The Soul of Rumi: A New Collection of Ecstatic Poems (Hardcover)

~ (Author), John Moyne (Author), Nevit Ergin (Author), A. Arberry (Author), Reynold A. Nicholson (Author), Maulana Jalal al-Din Rumi (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When Rumi was born in Afghanistan in 1207, it was a time of tremendous political turmoil in the Near East. Paradoxically, it was also a time of "brilliant mystical awareness," writes translator Coleman Barks in The Soul of Rumi. This brilliance shines through in every passage, as Barks celebrates the ecstatic nature of Rumi's poetry. Barks (The Essential Rumi) has been given much credit for leading modern Westerners to this astounding poet. His sensitivity to the reader is evidenced in how he organizes the poetry according to themes. Since Rumi is often quoted at public gatherings, such as weddings and memorial services, this makes referencing especially easy. In the section entitled "When Friend Meets Friend," readers find the poem "The Soul's Friend":

The most living moment comes when those who love each other meet each other's eyes and in what flows between them then. To see your face in a crowd of others, or alone on a frightening street, I weep for that….

Barks offers a gracefully rendered introduction to each section, providing personal and historical background of the poetry. Elegantly designed and printed on cream-colored, heavy-stock paper, this is a delight for Rumi fans. --Gail Hudson

From Publishers Weekly

The Islamic mystical poet Rumi (1207- 1273) improvised the evocative poems which his followers wrote down. Translator Coleman Barks's The Essential Rumi won the Persian writer American fans, some of whom revere the poet as a religious guide. Now Barks is back with The Soul of Rumi: A New Collection of Ecstatic Poems. The giant volume includes part of Rumi's 64,000-line Masnavi, as well as many short poems and Barks's copious, informal, personal commentary.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne (September 18, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060604530
• ISBN-13: 978-0060604530
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #508,581 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ecstatic about Rumi., October 30, 2001

By	G. Merritt (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In this new collection of his poetry, as the "moon and evening star do their slow tambourine dance to praise this universe" (p. 201), Rumi tells us, "it's time now to live naked" (p. 32). I've revisited Coleman Bark's popular collection of ESSENTIAL RUMI many times after it was first published in 1997. It became one of my favorite books of poetry, and offered a good introduction to Rumi's intensely spiritual poetry. With this new, equally stunning collection, Barks triumphs again in sharing the ecstasy of reading Rumi.

These days many people associate Afghanistan with terrorists rather than spiritual poets. Born in Afghanistan (p. 3), Jelaluddin Rumi (1207-73) was a thirteenth century Sufi master, and a devout scholar. It was the work of his dervish community, and the aim of his poetry to "open the heart, to explore the mystery of union, to fiercely search for and try to say the truth, and to celebrate the glory and difficulty of being in a human incarnation" (p. 4). Barks' translations succeed in capturing the divine spirit and earthly joys of Rumi's ecstatic verse. In the "forty sections" of poetry collected here, we observe the mystery of gnats becoming buttermilk (pp. 8, 113, 200), chickpeas disappearing into the flavor of soup, a dead mule decaying into the desert, an infant turning to the breast, and moths transformed into candle flames (p. 124). "The same way a branch draws water up many feet," Rumi observes, God is pulling our spirits along (p. 204). He encourages us to polish our hearts with meditation and quietness. "When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy" (p. 79).

Rumi's poetry will appeal to anyone interested in what it means to be fully alive and fully awake, and the poems contained within this new 425-page collection soar from their pages just as high as the poems in Barks' previous bestseller.

G. Merritt

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rumination - illumination of life with "The Soul of RUMI", November 26, 2001

By	Jeanne Lanigan (Clinton, Wa United States) - See all my reviews

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.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The alchemy of RumiÃ*s vision brought to life, December 30, 2001

By	Planetoid Arthritis "Keep Mercury for the Mer... (Houston, Texas USA) - See all my reviews

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...