Classics, Asian, Inspirational & Religious, Sufism 

Jelaluddin Rumi was born in the year 1207 and until the age of thirty-seven was a brilliant scholar and popular teacher. But his life changed forever when he met the powerful wandering dervish, Shams of Tabriz, of whom Rumi said, "What I had thought of before as God, I met today in a human being." From this mysterious and esoteric friendship came a new height of spiritual enlightenment. When Shams disappeared, Rumi began his transformation from scholar to artist, and his poetry began to fly. Today, the ecstatic poetry of Jelaluddin Rumi is more popular than ever, and Coleman Barks, through his musical and magical translations, has been instrumental in bringing this exquisite literature to devoted followers. Now, for the first time, Barks has gathered the essential poems of Rumi and put them together in this wonderful comprehensive collection that delights with playful energy and unequaled passion. The Essential Rumi offers the most beautiful rendering of the primary poetry of Rumi to both devoted enthusiasts and novice readers. Poems about everything from bewilderment, emptiness, and silence to flirtation, elegance, and majesty are presented with love, humor, warmth, and tenderness. Take in the words of Jelaluddin Rumi and feel yourself transported to the magical, mystical place of a whirling, ecstatic poet. 

Publisher Comments
Through his lyrical translations, Coleman Barks has been instrumental in bringing this exquisite literature to a remarkably wide range of readers, making the ecstatic, spiritual poetry of thirteenth-century Sufi Mystic Rumi more popular than ever.

The Essential Rumi continues to be the bestselling of all Rumi books, and the definitive selection of his beautiful, mystical poetry.

About the Author
Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī (Persian: جلال‌الدین محمد رومی‎‎), also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī (جلال‌الدین محمد بلخى), Mawlānā/Mevlânâ (مولانا, "our master"), Mevlevî/Mawlawī (مولوی, "my master"), and more popularly simply as Rumi (1207 – 17 December 1273), was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian, and Sufi mystic. Rumi's influence transcends national borders and ethnic divisions: Iranians, Tajiks, Turks, Greeks, Pashtuns, other Central Asian Muslims, and the Muslims of South Asia have greatly appreciated his spiritual legacy for the past seven centuries. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages and transposed into various formats. Rumi has been described as the "most popular poet" and the "best selling poet" in the United States.

Rumi's works are written mostly in Persian, but occasionally he also used Turkish, Arabic, and Greek, in his verse. His Mathnawī, composed in Konya, is considered one of the greatest poems of the Persian language. His works are widely read today in their original language across Greater Iran and the Persian-speaking world. Translations of his works are very popular, most notably in Turkey, Azerbaijan, the United States, and South Asia. His poetry has influenced Persian literature, but also Turkish, Ottoman Turkish, Azerbaijani, Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu, as well as the literature of some other Turkic, Iranian, and Indo-Aryan languages including Chagatai, Pashto, and Bengali. Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Molavi (Masnavi Manavi Molavi) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. 

Genre/Form: Translations
Translations into English
Named Person: Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, Maulana; Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, Maulana
Document Type: Book
All Authors / Contributors: Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, Maulana; Coleman Barks
ISBN: 078580871X 9780785808718
OCLC Number: 38155550
Description: 302 pages ; 22 cm
Contents: On Rumi --
Note on the organization of this book --
Tavern: Whoever brought me here will have to take me home --
Bewilderment: I have five things to say --
Emptiness and silence: Night air --
Spring giddiness: Stand in the wake of this chattering and grow airy --
Feeling separation: Don't come near me --
Controlling the desire-body: How did you kill your rooster, Husam? --
Sohbet: Meetings on the riverbank --
Being a lover: Sunrise ruby --
Pickaxe: Getting to the treasure beneath the foundation --
Art as flirtation with surrender: Wanting new silk harp strings --
Union: Gnats inside the wind --
Sheikh: I have such a teacher --
Recognizing elegance: Your reasonable father --
Howling necessity: Cry out in your weakness --
Teaching stories: How the unseen world works --
Rough metaphors: More teaching stories --
Solomon poems: Far mosque --
Three fish: Gamble everything for love --
Jesus poems: Population of the world --
In Baghdad, dreaming of Cairo: More teaching stories --
Beginning and end: Stories that frame the Mathnawi --
Green ears everywhere: Children running through --
Being woven: Communal practice --
Wished-for song: Secret practices --
Majesty: This we have now --
Evolutionary intelligence: Say I am you --
Turn: Dance in your blood --
Note on these translations and a few recipes.
Other Titles: Works.
Responsibility: translated by Coleman Barks, with John Moyne, A.J. Arberry, Reynold Nicholson.