Customer Reviews

Rumi's World: The Life and Works of the Greatest Sufi Poet (Shambhala dragon editions)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Origninaly called "I am wind, you are fire" This is perhaps one of the best introductions to the life and works of Rumi around by one of the greatest scholars of Rumi in our modern times (sadly professor Schimmel has now passed away)

The book is well documented and easy to read covering the basics of Rumis life and teachings both placing them in their correct historical and religious context; none of this modernist revisionist Rumi poetry that is being passed around as the great mans works this is an authentic biography of his life.

Exellent read, check out Iqbal, Arberry and Nicholson after this book.

This book is very beautifully written; though a work of prose it reads like poetry--such is the beauty of the language. Indeed, such writing is befitting of the subject: the great Islamic saint and Sufi mystic Mawlana Jalal ud Deen Rumi [may his secret be sanctified!].

IN this aspect it too succeeds dealing with all apsects of Mawlana's life in detail and with great love and enthusiasm which shines through in each line. If you are interested in Mawlana Rumi--get this book!

I am not sure I should write this review, since I have been unable to finish the book so far. The author's pedigree is also intimidating. Yet this book is a cold emotionless dissection, mostly uninteresting except for an academic who has long lost the sense of who or what he's studying. The book takes Rumi apart like a corpse on a slab. To get through it so far, I've escaped periodically to Coleman Bark's Essential Rumi. His brief introduction and forward alone provides more insight into what Rumi is about than the three-quarters of the book I've managed to struggle through so far.
Prodded on by the other reviews to the suspicion that I may have missed something here, I plan to finish the book and reread it again. Yet I should warn others that reading this book as an introduction to Rumi may be like viewing a bearskin rug as an introduction to wildlife. After a reread, I will revisit this review, perhaps reedit it at that time.
Sept.07

I expected to get a transcript of the actual works from Rumi to read and interpret myself. That is not the case with this book. While it does provide the historical context (that's why I gave him 2 stars instead of 1), the author feeds his views and opinions in front of the actual text by Rumi. My opinion of the author's style is poor, at best.