The alchemist is an extraordinary story that has fascinated and motivated readers to pursue their, sometimes, long-forgotten destinies. Being an international bestseller for multiple decades, it had inspired its readers.
The story is about a shepherd boy named Santiago who goes on fulfilling his destiny. While sleeping in an abandoned church, Santiago has a recurring dream in which a child tries to tell him that he would find treasure in Egyptian pyramids. Although, he didn't consider this dream to be of much importance but due to having the dream multiple times, he meets a gipsy woman and asks her to interpret his dreams. The gipsy women tell him that his dreams are prophetic and he should follow his dreams and go to Egypt.
While he was thinking about his life and his dreams he meets an old man named Melchizedek who claimed to be the king of Salem. He tells Santiago about good and good omens. He also tells Santiago that it's his legend to travel to Egypt. Melchizedek gives him two philosopher's stones, Urim and Thummim which interpret omens. The king convinces him to sell his flock of sheep and set off to Tangier. Santiago is uncertain, but as he enjoyed the adventurous life of being a Shepard, and wanted to see the world, he embarks on his journey.
In Tangier, a thief robs him of all the money he had. this forces him to work in the shop of a crystal merchant. During the time he stayed there he helped the merchant increase his business and learnt a lot from the merchant. After several months of working with the crystal merchant, he saves enough money to go back to his country. Until then, he had only faced hardships and yet decides to further. He then joins a caravan crossing the Sahara desert towards Egypt. In that caravan, he befriends an Englishman who wanted to learn the secrets of alchemy. During the caravan's journey through the desert, Santiago learns a lot from the Englishman and also starts to listen to the desert and discover the soul of the world. Englishman tells him that the secret of alchemy is written on a stone tablet called the Emerald tablet and the masterwork is the ultimate creation for an alchemist that consists of a philosopher's stone that could turn any metal into gold and a liquid called the Elixir of life, that can cure all ills.
Eventually, the caravan reaches Al-Fayoum, an oasis in the middle of the desert where stops to avoid violence because of the tribal wars taking place in the desert. There Santiago meets an Arab girl, Fatima and falls in love with her. While Santiago wanders in the desert near the oasis he sees two hawks fighting in the sky and has a vision of an army entering the oasis. Santiago learnt that the soul of the world speaks through omens. Santiago shares all this with the tribal chieftains. The oasis defends itself from the invasion because of Santiago's warning. The alchemist learns about this and invites Santiago on a trip into the desert, Where he tells Santiago that it's important for him to follow his personal legend. The alchemist offers to help him cross the desert and reach the pyramids. He convinces Santiago to leave Fatima and the caravan behind and finish his journey first.
Further, in their journey, the alchemist shares many lessons with Santiago. Soon they enter the area of tribal warfare and a soldier captures them. The alchemist gives all the money that Santiago had, to the tribe claiming that Santiago has special powers and he could turn into wind within the next three days. This made Santiago nervous as he didn't know anything about turning into the wind. On the third day, Santiago communicates to the wind and sun and with their help, he turns into a sandstorm. He prays to the hand that wrote all and disappears from the sandstorm and appears back at the other end of the camp. After seeing all this, the tribesmen set them free.
The alchemist accompanied Santiago as far as a monastery. There, the alchemist uses the secrets of alchemy and turns lead into gold. He gives Santiago one portion of the gold and sends him further alone. Within several hours Santiago reaches the pyramids where he starts digging but finds nothing. Soon he encounters two thieves who rob him of the gold portion that the alchemist gave and beats him. Santiago tells them about the dream he had, after which one of the thieves tells him about the dreams he had about treasure buried in an abandoned church in Spain. Everything became clear, it was the same church where Santiago dreamed about the treasure. He returns to Andalusia and finds the treasure. From his journey, he realised that it was his legend to fulfil the journey of his transformation.
3 lessons from the book
1. Every person can fulfil his greatest dreams but to pursue your destiny, you must follow your personal legend and go through a journey of transformation.
The treasure was always close to him but to deserve, it Santiago had to go through the process of transformation. Similarly, most people know what their heart desire and they can achieve it but to finally fulfil your desire you must go through the journey of transformation.
2. Don't fear the hardships that will come along the way. Be ready to take on opportunities and always keep moving forward.
Santiago faced a lot of hardships and yet he was willing to move forward and pursue his destiny. He learn a lot along the way and used that wisdom in his journey. To achieve greater things you need to be patient and keep moving forward.
3. Even, when you face a setback, don't quit, rather learn to rise every time.
There were times Santiago, feels like quitting. He faced numerous setbacks and still choose to rise above those setbacks. It was uncertain that he would find his treasure and yet he kept moving forward. If you choose to leave along the way, then you might never know what awaited at the end.
Favourite Quotes
“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”
“People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of.”
“I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival because life is the moment we’re living now.”
“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”
“When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”
“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams.”
“There is only one way to learn. It’s through action. Everything you need to know you have learned through your journey.”
“What is the world’s greatest lie?” the little boy asks.
The old man replies, “It’s this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s greatest lie.”
“The simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them.”
“Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.”
“The secret is here in the present. If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it. And, if you improve on the present, what comes later will also be better.