The Prophet

The Prophet takes place over a single afternoon, in which Almustafa (the titular prophet) delays his departure from the city of Orphalese (where he has been staying the last 12 years) to answer the townspeople’s queries. Almustafa is (for the most part) not a prophet in the sense of predicting the future; rather, he is concerned with the true nature of the present, which the citizens have failed to recognize or fully appreciate. He…

The majority of The Prophet consists of the prophet Almustafa talking about the series of fundamental human concerns that the townspeople ask him about, touching on topics related to war, beauty, death, friendship, clothes, pain, and so on. Despite the wide-ranging nature of this discourse, though, a common pattern can be discerned in Almustafa’s responses: again and again, he feels compelled to disabuse the townspeople of conventional notions and taboos surrounding whichever topic is currently…

Religion is the second to last of the 26 topics the citizens present to Almustafa, followed only by death. And yet, when asked about it, the prophet replies with the rhetorical question, “Have I spoken this day of aught else?” He clarifies this suggestion (a surprising one, given that throughout the day he has spoken about clothes, houses, commerce, and much else that doesn’t seem directly related to religion) by defining religion as a…