedom he tells the people of Orphalese,
" You shall be free indeed when your days arc not without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief. You can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goal and a fulfillment." Then he goes on to say,
" In the grove of the temple and in the shadow of the citadel 1 have seen the freest among you wear their freedom as a yoke and a handcuff."
And indeed this saying is true even in our everyday life. How often do we abuse our freedom without understanding its fruits? Freedom that is supposed to bring glory to individuals and to nations so often loses its true meaning.
Alrnustafa's other sermons also evoke questions for the reader in multitudes of ways. Each and every word he says seems to hold a grain of truth and sparks the readers mind with thoughts.
Almustafa also talks about prayers, beauty and religion. And he speaks of reason and passion, pain and teaching. When evening draws near Almustafa is ready to leave the people of Orphalese. And bidding farewell he says,
'' We are the seeds of the tenacious plant, and it is in our ripeness and our
fullness of heart that we are given to the wind and are scattered. Brief were my days with you and briefer still the words I have spoken. But should my voice fade in your ears and my love vanish in your memory, then I will come again."
Although Almustafa leaves, his words are like pearls delivered to the people of Orphalese. And to the reader the words of wisdom from Almustafa are solidly written in the heart as life's lessons.
The Prophet is considered to be the best work of Kahlil Gibran. The author spent the last twenty years of his life in America. The Prophet was followed by The Garden of The Prophet (published posthumously in 1933). Gibran was about to come up with the third part when he died. A perennial best seller, The Prophet has been translated into more than twenty languages. It is an elegant window’ into our beliefs and truths of life. The book also holds twelve illustrations of Gibran's original paintings. It will definitely stir countless questions about life in the reader's mind. And do we not live a vibrant life when we learn to question our own self, learn to challenge our own beings? The book is available in many bookshops of Dhaka. The locally available book comes to us from UBS Publishers, Distributors Ltd. The reader will not put down the book without recommending it to others And so make haste and get your copy and spend some real God-sent hours reading!
Tulip Chowdhury teaches, writes fiction and reviews books.