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Title: The Soul of Rumi: A New Collection of Ecstatic Poems by Coleman Barks, John Moyne, Nevit Ergin, A. Arberry, Reynold A. Nicholson, Maulana Jalal al-Din Rumi ISBN: 0-06-060453-0 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 18 September, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $28.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.46 (13 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Best introduction to Rumi available
Comment: If there is only one book of Rumi you purchase, this should be it. But warning, the purchase may send you into a frenzy to learn and read more.
Barks' works as a translator here make poetry come alive, leap off the page and fly circles around your mind. A single poem can bring a person to great thoughts.
The book begins with a great introduction to Rumi's life, work, culture, spirituality, but Barks also includes some history of Sufi poetry. Then Barks divides the poetry into logical sections. Some involve community, others involve love, some love of God, peace between religions, inner life, work, home, playing... The range of catagories Barks creates represent human life in a wholeistic manner. They make Rumi's poetry easier to grasp, much more enjoyable, and center on the needs of all human beings. Barks also introduces each section (usually no more than a page). Barks' intros are concise, clear, and point toward key ideas in the most notable poems of each section.
This large collection of poetry is worth reading for a lifetime. Not to mention as Robert Bly asked of Barks years ago, Barks follows through in "releasing these translations from their cages."
Rating: 5
Summary: Rumination - illumination of life with "The Soul of RUMI"
Comment: 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.
Rating: 5
Summary: Nice...
Comment: When I first began to read this book, I didn't like it nearly as much as the essential rumi, some of the poems just didn't speak to me in quite the same way. But this last winter break, I read through the whole masnavi at the end of the book, and it gave me a very different feeling from anything I've ever read before. It was like there was a deeper message, or an understanding which is difficult to say other then just a deeper understanding of everything.
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Title: Essential Rumi by Coleman Barks ISBN: 0062509594 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 14 February, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Rumi: The Book of Love : Poems of Ecstasy and Longing by Coleman Barks ISBN: 0060523166 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 07 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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Title: The Love Poems of Rumi by Deepak Chopra ISBN: 0609602438 Publisher: Harmony Books Pub. Date: 12 January, 1998 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Rumi: We Are Three: New Rumi Poems by Coleman Barks, Jalalu'l-Din Rumi, Maulana Jalal al-Din Rumi ISBN: 0961891602 Publisher: Maypop Pub. Date: January, 1988 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: The Illuminated Rumi by Jalal Al-Din Rumi, Coleman Barks, Michael Green ISBN: 0767900022 Publisher: Broadway Pub. Date: 13 October, 1997 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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