Rumi - The Book of Love

Yesterday, it was Milad-un-Nabi or Prophet Muhammed's birthday. Today, I picked up 'Rumi - The Book of Love' - 'Poems of Ecstacy and Longing' with Translations and Commentary by Coleman Barks from a forgotten corner of my bookshelf and started reading it.

I bought this from a Chennai bookstore in 2014 when I was actually looking for the poet Rilke's work.

Jelaluddin Rumi is a Sufi mystic and poet who belonged to the time 1207-1273. Sufis call Rumi the 'Qutb' of love or the 'pole' of love, the other two 'poles' being Gilani, the pole of power, and Ibn Arabi, the pole of knowledge.

Rumi's poems talk of surrender. Coleman Barks goes on to say that his poems appeal as much to 12-year olds as to older people.

He says a creative writing teacher on the prime-time show Judging Amy, suggests that his students read 'The Great Gatsby' and 'The Essential Rumi' to learn how to write.

Donna Karan reads Rumi on a fashion runway show that showcases her new line.

Madonna and Demi Moore read his poems on a Deepak CD.

What's the reason for this Rumi-mania?

xxxxx

Today, I read 1. Spontaneous Wandering.

In this collection, my favorite poem was 'Where you love from'

xxxxx

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