Rumi - Whispers of The Beloved

By Rachel Newcombe View Profile
Rumi was a thirteenth century Persian mystic, poet and teacher, and here, in this pocket-sized volume, translators Maryam Mafi and Azima Melita Kolin have gathered together a collection of his work.

At the start of the book there's some fascinating background information about Rumi's life and his encounters with the wandering mystic, Shams of Tabriz. In many ways it was Shams who was responsible for triggering Rumi's connection with the divine, which in turn brought about his poetic inspiration.

The rest of the book is devoted to sharing a selection of Rumi's poems, with each piece simply presented on a single page. Rumi's words mostly speak of love, spiritual issues and his relationship with the divine, and all of the pieces are short. The best element is that he writes about complicated issues with complete simplicity - there are no illusions, just bare-boned facts.

Even if you've never heard of Rumi before, and don't think you like poetry, you're likely to be able to pick this up and read it with ease - it's that open and accessible. With its bite-sized poems and topics that are still meaningful today, this is a lovely introduction to the work of Rumi.