Rumi: A Spiritual Biography (Lives and Legacies.) (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Like Hildegard of Bingen and Julian of Norwich in the Christian world, Jalaluddin Rumi was both poet and mystic, and is counted among the greatest Islamic artists in both arenas. His poetry, translated from medieval Persian, has become extremely popular in the United States, and Sufism, the mystical practice that he helped establish, has found a new home among American converts to Islam. Wines's short biography of the great religious poet is straightforward and easily comprehensible, showing clearly her own background in journalism. The bare outlines of Rumi's lifeAhis family's flight from Afghanistan to modern Turkey during the Mongol invasions in the 13th century, his early educational achievements, and the meeting with the eccentric Shams al-Din al-Tabriz that catapulted him into love and mysticismAare presented here with a sprinkling of the poetry for which Rumi is famous. Wines's book offers no new or startling knowledge about Rumi, as she has relied on secondary sources by well-known scholars for her information; therefore it is not particularly interesting to anyone who already knows the general facts of his life. For those who have come to Rumi through his poetry and are only secondarily discovering the man, however, her accessible biography, with its list of further recommended reading, is a fine resource. (Jan.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This book is one of many now appearing to meet the growing interest in Sufism and the Islamic poet Jalalu'ddin Rumi. Journalist Wines (UPI, Glamour magazine) takes the reader through Rumi's itinerant childhood and his wanderings throughout the Middle East before settling in Konya (in modern Turkey), where he encountered the legendary dervish Shams. Assuming a significant amount of fact behind the legend, the author explains the evolving pupil/mentor relationship between Rumi and Shams, whose preoccupation with one another led to the exclusion and fury of Rumi's own disciples. Shams transformed Rumi from "a great intellectual into a great mystic," yet his sudden departure from Konya, the uncertainty surrounding his murder, and the spiritual impact he had on Rumi led to a soul-searching that culminated in the Mathnawi, the sacred text for which the poet is renowned. Wines has written an adequate account of Rumi's relationship to the controversial nature of Sufism in medieval Islamic society as well as to the poet's own contemporaries. Recommended for Sufi collections and for public libraries catering to an increased demand for material on this subject.DLoren Rosson III, Nashua P.L., NH
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Crossroad 8th Avenue (January 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0824523520
• ISBN-13: 978-0824523527
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #915,526 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mad for Rumi, February 24, 2001

By A Customer

One of the author's chapter's titles is "Mad for Music", another "The Most Digressive Story Ever Told" (this second one is a concentration on his literary work)and is reflective of the author's touch of "sly whimsy" as one other reviewer said. The writing is very good and I like what amounts to the combination of a somewhat of a journalistic style with great storytelling. The author was obviously enchanted with her subject,b ut unlike many other writers on Rumi, does not take herself or Rumi for that matter TOO seriously. What do I mean by that? It would seem to me that she approaches Rumi in just the way he himself would want to be appraoched, in fact asked to be, and would have approached his own self.

Leslie Wines captures Rumi with a vibrancy and immediacey I've yet to see. I am a great admirer of the Penguin Lives series. A large part of the tremendous success of Penguin Lives is its nack for hitching up just the right author and subject; absolute compatibility, simpatico between subject and writer. So too with this series with Leslie Wines and Rumi.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a capable overview...., February 20, 2001

By	Craig Chalquist, PhD, author of TERRAPSYCHOLO... (Bay Area, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

...of the life and times of the great Persian poet-mystic.

So why am I giving this a 3?

1. The paper on which the book is printed is cheap crap. Obviously this isn't the author's fault, but it might affect whether you want to purchase it.

2. The events described in the book constitute a biography but don't emphasize what we know of Rumi's interiority, spirituality, creativity, or mysticism, so I wasn't clear on why the title refers to a "spiritual biography."

3. Some of the grammatical errors surprised me, particularly the ongoing misuse of commas. Because the author is advertised as a seasoned journalist, perhaps the editor tweaked her writing. Unfortunate.

4. I rapidly grew tired of the continual references to a mistrust of obviously legendary accounts of Rumi's life. I don't need to be told, for example, that a famous miracle attributed to Rumi is "questionable." As a reader, I can be trusted to decide this for myself.

Despite these shortcomings, I found the book readable and informative. I recommend it as a useful intro to the life of Rumi.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoy a great read and get to know Rumi, February 23, 2001

By	Margaret Franklin (Brooklyn, New York) - See all my reviews

I have to wonder whether I read the same book as this first reviewer. While I am not a book-making expert I found this a beautifully designed book and as an English composition instructor of CUNY I found the book very well written and an immensely enjoyable read. I've been reading Rumi's poetry for years and looking at many different translations but I've never run across a biography of Rumi and was thrilled to see this one.

Rumi: a Spiritual Biography places Rumi within the social, political and cultural context of his time. Ms. Wins is not an Islamist or for that matter a Rumi scholar and this is perhaps her most enduring value to the general reader. Her approach to Rumi is vigorous, occasionally with a sly sense of whimsey, always intelligent and makes both Rumi's life and his work very accessible to the general reader.

From this short and energetic literary biography, I have for the first time a good vision of Rumi as a universal human being. His appeal and relevance to the modern reader becomes abunduntly clear--as a poet as well as an ecstatic spiritual being. Ms. WIns clearly demonstrates how Rumi calls to us from beyond the concerns of conventional religiosity and limiting beliefs. Her probing curiosity and very lively interest rather than another hagiographic interpretation or pious reverence is highly refreshing. Of particular value is her discussions and examination how in Rumi the divine and human realms intermingle and how our spiritual dimension and human nature find fullfilment in being united.