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Summary: Where did the essence go?
Review: While the poems are indeed beautiful to the common reader who doesn't know Rumi well, in reality, Barks has done an awful job. Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi (may God be pleased with him) was one of the greatest Scholars in Islam and Barks has taken out all references to Islam from the poems (basically in every line).
Nevertheless, Rumi's work still transcends Barks' unexplainable butchering of his poems.
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Summary: The Essential Rumi is The Best
Review: I've read many translations, many collections. This one is the best. Here, Rumi inspires, heals, and delights.
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Summary: No Room For Rumi!
Review: The Essential Rumi is a timeless classic of total dribble. Maybe it lost something in the translation or maybe I just don't have the time to extract the few bits of philosophy concealed within Rumi's endless stream of rambling words. If you're looking for inspiration from the past, I'd suggest you look elsewhere.
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Summary: Delicious, Spiritual, Powerful, & Engaging
Review: I was first aquainted with Rumi and the delightful Coleman Barks at a Jungian retreat. Rumi takes you into his inner world and his relationship with the divine (objective divine) and the divine spark he sees in others (most notably his "beloved"). I've read that it is impossible to translate Rumi's original sing-song ancient Persian into modern English, but Barks certainly does an eloquent job (at least that's what my Persian friends tell me). If you would like to understand true depth psychology or understand the mysteries of love, this is the essential guide.
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Summary: Taste that spiritual wine
Review: Full of intoxication of God. A beautiful book for those on the spiritual journey.
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Summary: Delightful poems about life, love, and God.
Review: Rumi was a Sufi, yet his impact reaches far beyond the Islamic world. His profound poetry deeply influenced such Christian writers like St. John of the Cross. As a minister and an evangelical Christian, I find Rumi inspiring and delightful!
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Summary: A must read for Gnostics
Review: Few people know this but there are three (main) types of Gnostics: Islamic, Jewish and Christian. Sufism is the form of Islamic Gnosticism. I am a fledgling Gnostic myself and I didn't realize Rumi had so much to offer me even though I'm of the Christian variety. His poetry speaks to me on so many levels and I know that by reading it I am further along the path to attaining gnosis. As other reviewers have said, Rumi's poetry is beautiful. Read as much of it as you can. This ook is a good start. I could spend pages writing about the beauty and the isight but I can only say that once you read some of this book you'll know it will speak to you.
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Summary: The essential RUMI
Review: From a persian who is not adequate in his own language to read rumi in persian, Coleman Barks is RUMI to me.
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Summary: beautiful book, but also see new biography
Review: This is a beautifully put together book of interpretations of translations of some of Rumi's work, though I do think other scholars, Nicholson comes to mind, have gotten much closer to the essence of Rumi. Nicholson doesn't water Rumi down; often, very often, Rumi's work was incredibly rambling, and extremely hard to follow--but delightful and compelling nonetheless. Though I do immensly enjoy Barks' work, he makes Rumi too tidy, and much of Rumi's brilliant essence and expansive mind is missed. I recently stumbled across an absolutely engaging biography of Rumi, and which is a popular, short form account. Why the heck did it take so long for this? is anybody's guess. There is one other very good biography out there by a scholar named Iqbal, but even this is still too academic. This new book, Rumi: A Spiritual Biography by Leslie Wines though is a vigorous and ambitious little book and I think a must read for all those with a real love for this most incredible man and poet.
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Summary: Truly essential
Review: This book was my introduction to Rumi. I love it. But books have a way of eventually getting left on my bookshelf for too long, as this one did. Then, I bought the video, "Rumi, poet of the heart" and I am now reading Rumi again. In the video, you see Coleman Barkes and others in performance, and he explains the difficulties of tranlating and why he chose free verse rather than attempting the impossibility of duplicating Rumi's densely rhymed verse. When I watch this video I can't wait to meditate again and practice all its allied disciplines. But I'll warn you - if you watch the video you will want the book too so get them both. And what a price for such a beautiful book! Obviously, no one is getting rich off of this project.
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