A review by krisandburn
The Masnavi: Book One by Rumi

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.5

 

How to talk about a work like this, written in a different age by a man so different from myself. And yet, large parts of this work spoke to me. Not everything, but certainly more than I expected.

The main reason I have heard of Rumi is endless quotes that appear everywhere, but when I tried a poetry compilation before it left me unsatisfied and I figured why not try his most epic work? I am glad I did, because this, the first part of the epic Masnavi, is quite something.

The back of the book refers to The Masnavi as the ‘Qu’ran in Persian’ and I understand why. Now, I have never read the Qu’ran, but of course the religious theme looms large throughout Rumi’s work. Although I would not consider myself religious, I am fascinated by religion and the idea of a God or Gods. I always have been. Islam and maybe Sufism especially I have always found very interesting.

The poetry itself is actually very easy to read and I would not say this is a hard read at all. The rhyming couplets are simple and fun to read out loud, which I did regularly.

There is a lot of philosophy and reflection on morality in this work, apart from his urge to connect yourself to God. I guess the whole aim of this work was to bring the reader closer to God. I found reading this first book of The Masnavi and eye opening, but also strangely calming experience. It made me think a lot. There were a few passages that were a bit over the top to me, but overall, I really enjoyed it quite a lot.

I have Book Two on my shelf and I am looking forward to reading that at some point in the future. I may also see if I can find a good biography of Rumi himself, as it is amazing to me that a man born in the 1200s still holds such a special place in people’s hearts.