# Almustafa — The Prophet character guide > Almustafa in The Prophet by Khalil Gibran. **Role:** major **Also known as:** The Prophet, Claude Bragdon The Prophet Almustafa **First appearance:** 0001-the-prophet ## Snapshot After twelve years of waiting in Orphalese, the chosen and beloved prophet sees his ship return and must speak his last wisdom before he can bear to leave. ## Who they are Almustafa has lived twelve years as a stranger among the people of Orphalese, loved and needed but never quite at home, and his ship's arrival splits him between joy and a wound he cannot hide. He calls departure a skin torn off rather than a garment cast aside, and he answers the crowd's hunger for teaching even as he admits he was only ever a listener. His willingness to speak before he goes is the engine of the whole book: every sermon on love, work, and death is also a farewell, and his longing to give something worthy of the people who stop their harvests to hear him keeps the early and middle chapters taut. ## In the story ### [Epigraph](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/epigraph) Referenced as the source of spiritual power and beauty of language. ### [The Prophet](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/the-prophet) The prophet who has waited twelve years, delivers teachings on life, and departs by ship. ### [The Coming of the Ship](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/the-coming-of-the-ship) The protagonist who has waited twelve years and now prepares to leave Orphalese, experiencing joy and sorrow. ### [On Love](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-love) Delivers the chapter's central teaching on love, addressing the gathered people. ### [On Marriage](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-marriage) Almustafa delivers the teaching on marriage, emphasizing the importance of space and individuality within unity. ### [On Children](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-children) Delivers the discourse on children, emphasizing their independence and the role of parents as stewards. ### [On Giving](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-giving) Delivers a discourse on the philosophy of giving, addressing a rich man's question. ### [On Eating and Drinking](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-eating-and-drinking) Delivers the discourse on eating and drinking, emphasizing reverence and the sacred cycle of life. ### [On Work](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-work) Delivers the discourse on work, explaining its spiritual and loving nature. ### [On Joy and Sorrow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-joy-and-sorrow) Delivers the discourse on the duality of joy and sorrow. ### [On Houses](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-houses) Delivers the discourse on houses, addressing a mason and the people of Orphalese. ### [On Clothes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-clothes) Delivers the discourse on clothes, emphasizing natural freedom and the transient need for modesty. ### [On Buying and Selling](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-buying-and-selling) Delivers wisdom on the sacred nature of trade and exchange. ### [On Crime and Punishment](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-crime-and-punishment) Delivers the discourse on crime and punishment, emphasizing collective responsibility and the interconnection of good and evil. ### [On Laws](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-laws) Delivers a discourse on the nature of laws, contrasting playful creation and destruction with rigid, shadow-bound adherence. ### [On Freedom](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-freedom) Delivers the discourse on freedom, challenging conventional notions and urging inner liberation. ### [On Reason and Passion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-reason-and-passion) Delivers the discourse on the harmony of reason and passion. ### [On Pain](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-pain) Delivers the discourse on pain, using metaphors of breaking shells and the physician within. ### [On Self-Knowledge](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-self-knowledge) Speaks on the nature of self-knowledge, emphasizing the soul's boundlessness and its unfolding like a lotus. ### [On Teaching](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-teaching) Delivers the discourse on teaching, emphasizing the role of a teacher as a guide to self-discovery. ### [On Friendship](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-friendship) Delivers the discourse on friendship, answering a youth's request. ### [On Talking](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-talking) Delivers the discourse on talking, responding to a scholar's query. ### [On Time](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-time) Delivers the discourse on time, addressing the astronomer and the gathered people. ### [On Good and Evil](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-good-and-evil) Delivers the discourse on good and evil, explaining their interconnection and urging compassion. ### [On Prayer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-prayer) Delivers the discourse on prayer, guiding the people to pray in joy as well as sorrow and to seek communion beyond words. ### [On Pleasure](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-pleasure) Delivers the discourse on pleasure, using metaphors of freedom, desire, and the bee and flower. ### [On Beauty](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-beauty) Delivers the discourse on beauty, explaining its true nature as ecstasy and unveiling. ### [On Religion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-religion) Delivers the discourse on religion, emphasizing that all aspects of life are sacred and inseparable from faith. ### [On Death](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/on-death) Almustafa delivers a profound teaching on the unity of life and death. ### [The Farewell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/chapters/the-farewell) The central figure who delivers his farewell discourse, boards the ship, and departs eastward, promising to return. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/characters/the_prophet_almustafa - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prophet_se/characters