Say I Am You: Poetry Interspersed With Stories of Rumi and Shams

Rating:
Summary: Good introduction to teaching story and poetry
Review: This book is an excellent introduction to stories and poetry of Rumi, Shams (and even Rumi's son). The translations are secondary translations i.e. reworkings into free verse older more scholarly and literal translations. As such they make the works more readily accessable to the non-scholar. The stories provide a pleasant mix of relatively rare tales (stories that are quite specifically Sufi) and stories that appear in a variety of guises in different cultures and religions. The poems run from short lyrical pieces to stories in verse form - a nice cross section of Rumi's work. I have read several of Coleman Barks' translations - all enjoyable - and would recommend this book as a nice starting point.

Rating:
Summary: Good introduction to teaching story and poetry
Review: This book is an excellent introduction to stories and poetry of Rumi, Shams (and even Rumi's son). The translations are secondary translations i.e. reworkings into free verse older more scholarly and literal translations. As such they make the works more readily accessable to the non-scholar. The stories provide a pleasant mix of relatively rare tales (stories that are quite specifically Sufi) and stories that appear in a variety of guises in different cultures and religions. The poems run from short lyrical pieces to stories in verse form - a nice cross section of Rumi's work. I have read several of Coleman Barks' translations - all enjoyable - and would recommend this book as a nice starting point.

Rating:
Summary: Free translation, beautiful introduction to the poet
Review: This is a great introduction to Rumi's life and work (and his relationship to Shams). I'd give this to friends who don't yet know his work. It may not please scholarly readers, though, who want a more exact translation, but these 'free' translations are very moving.