Mystical Poems of Rumi - Softcover

Rumi, Jalal Al-Din

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0226731626 ISBN 13: 9780226731629

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 2009

Synopsis

My verse resembles the bread of Egypt—night passes over it, and you cannot eat it any more.
Devour it the moment it is fresh, before the dust settles upon it.
Its place is the warm climate of the heart; in this world it dies of cold.
Like a fish it quivered for an instant on dry land, another moment and you see it is cold.
Even if you eat it imagining it is fresh, it is necessary to conjure up many images.
What you drink is really your own imagination; it is no old tale, my good man.

Jalal al-Din Rumi (1207–73), legendary Persian Muslim poet, theologian, and mystic, wrote poems acclaimed through the centuries for their powerful spiritual images and provocative content, which often described Rumi’s love for God in romantic or erotic terms. His vast body of work includes more than three thousand lyrics and odes. This volume includes four hundred poems selected by renowned Rumi scholar A. J. Arberry, who provides here one of the most comprehensive and adept English translations of this enigmatic genius. Mystical Poems is the definitive resource for anyone seeking an introduction to or an enriched understanding of one of the world’s greatest poets.
 
“Rumi is one of the world’s greatest lyrical poets in any language—as well as probably the most accessible and approachable representative of Islamic civilization for Western students.”—James W. Morris, Oberlin College 

About this title

About the Author:

Jalal al-Din Rumi (1207–73), legendary Persian Muslim poet, theologian, and mystic, wrote more than three thousand lyrics and odes. A. J. Arberry (1905-69) was professor of Arabic at Cambridge University. Ehsan Yarshater is the Hagop Kevorkian Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies and director of the Center for Iranian Studies at Columbia University.

Review:

"A valuable book for any collection of world literature, but especially of Persioanand Middle Eastern literature." (Choice)

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0226731626
• ISBN 13: 9780226731629
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 440
• Editor: Yarshater Ehsan, Javadi Hasan