The Soul of Rumi: A New Collection of Ecstatic PoemsThe Soul of Rumi collects the poetry of the thirteenth century Persian mystic that explores the divine from the teachings of Sufism. Rumi’s masterpieces have inspired countless people throughout the centuries, and Coleman Barks’s exquisite renderings are widely considered the definitive versions. His translations capture the inward exploration and intensity that characterize Rumi’s poetry, making this unique voice of mysticism and desire contemporary while remaining true to the original poems. In this volume readers will encounter the essence of Sufism’s insights into the experience of divine love, wisdom, and the nature of both humanity and God. Rumi’s voice leaps off these pages with a rapturous power, expressing our deepest yearning for the transcendent connection with the source of the divine: there are passionate outbursts about the torment of longing for the beloved and the sweet delight that comes from union; stories of sexual adventures and of loss; poems of love and fury, sadness and joy; and quiet truths about the beauty and variety of human emotion. For Rumi, soul and body and emotion are not separate but are rather part of the great mystery of mortal life, a riddle whose solution is love. Above all else, Rumi’s poetry exposes us to the delight that comes from being fully alive, urging us always to put aside our fears and take the risk of discovering our core self. Barks’s fresh, original translations magnificently convey Rumi’s insights into the human heart and its longings with his signature passion and daring, focusing on the ecstatic experience of the inseparability of human and divine love. |
Contents
3 | |
Solomons Far Mosque | 15 |
Inside This Ordinary Daylight | 28 |
The Source of Dream Vision | 37 |
The Inner Meaning of Religions | 46 |
The Lighthearted Path | 54 |
Waters Voice | 61 |
Praise for EarlyWaking Grievers prelude 268 269 | 71 |
Being in Between Language and the Souls | 151 |
Dissolving Beyond Doubt and Certainty | 164 |
The Plural You | 199 |
Clairvoyance Being Several Places at Once and the Rainpaths | 206 |
Patience and Improvisation | 212 |
As a Christian Disappears into Grace | 225 |
The Hungry Animal and the Connoisseur | 232 |
A Way of Leaving the World | 243 |
Stay at the Flames Core | 72 |
You Feel a River Moving in You | 79 |
Work with the One Who Keeps Time | 85 |
Peacefulness with Death | 94 |
Diving into Qualities | 101 |
The Way from Wanting to Longing | 110 |
Exuberance That Informs and Streams Beyond | 122 |
Spring Morning Listening | 128 |
This Is Enough Was Always True | 133 |
Chance Meetings Dignity and Purpose | 144 |
How One Embodies the Collective | 249 |
Introduction | 258 |
Book IV | 270 |
Solomons message back to Sheba a dervish tells his dream in the nighttalking | 290 |
A Note on These Translations and on the Currency of Rumi | 389 |
References | 403 |
Index of Titles and First Lines | 410 |
Contents of Book IV | 422 |
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Common terms and phrases
Abu Jahl animal baqa Bawa Muhaiyaddeen beauty become Bestami bird breath C. K. Williams camel candle comes death dervish donkey door dream ecstatic empty eyes fabliau face falcon fana feel fire fish Friend give God's gold grace grief ground grow Hakim Sanai hear heart hoopoe human Husam inner inside intelligence Jesus Kaaba keep king Konya light lion listen live look lover Mashallah Masnavi Maypop Mevlevi moon Moses moving Muhammad mystery mystical night ocean orchard pearl Pharaoh poems poet praise prayer presence prophets Qur'an remember robe Robert Bly rose Rumi Rumi's poetry Saladin secret Shams Sheikh silence sleep Solomon someone song soul spirit stay story sufi sweet Tabriz talk taste teacher tell there's tree true truth turn voice walk wandering weep what's wind wine wisdom words zikr