Rumi (Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī)

A collection of new translations of the thirteenth century poet Rumi's love poems. These classic works of mysticism and desire inspired countless people in Rumi's time and throughout the centuries.Born Jalal ad-Din Mohammed Balkhi in Persia early in the thirteenth century, the poet known as Rumi expressed the deepest feelings of the heart through his poetry. This volume consists of new translations edited by Deepak Chopra to evoke the rich mood and music of Rumi's love poems. Exalted yearning, ravishing ecstasy, and consuming desire emerge from these poems as powerfully today as they did on their creation more than 700 years ago. 'These poems reflect the deepest longings of the human heart as it searches for the divine. They celebrate love. Each poetic whisper is urgent, expressing the desire that penetrates human relationships and inspires intimacy with the self, silently nurturing an affinity for the Beloved. Both Fereydoun Kia, the translator, and I hope that you will share the experience of ravishing ecstasy that the poems of Rumi evoked in us. In this volume we have sought to capture in English the dreams, wishes, hopes, desires, and feelings of a Persian poet who continues to amaze, bewilder, confound, and teach, one thousand years after he walked on this earth' - Deepak Chopra

Jalalu'l-Din Rumi (1207-73) was the greatest of the Persian mystical poets. In his extensive writings he explored the profound themes that had gradually evolved with the long succession of Sufi thinkers since the ninth century, such as the nature of truth, of beauty, and of our spiritual relationship with God. Professor R. A. Nicholson translated this inspiring collection of mystical poems shortly before his death. It contains delicately rhythmical versions of over a hundred short passages from Rumi's greatest works, together with brief yet illuminating explanatory notes. With this attractive and accessible translation, a wider readership can appreciate the range and depth of Rumi's intellect and imagination, and discover why it is so often said that in Rumi the Persian mystical genius found its supreme expression.

Jelaluddin Rumi was born in the year 1207 and until the age of thirty-seven was a brilliant scholar and popular teacher. But his life changed forever when he met the powerful wandering dervish, Shams of Tabriz, of whom Rumi said, "What I had thought of before as God, I met today in a human being." From this mysterious and esoteric friendship came a new height of spiritual enlightenment. When Shams disappeared, Rumi began his transformation from scholar to artist, and his poetry began to fly. Today, the ecstatic poetry of Jelaluddin Rumi is more popular than ever, and Coleman Barks, through his musical and magical translations, has been instrumental in bringing this exquisite literature to devoted followers. Now, for the first time, Barks has gathered the essential poems of Rumi and put them together in this wonderful comprehensive collection that delights with playful energy and unequaled passion. The Essential Rumi offers the most beautiful rendering of the primary poetry of Rumi to both devoted enthusiasts and novice readers. Poems about everything from bewilderment, emptiness, and silence to flirtation, elegance, and majesty are presented with love, humor, warmth, and tenderness. Take in the words of Jelaluddin Rumi and feel yourself transported to the magical, mystical place of a whirling, ecstatic poet.

In some languages of the Middle East the word for "rain" and the work for "grace" are the same. These quatrains are evidence of the invisible grace falling on our earth, a grace received by the mature spirit of master poet Jelaluddin Rumi.

Classical didactic poetry by Maulana Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, 1207-1273; includes commentary, an index of the glossary of verses, seven sermons by Maulana at his congregational meetings.