By Robert Frager (editor), James Fadiman (editor), Huston Smith (foreword) — 1999
Essential Sufism draws together more than three hundred fables, poems, and prayers that reveal the luminous spirit of Islamic mysticism.
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Originally written by Ahmad Aflaki, a devoted follower of the grandson of Rumi, this translation relates anecdotes of the life of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, his father, wife, sons, and daughter and his relationship with Shams of Tabriz and other close companions and disciples.
Jalaluddin Rumi has become one of the most widely read poets in our time. This collection of verse is drawn from Rumi's masterwork the Mathnawi, often referred to as the Qur'an in the Persian tongue.
Rumi’s Sun collects many lessons and discourses from Shams of Tabriz, the Sufi mystic and spiritual master who was the catalyst for Rumi’s awakening. Rumi’s son wrote, “After meeting Shams, my father danced all day and sang all night. He had been a scholar he became a poet.
"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.
The luminous presence of women who follow the Sufi Way—the mystical path of Islam—is brought to life here through their sacred songs and poetry, their dreams and visions, and stories of their efforts as they witness the Truth in many realms.
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Rumi is the greatest mystic poet to have written in Persian, and the Masnavi is his masterpiece.
Rumi's Masnavi is widely recognized as the greatest Sufi poem ever written, and has been called "the Koran in Persian." The thirteenth-century Muslim mystic Rumi composed his work for the benefit of his disciples in the Sufi order named after him, better known as the whirling dervishes.
The most influential Sufi poem ever written, the six books of the Masnavi are often called "the Qur'an in Persian". Book Two is concerned with the challenges facing the seeker of Sufi enlightenment.
This collection of poems introduces a general readership to Yunus Emre (1240–1321), called the “greatest folk poet in Islam.