false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179950348m/976565.jpg 976565 1 No translator could do greater justice to the gorgeous simplicity of Rumi's poetry than Coleman Barks has done here. These exquisite renderings of the 13th-century Persian mystic's words into American free verse capture all the "inner searching, the delicacy, and simple groundedness" that characterize Rumi's poetry while remaining faithful to the images, tone, and spiritual message of the originals. Barks's introductions to each of the 27 sections (described as "playful palimpsests spread over Rumi's imagination," and "meant to confuse scholars who would divide Rumi's poetry into the accepted categories") are themselves wonderful achievements of a poetic imagination; searching explanations of unfamiliar concepts and funny stories provide colorful background and frame the selections as no dry historical exegesis could. <p> While Barks's stamp on this collection is clear, it in no way interferes with the poems themselves; Rumi's voice leaps off these pages with an ecstatic energy that leaves readers breathless. There are poems of love, rage, sadness, pleading, and longing; passionate outbursts about the torture of longing for his beloved and the sweet pleasure that comes from their union; amusing stories of sexual exploits or human weakness; and quiet truths about the beauty and variety of human emotion. More than anything, Rumi makes plain the unbridled joy that comes from living life fully, urging us always to put aside our fears and take the risk to do so. As he says: "The way of love is not / a subtle argument. / The door there is devastation. / Birds make great sky-circles / of their freedom. / How do they learn it? / They fall, and falling, / they're given wings." <I>--Uma Kukathas</I> 961461 8 6 1995 The Essential Rumi - Reissue: New Expanded Edition total:150|5:93|4:41|3:14|2:1|1:1| 150 674 226 17 5 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1984 Thu Jun 05 09:27:30 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 09 10:29:46 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Feb 13 10:16:19 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 13 10:22:08 -0800 2008
One night a man was crying,
Allah! Allah!
His lips grew sweet with the praising,
until a cynic said,
"So! I have heard you
calling out, but have you ever
gotten any response?"

The man had no answer to that.
He quit praying...more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Mar 05 21:09:47 -0800 2009 Thu Mar 05 21:11:11 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Thu Oct 01 10:59:45 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 01 11:00:40 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri Dec 05 17:26:32 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 05 17:27:07 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Fri Jul 11 17:12:51 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 21 12:11:50 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Aug 29 07:32:16 -0700 2007 Mon Apr 07 08:41:19 -0700 2008 Strongly recommend to anyon...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2003 Sun Apr 13 18:25:42 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 13 18:28:28 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Sat Dec 22 09:17:26 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 22 09:19:28 -0800 2007 4 1 false false Thu May 29 10:26:00 -0700 2008 Thu May 29 10:27:11 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Mon Feb 25 11:31:30 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 25 11:32:42 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Fri Dec 07 21:38:12 -0800 2007 Fri Dec 07 22:15:43 -0800 2007 5 0 false false Thu May 01 15:41:40 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 01 14:13:21 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sun Dec 23 08:30:16 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 23 08:30:39 -0800 2007 5 0 false false Tue Sep 04 10:23:28 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 04 10:23:39 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Sun Aug 19 10:33:27 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 01 20:19:08 -0700 2007 0 0 false false Thu Jul 09 20:33:52 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 09 20:37:40 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Dec 01 13:11:19 -0800 2009 Tue Dec 01 13:11:19 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Tue Dec 01 08:44:48 -0800 2009 Tue Dec 01 08:44:48 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Mon Nov 23 10:29:37 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 23 10:29:37 -0800 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=976565