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About the Book (Goodreads description)

In recent years the stirring, unforgettable poetry of Jalālu’l-Dīn Rūmī (1207–1273), the great Sūfi teacher and the greatest mystical poet of Iran, has gained tremendous popularity in the western world. Although he died over 700 years ago, his poetry is timeless. In the best modern translations, the passion and playfulness of his words reach across the ages to communicate themselves to people today with an undiluted fervor and excitement.
Rūmī produced an enormous body of work — as many as 2,500 mystical odes, 25,000 rhyming couplets, and 1,600 quatrains — some of it instructional, some personal and emotional, much of it sublimely beautiful. The present volume includes over 100 of his finest lyrics, including "The Marriage of True Minds," "The Children of Light," "The Man who Looked Back on his way to Hell," "The Ascending Soul," "The Pear-Tree of Illusion," "The Riddles of God," and many more.
"In some of these poems," says A. J. Arberry in the Introduction, "the mystic's passion is so exuberant, his imagination so overflowing, that we catch glimpses of the very madness of Divine experience."


About the Author (from biographyonline.net)

Jalal ad-Din Rumi (1207 – 1273) was a Sufi mystic and Persian poet. His mystical poetry has a universal appeal, which has made him one of the most celebrated poets of the modern age.

Rumi was born in 1207 in Wakhsh (present-day Tajikistan), in what is now Afghanistan. He frequently travelled throughout his life, due to the political turmoils of his era. After the Mongol invasion of Central Asia around 1215, Rumi’s family moved steadily westward. They visited Baghdad (in modern day Iraq), Persia (modern day Iran) and made a pilgrimage to Mecca. The family finally settled in Konya (modern day Turkey)

Rumi was brought up in the Islamic faith and became well acquainted with the Quran. Rumi became a celebrated scholar and was admired for his learning. At the age of 25, Rumi took up a position as the Islamic Mmolvi of a madras in Konya. Although following the Sufi path, he became an Islamic jurist and gave sermons in the mosques of Konya.

However, his life changed when he met the wandering Sufi mystic Sham al – Din in 1244. This meeting had a profound impact on Rumi, he felt Sham to be a divinely inspired person, and he took him to be his Guru. Under the guidance of Shams, Rumi lost interest in the more cerebral academic studies and became enamoured of the way of the mystic – the path of the heart. Rumi became an ascetic and devoted to the unorthodox spiritual path.

I forced myself through this and thought I would love it (hence nominating it) but unfortunately, it was not my cup of tea & I gave it a low rating.

Is anyone else attempting it? What do you think?

I started a different translation and abandoned it. I thought it was a poor translation, but maybe I was wrong. I found absolutely no depth in the poetry and nothing that spoke to me.

Rosemarie wrote: "I started a different translation and abandoned it. I thought it was a poor translation, but maybe I was wrong. I found absolutely no depth in the poetry and nothing that spoke to me."

I totally agree, Rosemarie. I've heard it described as one of the most popular poetry collections in the USA but I just couldn't get into it.

I am not quite finished yet. There are a couple of his poems that I am enjoying but some of his other poems just seem all over the place. The edition I have has some interesting tidbits about some of the backgrounds of the poems to put them more in context. I wonder if reading the Qu'ran would help put more context into the poems.