This Longing Poetry, Teaching Stories, and Letters of Rumi

by Rumi, Mevlana Jalaluddin; Barks, Coleman; Moyne, John

• ISBN13: 9781570625336
• ISBN10: 1570625336
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-06-06
• Publisher: Shambhala

Summary

This Rumi collection features selections from one of the world's great spiritual masterpieces, theMathnawi. TheMathnawiconsists of six volumes of poetry in rhyme-over fifty-one thousand verses-inspired by folklore, the Qur'an, stories of saints and teachers, and sayings of Muhammed. Rendered by Rumi's premier English translators, these excerpts from theMathnawiare presented in American free-verse style.

Author Biography

Jalaluddin Rumi (1207–1273) was not only a poet, mystic, and the founder of a Sufi order, he was a man of profound insight into the nature of human existence and possibly the greatest mystical poet of any age.Coleman Barks, Professor Emeritus at the University of Georgia, is Rumi's premier English translator. He lives in Athens, Georgia.John Moyne is a Persian scholar and Emeritus Professor and former head of Linguistics at the Graduate School of the City University of New York.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Ocean of the Mathnawi	ix
The Sheikh Who Played with Children	3	(3)
The Debtor Sheikh	6	(4)
A Mouse and a Frog	10	(2)
The Long String	12	(5)
The Force of Friendship	17	(2)
Moses and the Shepherd	19	(4)
The Man Who Wanted to Learn the Language of Animals	23	(6)
The Lost Camel	29	(3)
The Mouse and the Camel	32	(2)
The Servant Who Loved His Prayers	34	(2)
Two Kinds of Intelligence	36	(3)
Where Are We?	37	(2)
Imra'u 'l-Qays	39	(2)
The Barking of Invisible Puppies	41	(2)
Who Makes These Changes?	43	(1)
Why Wine Is Forbidden	44	(1)
On Resurrection Day	45	(1)
A Tenth of the Harvest, a Tenth of the Flour, a Tenth of the Bread	46	(2)
You Are Not a Single YOU	48	(2)
As the Orchard Is with the Rain	50	(3)
When We Pray Alone	53	(1)
One Who Wraps Himself	54	(1)
Dance with the Bandage Torn Off	55	(1)
Send the Chaperones Away	56	(2)
What Wine Is to a Lover	58	(1)
Sheikh Kharraqani and His Wretched Wife	59	(4)
Dig a Hole in This Book	63	(1)
The Naked Sun	64	(1)
Jesus on the Lean Donkey	65	(2)
The Snake-Catcher and the Frozen Snake	67	(2)
A Basket of Fresh Bread	69	(4)
The Churn	73	(8)
Introduction to the Letters	77	(4)
Letter 24	81	(2)
Letter 54	83	(2)
Letter 144	85	(1)
Letter 62	86	(1)
Letter 1 from the Addendum	87	(1)
Letter 39	88	(3)
Letter 48	91	(2)
Letter 81	93	(1)
Letter 83	94	(1)
Letter 98	95	(1)
Letter 116	96	(1)
Letter 79	97	(1)
Letter 80	98	(1)
Letter 20	99	(2)
Letter 67	101	(2)
Letter 68	103	(2)
Letter 19	105