Scan barcode
coffeewithcut's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
To read Rumi's poetry is as close to heaven as a person might get during their life.
61057974's review
1.0
Without a doubt, my most regrettable read. This book is titled "The Essential Rumi" but should read "Freeverse in the Spirit of Rumi". The cover features "Translation by Coleman Barks" but Barks cannot speak/read/write in the Persian language — the language I feel was custom built for Rumi's vivid poetry. As I'm not the first to mention, Barks noticeably minimizes the Islamic influences of the world's most fascinating religious mystic, and one whose mind swirled day and night with ideas on the transcendent presence of God in him and the concept of 'ana al-Haqq'. I'm thankful for the fame Barks has brought Rumi in the U.S., except that this book is a complete bait-and-switch.
bookwyrmreadstoomuch's review
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
4.0
Very interesting.
zenpigeon's review against another edition
5.0
A spiritual text that always seems to put me back on track of my goals and dreams. I could come back to this book many times and find a different book for that time in my life. I look forward to reading the other translations and works of Rumi.
sutoscience's review against another edition
4.0
One of my favorite yoga teachers quotes Rumi all the time during class, so I finally dove into his poetry. Highly recommend, especially a book like this which offers a framework and a little historical context.
createabeast's review against another edition
5.0
Sometime around 1998 I picked up this book, knowing very little about Rumi, except that his work had inspired a favorite album. I haven't thought about this book for over a decade, but it has had a large and lasting influence on how I think and express myself.
As I understand it, these "translations" are more more like interpretations - but that is a new development for me. These are the words and poems that I experienced, and which changed me, however they came to be.
If this isn't actually what Rumi wrote, then I am content all the same with whatever combination of writer and translators created it.
While I often feel more like an agnostic, I am an atheist. However, I was raised with a relatively gentle kind of religion that has made me comfortable with those undeniably reverent aspects of Rumi's writing. Sometimes it is allusory, sometimes it is direct, sometimes it's merely expressive - but it's always there.
I read this when I was around 20. I can remember the writing in this book changing how I thought. Changing the language patterns of how I would write and communicate. Demonstrating how to express myself in a clearer, more honest way.
Not every line in this book is golden to me. But, even if I stripped it down to a handful of pages, I'd still consider it a fundamental part of my makeup. There are things here that I've not found elsewhere.
As I understand it, these "translations" are more more like interpretations - but that is a new development for me. These are the words and poems that I experienced, and which changed me, however they came to be.
Friend, our closeness is this:
anywhere you put your foot, feel me
in the firmness under you.
If this isn't actually what Rumi wrote, then I am content all the same with whatever combination of writer and translators created it.
While I often feel more like an agnostic, I am an atheist. However, I was raised with a relatively gentle kind of religion that has made me comfortable with those undeniably reverent aspects of Rumi's writing. Sometimes it is allusory, sometimes it is direct, sometimes it's merely expressive - but it's always there.
When I am with you, we stay up all night.
When you're gone, I can't go to sleep.
Praise God for these two insomnias!
And the difference between them.
I read this when I was around 20. I can remember the writing in this book changing how I thought. Changing the language patterns of how I would write and communicate. Demonstrating how to express myself in a clearer, more honest way.
Not every line in this book is golden to me. But, even if I stripped it down to a handful of pages, I'd still consider it a fundamental part of my makeup. There are things here that I've not found elsewhere.
monica716's review
5.0
This is my third time reading this book, and I was inspired to read it again after reading Glennon Doyle’s Untamed. Rumi provides comfort and reminders that inside of us is something bigger (“God”; the universe) than what we choose to preoccupy ourselves with in the everyday. It was a good read especially right now during this crisis. I recommend it to anyone who is on a journey of self-discovery or anyone who wants to recommit themselves to self-love.