Rating: 
Summary: Love's Embodiment
Review: Although I own and have read most of Coleman Bark's Rumi books, never until today did I suspect that he so profoundly misunderstood the relationship of Shams and Rumi. He writes, "Their meeting in the heart is beyond form and touch and time." (p.188) Of course their relationship was spiritual even mystical, but where does the spiritual start but in "form and touch and time"? Barks seems to be denying that Rumi's poems describe an embodied connection with Shams. This is gnostic, erotophobia and perhaps homophobia. Barks arrogantly writes: "The question is often asked if Rumi and Shams were lovers in the sexual sense. No." (p.188) How can Barks write that sentence with such dogmatic certainty, especially after reading hundreds of Rumi's love poems to Shams? How does he know that this love is merely spiritual ("beyond touch")? I am glad that Barks has finally shown us his ideological position. I worry how this "spiritual disembodied viewpoint:" has shaped his translations of Rumi. I think it is impossible to know the exact details of the physical relationship of Rumi and Shams but the love poems express an incredibly embodied physicality. So I personally imagine that they did have one of the great sexual relationships of all time. But my evidence is in the poetry. The poetry describes a profoundly embodied relationship between two mystical men. In the future, I will seek other translators of Rumi so as not to be influenced by this disembodiment? Rumi and Shams were two physical men who met in a physical place in November of 1244. This meeting was within �form�, with �touch� and within �time.� Coleman Barks is wrong.
Rating:
Summary: Embodied Love?
Review: Although I own and have read most of Coleman Bark's Rumi books, never until today did I suspect that he so profoundly misunderstood the relationship of Shams and Rumi. He writes, "Their meeting in the heart is beyond form and touch and time." (p.188) Of course their relationship was spiritual even mystical, but where does the spiritual start but in "form and touch and time"? Barks seems to be denying that Rumi's poems describe an embodied connection with Shams. This is gnostic, erotophobic and perhaps homophobic. Barks arrogantly writes: "The question is often asked if Rumi and Shams were lovers in the sexual sense. No." (p.188) How can Barks write that sentence with such dogmatic certainty, especially after reading hundreds of Rumi's love poems to Shams? How does he know that this love is merely spiritual ("beyond touch")? I am glad that Barks has finally shown us his ideological position. I worry how this "spiritual disembodied viewpoint:" has shaped his translations of Rumi. I think it is impossible to know the exact details of the physical relationship of Rumi and Shams but the love poems express an incredibly embodied physicality. So I personally imagine that they did have one of the great sexual relationships of all time. But my evidence is in the poetry. The poetry describes a profoundly embodied relationship between two mystical, physical men. In the future, I will seek other translators of Rumi so as not to be influenced by this disembodiment. Rumi and Shams were two physical men who met in a physical place in November of 1244. This meeting was within �form�, with �touch� and within �time.� Coleman Barks is wrong.
Rating: 
Summary: Correction on the Description
Review: I would like to correct the description given of molana Rumi. It is a very widly accepted fact that Rumi was a persian poet and was born in persia (at the time). If you read any of his actual Farsi written works it would become clear that it is a true persian Farsi and not the Afghani (as we know it now). In any case, this is an excellent book. VERY NICELY translated!
Rating:
Summary: Best introduction to Rumi available
Review: If there is only one book of Rumi you purchase, this should be it. But warning, the purchase may send you into a frenzy to learn and read more. Barks' works as a translator here make poetry come alive, leap off the page and fly circles around your mind. A single poem can bring a person to great thoughts. The book begins with a great introduction to Rumi's life, work, culture, spirituality, but Barks also includes some history of Sufi poetry. Then Barks divides the poetry into logical sections. Some involve community, others involve love, some love of God, peace between religions, inner life, work, home, playing... The range of catagories Barks creates represent human life in a wholeistic manner. They make Rumi's poetry easier to grasp, much more enjoyable, and center on the needs of all human beings. Barks also introduces each section (usually no more than a page). Barks' intros are concise, clear, and point toward key ideas in the most notable poems of each section. This large collection of poetry is worth reading for a lifetime. Not to mention as Robert Bly asked of Barks years ago, Barks follows through in "releasing these translations from their cages."
Rating:
Summary: Soul
Review: In this collection is the most spiritual uplifting reading you will find any where. This book did not come to light due to Sept 11 or the fact that Rumi was born and lived in Afghanistan. This book came to light since it is rightfully due. Read a few pages and you are on a new and clear track. One that stuck with me, "It's time for us to live naked" I took to mean it is time for us to all see each other without the cover of fear or lies. Beautiful! Similar to the Blue Spot in the book SB 1 or God. Rumi also helps in protection of your self at the same time. It may seem somewhat fanatical to some, but Rumi had vision for the very real that applies now. Getting a little sentiment here,"I feel God is pulling me as much as I want to be pulled when I accept what I read on the pages. Also recommend reading SB 1 or God
Rating:
Summary: Transforming
Review: It would be pointless for me to really try to "review" this book. I can only highly, emphatically recommend it. This book is the first introduction I've had to Rumi, and it's been an incredible literary experience for me. This book has really touched and inspired me. I've been reading it slowly over the last few months, digesting it bit by bit, because I wanted to savor it instead of rushing through it. One day in particular, I remember being in a foul mood, fed up with people and the world, and after reading a handful of Rumi's poems I felt peaceful and transformed. If you have any interest at all in spirituality or poetry, do yourself a favor and buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: The alchemy of RumiÕs vision brought to life
Review: Jelaluddin Rumi has become familiar to Western readers who seek out ecstatic poetry, as more and more translations and commentaries are offered on perhaps this greatest of mystical writers. But as they say, it takes one to know one, and Coleman BarksÕ masterpiece is the obvious product of an attuned heart and poetic soul. This volume is one of the clearest and most vibrant illustrations of the Ôwild heartÕ Rumi was and is. It is difficult to find superlatives which do justice to the beauty and towering vision this work contains. Every verse, every line seems to open, in some disarmingly simple way, vast new vistas of possibilities for the human spirit. How good is this book? The highest accolade that can be given Barks is that his brief section introductions, frequently fodder in other volumes exploring Rumi, here are powerful and transformative in their own right. Each one sets up the following verses in a natural and seamless flow. BarksÕ light shines brightly, even in the rarefied company he keeps. Get this volume and devour it. Then get another copy and give it to someone who is ready for the infinite freedom it open-handedly offers...
Rating:
Summary: not "The essential Rumi", instead the most essential
Review: This is the best book of Rumi translations there is. It has so much Rumi -- much more than "The Essential Rumi" -- & includes the complete book IV of the Masnavi, one of the greatest Persian classics. Get this book. This is the Rumi book. This is thge spiritual poetry books, of all the ones that want to be.
Rating:
Summary: Nice...
Review: When I first began to read this book, I didn't like it nearly as much as the essential rumi, some of the poems just didn't speak to me in quite the same way. But this last winter break, I read through the whole masnavi at the end of the book, and it gave me a very different feeling from anything I've ever read before. It was like there was a deeper message, or an understanding which is difficult to say other then just a deeper understanding of everything.
Rating:
Summary: Rumination - illumination of life with "The Soul of RUMI"
Review: Whether you are new to Rumi or a devotee, whether you are a seeker of truth and wisdom, or you would simply enjoy a book of wonderful poetry, this is a book you should buy.
First if all, I should explain that I love Rumi and recite Rumi, and do it well enough, that listeners often ask me which book should be chosen. Since the publication of The Soul of Rumi, I find myself saying that if one were to choose two books that are the best of Rumi, the first is the Soul of Rumi, and the second is the Illuminated Rumi. Coleman Barks translations of Rumi have a spirit and beauty that truly reflect Rumi's vision and clarity. Coleman's accompanying dialogues give us a glimpse into Rumi, 13th century Turkey, and Shams, Rumi's mystical friend and teacher.
Coleman makes it easy to understand Rumi's poetry; not just as a translation from the 13 century, but for the wisdom and guidance it offers to all of us, living in the 21st century. The poems in the section on Human Grief were one of the ways I managed to get through this last September.
What is most wonderful for lovers of Rumi, is the order and sections that Coleman chose in this book. This presentation is a wonderful format to help the reader understand the passion and the soul of Rumi. The sections are divided into `wisdom categories' (my interpretation). The names of the sections communicate the viability of Rumi for today's important life questions. For example, "Living as Evidence", and "The Banquet - This is Enough was Always True", and "The Joke of Materialism". Some sections reflect Sufi concepts like Fana (Dissolving beyond doubt..) and Baqa (reentry into the world, " the Arabic word for living within, ...life lived with clarity and reason, ...the absorbing work of this day"). And for those of us, like myself, who recite Rumi, it is very helpful to have the arrangement by what, in effect, is topics. This book offers insight into Sufism, which in turn can help in the understanding of Islam. But as always, Coleman skirts the links of Rumi's poetry to a particular belief system, and in so doing, keeps Rumi's message in a form most appropriate for today. Rumi himself claimed he bore no label - "Not Christian, Jew or Muslim, not Hindu, Buddist, Sufi or Zen".
And there are so many poems that even I, who usually would sit and devour a Coleman Barks translation, in a day, must go slowly, must savor every moment; and I am so grateful to Coleman for his work and his gift of the Soul of Rumi.
Buy a few copies, the book is beautiful and would make a great gift.
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