Essential Rumi

Rating:
Summary: Quite frankly, the most beautiful book I have ever read.
Review: At the risk of cliche, if you only buy a singlebook this year, please do yourself a favor andmake it "The Essential Rumi." Rumi is for Americans who think that Islam is all about harems and terrorists. A sultry serenade to God, Rumi's poetry explodes in the soul with a beautiful force that tears down the wall between the individual and the Divine. Jelaluddin Rumi was a 13th Century Sufi mystic, the founder of the so-called "whirling dervishes", whose inner exploration allowed him to attain a rare level of enlightenment and connection with God. His poems resonate with truth and wisdom so earnest that it is impossible not to be swept away on a tide of pure spiritual longing and fulfillment. This is a book for anyone who loves poetry, religion, God, or love. And if you don't love these things now, you will by the time you finish "The Essential Rumi."

Rating:
Summary: Stunning poetry, beautifully translated
Review: This is one of the best books of poetry translations I've ever read. Barks has done a tremendous job of rendering Rumi into language that captures the poet's range: oblique to blunt, ethereal to earthy. While I can't comment on the accuracy of the translations, they work beautifully as English poetry -- and that, to me, is the crucial part. To Western readers, Rumi was a misty eminence of literary and religious history, and Barks has brought him to glorious, complex life.
One caution: although Rumi wrote intensely spiritual poetry, some of the "teaching tales" are pretty raunchy (after reading about the maidservant and the donkey, I'll never look at gourds the same way again!). Again, his poetry blends the divine and the human, heavenly love and earthly eroticism. While there are analogues in Western religious poetry (e.g., Teresa of Avila and the English 17th-century poet Richard Crashaw), this may be unsettling for some readers.
The hardbound edition, at least, is well done: the paper has a nice texture, the typography and page design enhance the text, and the cover is attractive (I haven't looked at the paperback). For me, the attractiveness of the book greatly enhanced the experience of reading it.

Rating:
Summary: Poetic Enlightenment
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A great introduction to the greatest spiritual poet ever
Review: This book is a wonderful introduction to this very moving spiritual poetry. Rumi has an understanding of God and our relationship with Him that is unlike anything most people have ever experienced. His love and passion come across in this poetry, which has been beautifully translated by Coleman Barks. Mr. Barks has taken great lengths to group these poems into various sections that will allow a reader who is new to Rumi's poetry to see Rumi in a variety of ways. The book is not arranged chronologically or broken down into academic categories, but rather encompass larger topics ranging from bewilderment at God's presence to poems meant to teach. Each poem is carefully crafted to allow the thoughts of this master poet and mystic to shine. This is poetry of the first order. This book is the perfect introduction to Rumi or will complete the collection of any Rumi devotee.

Rating:
Summary: An American Rumi
Review: This book may well become an American classic of poetry someday. It is by far the best English collection of Rumi's poetry, done by his most able translator.

Although Rumi's poetry -- as with most poetry -- is at core untranslatable, Barks has done a fine job in rendering older technical translations of the Maulana into poetic English. What one encounters here is not just Rumi, but Rumi filtered through Barks. If you object to that go learn Persian because no translation will be able to capture the subtle nuances conveyed through the original language.

Barks should be commended in showing us another face of Islam, and revealing, in the process, the timeless, universal and transreligious teachings of one of Islam's greatest saints.

For fans of Rumi/Barks, I suggest Winkel's new book: Damascus Steel. Its a work of fiction exploring contemporary political themes through sufi lenses, and was written before (!) September 11th.

Rating:
Summary: Quite frankly, the most beautiful book I have ever read.
Review: At the risk of cliche, if you only buy a single book this year, please do yourself a favor and make it "The Essential Rumi." Rumi is for Americans who think that Islam is all about harems and terrorists. A sultry serenade to God, Rumi's poetry explodes in the soul with a beautiful force that tears down the wall between the individual and the Divine. Jelaluddin Rumi was a 13th Century Sufi mystic, the founder of the so-called "whirling dervishes", whose inner exploration allowed him to attain a rare level of enlightenment and connection with God. His poems resonate with truth and wisdom so earnest that it is impossible not to be swept away on a tide of pure spiritual longing and fulfillment. This is a book for anyone who loves poetry, religion, God, or love. And if you don't love these things now, you will by the time you finish "The Essential Rumi."

Rating:
Summary: Essential part of the dilettante's library
Review: "Out beyond ideas of rightdoing and wrongdoing,
There is a field.
I will meet you there."

I have bought no fewer than ten copies of this book, for friends and family. I was lucky to find them remainder at the local book megamart, but I would gladly pay full price.

This book made Rumi my favorite poet. Rumi is habit forming, but this is by far the most accessible place to start.

Rating:
Summary: Keep going back
Review: This is one of those books I keep handy, and just open randomly whenever I need a quick reminder that the world runs deeper than we think. It never fails to pull me from the shallow waters... When I want to go.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful poetry, but not well arranged
Review: I do not understand how Barks organized these poems. They're amazing, every last one but the order that they're in is quite confusing. Nonetheless it should be read by everyone, whether a poetry lover or not. Also, check out the recipes in the back of the book! As the name states, it is ESSENTIAL!

Rating:
Summary: Meditation in Book Form
Review: One does not read this book lightly. Reading the words of Rumi is like meditation in the form of a book. Beautiful, capable of multiple meanings depending on your need, but also of those intended. Essential for anyone interested in poetry or philosophy, God or love, and all of the above.