This book begins with a short introduction and bio of the poet Rumi, his influences, companions on his spiritual journey. It is a delightful treasury of his poems. Each chapter has a small introduction or background into the themes of the poems in the chapter. It ends with notes and a few recipes for curry as Rumi often mentions good food!

Anyone who enjoys poetry with a spiritual, philosophic vibe. or wants to learn more about eastern thought. It is a great reference and cetainly not to be read at one sitting as there are many poems and wisdom to contemplate. Sometimes bits of wisdom just jumped out and applied to my own life!

The inspiring wisdom that gave me pause and often reflected life as I know it. It was interesting to see how many of our concepts of peace, love, space, emptiness and joy in living a present moment are so ageless and how we still struggle with them.

I wanted to keep it handy as inspiration and even shared some quotes as they applied to my life in the moment.

Born in 1207 in Afga=hanistan, Rumi became a sheik in a dwervish commununity, a religious scholar as a sufi. As a result of his association with another mystic, Shams, Rumi wrote his great works of love and the ups and downs of life.

The translator of this edition, Coleman Banks, has taught English and poetry at the U of Georgia for 30 years. He was led to read and translate Rumi through a series of cool coincidences and then studied with a sufi Master to better understand Rumi's work and spirituality. His translations are clear and meaningful.

The book is a thorough and thoughtful translation with helpful background information. A joy to read and ponder.
I loved it!

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Created Mar 24, 2019 at 3:01pm • Submit your own review...