- Hardcover: 302 pages
- Publisher: Castle Books,US; New edition edition (Mar 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 078580871X
- ISBN-13: 978-0785808718
- Product Dimensions: 21.9 x 14.6 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
56,485 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #7 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Islam > Sufism
- #17 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Poetry
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
No translator could do greater justice to the gorgeous simplicity of Rumi's poetry than Coleman Barks has done here. These exquisite renderings of the 13th-century Persian mystic's words into modern free verse capture all the "inner searching, the delicacy, and simple groundedness" that characterise Rumi's poetry while remaining faithful to the images, tone and spiritual message of the originals. Barks's introductions to each of the 27 sections (described as "playful palimpsests spread over Rumi's imagination", and "meant to confuse scholars who would divide Rumi's poetry into the accepted categories") are themselves wonderful achievements of a poetic imagination; searching explanations of unfamiliar concepts and funny stories provide colourful background and frame the selections as no dry historical exegesis could.
While Barks's stamp on this collection is clear, it in no way interferes with the poems themselves; Rumi's voice leaps off these pages with an ecstatic energy that leaves readers breathless. There are poems of love, rage, sadness, pleading and longing; passionate outbursts about the torture of yearning for his beloved and the sweet pleasure that comes from their union; amusing stories of sexual exploits or human weakness; and quiet truths about the beauty and variety of human emotion. More than anything, Rumi makes plain the unbridled joy that comes from living life fully, urging us always to put aside our fears and take the risk to do so. As he says: "The way of love is not / a subtle argument. / The door there is devastation. / Birds make great sky-circles / of their freedom. / How do they learn it? / They fall, and falling, / they're given wings." --Uma Kukathas --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Synopsis
A comprehensive collection of ecstatic poetry that delights with its energy and passion. The Essential Rumi brings vibrant, living words of famed thirteenth-century sufi mystic Jelalludin Rumi to contemporary readers.
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First Sentence
In the tavern are many wines-the wine of delight in color and form and taste, the wine of the intellect's agility, the fine port of stories, and the cabernet of soul singing. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
In the tavern are many wines-the wine of delight in color and form and taste, the wine of the intellect's agility, the fine port of stories, and the cabernet of soul singing. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Rumi (as he is known in the West), was known as Jelaluddin Balkhi by the Persians and Afghanis, from where he was born in 1207. Rumi means 'from Roman Anatolia', which is where his family fled to avoid the threat of Mongol armies. Being raised in a theological family, Rumi studied extensively in religion and poetry, until encountering Shams of Tabriz, a wandering mystic, with whom he formed the first of his intense, mystical friendships, so intense that it inspired jealously among Rumi's students and family. Shams eventually disappeared (most likely murdered because of the jealousy); Rumi formed later more mystical friendships, each with a different quality, which seemed essential for Rumi's creative output. Rumi was involved with the mystical tradition that continues to this day of the dervish (whirling dervishes are best known), and used it as a personal practice and as a teaching tool.
This book has a deliberate task: 'The design of this book is meant to confuse scholars who would divide Rumi's poetry into the accepted categories.' Barks and Moyne have endeavoured to put together a unified picture that playfully spans the breadth of Rumi's imagination, without resorting to scholarly pigeon-holes and categorisations.
'All of which makes the point that these poems are not monumental in the Western sense of memorialising moments; they are not discrete entities but a fluid, continuously self-revising, self-interrupting medium.'
Rumi created these poems as part of a constant, growing conversation with a dervish learning community. It flows from esoteric to mundane, from ecstatic to banal, incorporating music and movement at some points, and not at others, with the occasional batch of prose.
'Some go first, and others come long afterward. God blesses both and all in the line, and replaces what has been consumed, and provides for those who work the soil of helpfulness, and blesses Muhammad and Jesus and every other messenger and prophet. Amen, and may the Lord of all created beings bless you.'
From the lofty sentiments...
'There's a strange frenzy in my head,
of birds flying,
each particle circulating on its own.
Is the one I love everywhere?'
...to the simple observations...
'Drunks fear the police,
but the police are drunks too.
People in this town love them both
like different chess pieces.'
Some poems take very mystic frameworks, such as the Sohbet. There is no easy English translation of Sohbet, save that it comes close to meaning 'mystical conversation on mystical subjects'. These poems become mystically Socratic, by a series of questions and answers, very simple on the surface, yet leading down to the depths of meaning.
In the middle of the night
I cried out,
"Who lives in this love
I have?"
You said, "I do, but I'm not here
alone. Why are these other images
with me?"
Rumi also has an elegant series called the Solomon Poems, in which King Solomon is the embodiment of luminous divine wisdom, and the Queen of Sheba is the bodily soul. This sets up a dynamic tension that gets played out in the poetry (in extrapolation from the Biblical stories from which they were first derived)
Rumi reminds us that, in the face of love and truth, even the wisdom of Plato and Solomon can go blind, but there is vision in this blindness.
In the conclusion of this volume, Rumi's poetry of The Turn (the dervishes) is presented, as a place of emptiness, where the ego dissolves, and opens a doorway to the divine to enter. The night of Rumi's death in 1273 is considered 'Rumi's Wedding Night', the night he achieved full union with the divine that he had sought so often in poetry and mystical practice.
There is much to be gained in the contemplation of this frequently overlooked poet.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
True, Coleman Barks does not speak Persian or Arabic. And he is the first to admit that his is not a literal translation. Instead, Barks has worked with translations into Turkish, intended to preserve the spirit of Rumi's poetry, and in has aimed to do the same. In this, I feel he has had phenomenal success.
This collection truly transmits the power and energy of Rumi's inspiration- invoking Plato's image (in the Ion) of the magnet as the muse, and the poet as the first iron ring attached to the magnet, absorbing its force, and transmitting the same force to the audience further along the line. I think this book brings strengthens the current for the English speaking audience, and hence channels a greater amount of the inspiration which makes Rumi's poetry so remarkable.
Not one for stuffy academics, but this book will touch your soul if you open to it.
This collection truly transmits the power and energy of Rumi's inspiration- invoking Plato's image (in the Ion) of the magnet as the muse, and the poet as the first iron ring attached to the magnet, absorbing its force, and transmitting the same force to the audience further along the line. I think this book brings strengthens the current for the English speaking audience, and hence channels a greater amount of the inspiration which makes Rumi's poetry so remarkable.
Not one for stuffy academics, but this book will touch your soul if you open to it.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Whether you're contemplating Rumi in a meadow or while stuck in traffic, his eloquence reaches across the centuries to move you.
I highly recommend this book for anyone just beginning their study. The introduction and accompanying editorial comments provide a starting point for personal perspective.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Magic Poems
I just had started to read the Rumi peoms. The books sounds very interesting and stunning cause I love spiritual, religious stuff. I love it!
Published 2 months ago by Princess Noor Al-Huda
Persian Sufi poetry
To capture the true essence of Rumi's poetry in English is impossible. This translation ,however, is very good.
Published 22 months ago by Jila
Not easy to read
Not the best Rumi stuff out there, and listen if this is your first introduction to this great master you'd do better to get another Rumi book.
Published on 19 Jun 2007 by Ms. J. Lueders
Poetic enlightenment
Rumi (as he is known in the West), was known as Jelaluddin Balkhi by the Persians and Afghanis, from where he was born in 1207. Read more
Published on 21 Dec 2005 by Kurt Messick
Poetic enlightenment
Rumi (as he is known in the West), was known as Jelaluddin Balkhi by the Persians and Afghanis, from where he was born in 1207. Read more
Published on 21 Dec 2005 by Kurt Messick
Agreed
This is a poor collection.....
Try the translations by Maryam Mafi and Azima Melita Kolin - Whispers of the Beloved and Gardens of the Beloved - they are a million times more... Read more
Try the translations by Maryam Mafi and Azima Melita Kolin - Whispers of the Beloved and Gardens of the Beloved - they are a million times more... Read more
Published on 5 Oct 2005 by DelWij
Excellent collection by Barks who captures essence of Rumi
I find the work of Rumi a wonderful guide to life and listening to my soul. These translations mean I can access the teachings of Rumi and they capture the essence and energy in... Read more
Published on 2 Sep 2001
"Barks", a poet?
In reference to the reader thinking C. Barks is either a 1) "masterful translator" or 2)"an exceptional original poet". The answer: neither one. Read more
Published on 3 Sep 1999
These poems are God's whisper...
Words can not do these poems any justice,a must read for anyone who loves God or just amazing poetry...
Published on 3 May 1998
One of my favorite books ever
This is an incredible book. Coleman's translations
are wonderful. Rumi's poems have totally changed
my life. I could write volumes... Read more
are wonderful. Rumi's poems have totally changed
my life. I could write volumes... Read more
Published on 30 Sep 1997
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