Sorry if this is off-topic, but I have been meaning to ask this for some time now, and figure other people would also be interested in the answer.
My question is: Where does the word Orphalese come from, and what does it mean? I found in a web search that there is an Orphalese Cruise Line, and some people who use the word as an on-line identity. I saw a reference to a city of Orphalese in a poem by Kahlil Gibran, and that looks like the oldest reference. Am I getting close?
-- Cowhead
P.S. If this is pushy or impertinent, please feel free to tell me to kiss off.
You are spot on with Kahlil Gibran, the Lebanese born poet and philosopher who wrote the inspirational book The Prophet. About five years ago I wrote some medical billing software under the guidance of a friend of mine who is also a surgeon in the UK, and we set up the company Orphalese Data Solutions Ltd to market it. We had both been impressed by this book of poetry and that is where we took the name from. The billing software never really took off, but that is another story.
The prophet Almustafa awaits the ship that will take him back to the isle of his birth, and in the meantime he preaches to the people of Orphalese, the island where he has lived since then. Presumably this is figurative and the approaching ship is his death while Orphalese is this place, the world. The people of Orphalese do not seem particularly spiritual or really very bright for that matter, which is why I think I identify with them!
Here is an online edition of the book if you want a taster:
