This book reveals a secret that has been hidden for over 700 years. Behind the poetry that Rumi created out of love for his teacher, Shams of Tabriz, is a deep spiritual teaching. Millions are drawn to the beauty of Rumi's writings, but rarely are full poems quoted because they are so difficult to understand. They are seen by most as spontaneous expressions of love and spiritual ecstasy that seem to leap from one moment to another. However, there is a thread that weaves these moments into whole cloth. Each poem shares a poignant lesson about a spiritual teaching that can only be seen with eyes of love.
A profound, in-depth collection of Rumi's prose and poetry—from his most celebrated works to his more obscure teachings Jelalludin Rumi (1207-1273) led the quiet life of an Islamic teacher in the central Anatolia (modern Turkey) until the age of thirty-seven, when he met a wandering dervish named Shams Tabriz—through whom he encountered the Divine Presence in a way that utterly transformed him. The result of this epiphany was the greatest body of mystical poetry the world has ever seen, and the establishment of a spiritual movement that would eventually stretch from Africa to China, enduring to our own day. This collection of versions of Rumi by Andrew Harvey contains some of the master's most luminous verse, along with selections from his lesser-read prose works, with the aim of presenting a balanced view of his teaching that includes both the high-flying love of God and the rigorous path of discipline essential for those who seek it.
In this accessible yet authoritative pocket-sized edition, the author speaks about the famous saying (hadith qudsi) "I was a hidden treasure and I wished to be known so I created man that I may be known," and explains the life, poetry, thought, and spiritual practice of the originator of the Sufi order famous for the whirling dervishes.
This is the most accessible work in English on the greatest mystical poet of Islam, providing a survey of the basic Sufi and Islamic doctrines concerning God and the world, the role of man in the cosmos, the need for religion, man's ultimate becoming, the states and stations of the mystical ascent to God, and the means whereby literature employs symbols to express "unseen" realities. William Chittick translates into English for the first time certain aspects of Rumi's work. He selects and rearranges Rumi's poetry and prose in order to leave aside unnecessary complications characteristic of other English translations and to present Rumi's ideas in an orderly fashion, yet in his own words. Thorough, nontechnical introductions to each chapter, and selections that gradually present a greater variety of terms and images, make this work easily accessible to those interested in the spirituality of any tradition.
A biography of the Sufi poet that’s “a dazzling feat of scholarship . . . the book restores Rumi to the glories and hardships of his momentous age” (The Washington Post). Ecstatic love poems of Rumi, a Persian poet and Sufi mystic born over eight centuries ago, are beloved by millions of readers in America as well as around the world. He has been compared to Shakespeare for his outpouring of creativity and to Saint Francis of Assisi for his spiritual wisdom. Yet his life has long remained the stuff of legend rather than intimate knowledge. In this breakthrough biography, New York Times–bestselling author Brad Gooch brilliantly brings to life the man and puts a face to the name Rumi, vividly coloring in his time and place—a world as rife with conflict as our own. The map of Rumi’s life stretched over 2,500 miles. Gooch traces this epic journey from Central Asia, where Rumi was born in 1207, traveling with his family, displaced by Mongol terror, to settle in Konya, Turkey. Pivotal was the disruptive appearance of Shams of Tabriz, who taught him to whirl and transformed him from a respectable Muslim preacher into a poet and mystic. Their vital connection as teacher and pupil, friend and beloved, is one of the world’s greatest spiritual love stories. When Shams disappeared, Rumi coped with the pain of separation by composing joyous poems of reunion, both human and divine. Ambitious, bold, and beautifully written, Rumi’s Secret reveals the unfolding of Rumi’s devotion to a “religion of love,” remarkable in his own time and made even more relevant for the twenty-first century by this compelling account.
At long last, an accessible little book that focuses on the teachings of Rumi's teacher and inspiration, Shams of Tabriz. Included in this slim, charming volume is a biographical sketch of the great Sufi teacher and mystic and a new translation of 500 of his core teachings that bring into fresh focus the meaning and mysteries of life and love. There are many books on Rumi and many translations of his works and yet most readers are unaware of how Rumi became a mystic. Shams, an Arabic word that means the sun, was the catalyst that converted the rather resolute and ascetic Rumi, the cleric and teacher, into Rumi, the passionate disciple of the religion of love. He was the agent of the propulsive mystical energy that transformed Rumi the reticent into Rumi the ecstatic poet. Rumi lovers, spiritual seekers, and devotees of the mystical path will meet this little book of wisdom and mystical secrets with enthusiasm. I shall not place you in my heart For you may get hurt by its wounds. I won't keep you in my eyes For I may belittle you and expose you to the ridicule of common men. I will hide you inside my soul, not in my heart or in my eyes, so that you may become one with my breath.
The wisdom of the great Sufi master comes to life in this compendium of 365 Rumi poems and writings for daily contemplation and inspiration My heart wandered through the world constantly seeking after my cure, but the sweet and delicious water of life had to break through the granite of my heart. When the words of Rumi enter your heart, something softens, breaks, and is subtly reborn. That he wrote the words seven hundred years ago in a medieval Persian world that bears little resemblance to ours makes their uncanny resonance to us today just that much more remarkable. Here is a treasury of daily wisdom from this most beloved of all the Sufi masters—both his prose and his ecstatic poetry—that you can use to start every day for a year, or that you can dip into for inspiration any time you need to break through the granite of your heart.
He was one of Sufi’s most enlightened sages, and its greatest mystical poet. Embark on a remarkable voyage of self-discovery with daily insights taken from Rumi’s masterwork Mathnawi-i-Maanawi or Couplets of Inner Meaning. Sumptuously illustrated with photographs and paintings, this new translation captures the poem’s intoxicated devotion, multiplicity of meanings, and even humor in a language that will speak to contemporary readers. “You’ll find a year’s worth of daily inspiration.”—Psychic Reader.
Like no other book, In Search of the Hidden Treasurecaptures the centuries-old traditions of Sufism. Its pages allow the contemporary reader to become immersed in the words, sights, and wisdom of this powerful mystical wing of Islam. Here is the world of whirling dervishes; of mysterious alleyways where chanting is heard all day long; and of a young poet named Rumi, who writes impassioned love songs to God. Constructed as a conference of Sufis who gather in a great hall to answer the questions of a seeker, In Search of the Hidden Treasureis illustrated with more than a hundred previously unpublished works of Islamic art, and portraits of the Sufi Pirs, or enlightened teachers, drawn by the author's wife, Mary Inayat Khan. The book also includes an extensive glossary of Sufi terms that pertain to states of consciousness, as well as well-documented biographies of all the Sufi Pirs, members of a long lineage that dates back to the prophet Muhammad.
Rumi: The Book of Love is a collection of astonishing poems for lovers from the mystic Rumi, by the translator who made him sing anew, Coleman Barks. Poetry and Rumi fans will want to own this gorgeously packaged compilation of love poems by the thirteenth-century Sufi mystic. Rumi is best known and most cherished as the poet of love in all its forms, and renowned poet and Rumi interpretor Coleman Barks has gathered the best of these poems in delightful and wise renderings that will open your heart and soul to the lover inside and out.
