I Am Wind You Are Fire: The Life and Work of Rumi (Paperback)

~ Annemarie Schimmel (Author) "THUS SINGS MAULANA JALALUDDIN RUMI..." (more)
Key Phrases: mystical dance, whirling dance, reed flute, Sultan Walad, Shams-i Tabriz, Angel's Wings (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Annemarie Schimmel has been immersed in Rumi for over forty years. Her scholarship and devotion are magnificent. She has a deep understanding of the poems, the mystical puns, the music, and the dancy inner meanings of Rumi's work."—Coleman Barks, author of The Essential Rumi. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Description

This book (previously published as I Am Wind, You Are Fire ) celebrates the extraordinary career of Persia's great mystical poet, Rumi (1207–1273), through the story of his life, along with an enlightening examination of his ecstatic verse. Rumi lived the quiet life of a religious teacher in Anatolia until the age of thirty-seven, when he came under the influence of a whirling dervish, Shams Tabriz, and was moved to a state of mystical ecstasy. One of the results of this ecstasy was a prodigious output of poems about the search for the lost Divine Beloved, whom Rumi identified with Shams. To symbolize this search, Rumi also invented the famous whirling dance of the Melevi dervishes, which are performed accompanied by the chanting of Rumi's poems. Professor Schimmel illuminates the symbolism and significance of Rumi's vast output and offers her own translations of some of his most famous poems. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala Publications (December 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570626456
• ISBN-13: 978-1570626456
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,983,337 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, November 9, 2001

By	Thomas F. Ogara (Jacksonville, FL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There are a number of writers on Islamic topics that are excellent from differing perspectives. There are only two Western authors, however, that I have any respect for when it comes to the subject of Islamic spirituality. One of them was Frithjof Schuon, and the other is Annemarie Schimmel.

With all of the fuss about Rumi and the whole New Age Sufi thing, it is all too easy to forget that Rumi was a Muslim (sometimes I suspect that too many people would like to forget it). Rumi was the sort of person that he was because he was a Muslim, and not in spite of that fact. Professor Schimmel places Rumi squarely in the Islamic perspective, which is where he belongs. This book provides the best short introduction to his life and thought within that context that I have run across, and I recommend it highly to anyone interested in his life and work.

27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, poetic, biography of the great Mawlana Rumi., July 26, 2000

By	Mr. A. Jehangir - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is the best biography of Mawlana Jalal uddin Rumi (may his secret be sanctified!) that I have read in the English language to date. The prose itself is absolutely wonderful and is almost poetry in itself! Added to this is Prof. Schimmel's intimate knowledge of the works and life of Mawlana Rumi which she does a wonderful job of presenting. Also, unlike other Orientalist interpreters of Sufism, she firmly places Rumi within the orthodox Islamic framework and ideology/world-view where he belongs. Her translations of his poems are also delightful. This book is highly recommended for all those Muslim and non-Muslim who are interested in the life and works of one of the greatest Saints to ever walk this earth.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very enlightening, April 26, 2001

By A Customer

An excellent piece of writing on the life and poetry of Rumi. Gives a biographical sketch as well as outlines the technicalities of Rumi's prose, his beliefs and ideas as rendered in poetry. One of the most moving book's I've ever read.