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Rumi: Poems
A gorgeously jacketed hardcover collection that draws on a wide variety of translations of Rumi’s deeply moving, sensually vibrant poetry.
The poetry of the medieval Persian sage Rumi combines lyrical beauty with spiritual profundity, a sense of rapture, and acute awareness of human suffering in ways that speak directly to contemporary audiences.
Trained in Sufism—a mystic tradition within Islam—Rumi founded the Sufi order known to us as the Whirling Dervishes, who use dance and music as part of their spiritual devotion. Many of Rumi’s poems speak of a yearning for ecstatic union with the divine Beloved. But his images bring the sacred and the earthy together in startling ways, describing divine love in vividly human terms.
Everyman's Library pursues the highest production standards, printing on acid-free cream-colored paper, with full-cloth cases with two-color foil stamping, decorative endpapers, silk ribbon markers, European-style half-round spines, and a full-color illustrated jacket.
The poetry of the medieval Persian sage Rumi combines lyrical beauty with spiritual profundity, a sense of rapture, and acute awareness of human suffering in ways that speak directly to contemporary audiences.
Trained in Sufism—a mystic tradition within Islam—Rumi founded the Sufi order known to us as the Whirling Dervishes, who use dance and music as part of their spiritual devotion. Many of Rumi’s poems speak of a yearning for ecstatic union with the divine Beloved. But his images bring the sacred and the earthy together in startling ways, describing divine love in vividly human terms.
Everyman's Library pursues the highest production standards, printing on acid-free cream-colored paper, with full-cloth cases with two-color foil stamping, decorative endpapers, silk ribbon markers, European-style half-round spines, and a full-color illustrated jacket.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1258
198 people are currently reading
3419 people want to read
About the author
Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi
1,168 books15.5k followersSufism inspired writings of Persian poet and mystic Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi; these writings express the longing of the soul for union with the divine.
Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī - also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī, Mevlânâ/Mawlānā (مولانا, "our master"), Mevlevî/Mawlawī (مولوی, "my master") and more popularly simply as Rumi - was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian and Sufi mystic who lived in Konya, a city of Ottoman Empire (Today's Turkey). His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages, and he has been described as the most popular poet and the best-selling poet in the United States.
His poetry has influenced Persian literature, but also Turkish, Ottoman Turkish, Azerbaijani, Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu, as well as the literature of some other Turkic, Iranian, and Indo-Aryan languages including Chagatai, Pashto, and Bengali.
Due to quarrels between different dynasties in Khorāṣān, opposition to the Khwarizmid Shahs who were considered devious by his father, Bahā ud-Dīn Wālad or fear of the impending Mongol cataclysm, his father decided to migrate westwards, eventually settling in the Anatolian city Konya, where he lived most of his life, composed one of the crowning glories of Persian literature, and profoundly affected the culture of the area.
When his father died, Rumi, aged 25, inherited his position as the head of an Islamic school. One of Baha' ud-Din's students, Sayyed Burhan ud-Din Muhaqqiq Termazi, continued to train Rumi in the Shariah as well as the Tariqa, especially that of Rumi's father. For nine years, Rumi practised Sufism as a disciple of Burhan ud-Din until the latter died in 1240 or 1241. Rumi's public life then began: he became an Islamic Jurist, issuing fatwas and giving sermons in the mosques of Konya. He also served as a Molvi (Islamic teacher) and taught his adherents in the madrassa. During this period, Rumi also travelled to Damascus and is said to have spent four years there.
It was his meeting with the dervish Shams-e Tabrizi on 15 November 1244 that completely changed his life. From an accomplished teacher and jurist, Rumi was transformed into an ascetic.
On the night of 5 December 1248, as Rumi and Shams were talking, Shams was called to the back door. He went out, never to be seen again. Rumi's love for, and his bereavement at the death of, Shams found their expression in an outpouring of lyric poems, Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi. He himself went out searching for Shams and journeyed again to Damascus.
Rumi found another companion in Salaḥ ud-Din-e Zarkub, a goldsmith. After Salah ud-Din's death, Rumi's scribe and favourite student, Hussam-e Chalabi, assumed the role of Rumi's companion. Hussam implored Rumi to write more. Rumi spent the next 12 years of his life in Anatolia dictating the six volumes of this masterwork, the Masnavi, to Hussam.
In December 1273, Rumi fell ill and died on the 17th of December in Konya.
Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī - also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī, Mevlânâ/Mawlānā (مولانا, "our master"), Mevlevî/Mawlawī (مولوی, "my master") and more popularly simply as Rumi - was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian and Sufi mystic who lived in Konya, a city of Ottoman Empire (Today's Turkey). His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages, and he has been described as the most popular poet and the best-selling poet in the United States.
His poetry has influenced Persian literature, but also Turkish, Ottoman Turkish, Azerbaijani, Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu, as well as the literature of some other Turkic, Iranian, and Indo-Aryan languages including Chagatai, Pashto, and Bengali.
Due to quarrels between different dynasties in Khorāṣān, opposition to the Khwarizmid Shahs who were considered devious by his father, Bahā ud-Dīn Wālad or fear of the impending Mongol cataclysm, his father decided to migrate westwards, eventually settling in the Anatolian city Konya, where he lived most of his life, composed one of the crowning glories of Persian literature, and profoundly affected the culture of the area.
When his father died, Rumi, aged 25, inherited his position as the head of an Islamic school. One of Baha' ud-Din's students, Sayyed Burhan ud-Din Muhaqqiq Termazi, continued to train Rumi in the Shariah as well as the Tariqa, especially that of Rumi's father. For nine years, Rumi practised Sufism as a disciple of Burhan ud-Din until the latter died in 1240 or 1241. Rumi's public life then began: he became an Islamic Jurist, issuing fatwas and giving sermons in the mosques of Konya. He also served as a Molvi (Islamic teacher) and taught his adherents in the madrassa. During this period, Rumi also travelled to Damascus and is said to have spent four years there.
It was his meeting with the dervish Shams-e Tabrizi on 15 November 1244 that completely changed his life. From an accomplished teacher and jurist, Rumi was transformed into an ascetic.
On the night of 5 December 1248, as Rumi and Shams were talking, Shams was called to the back door. He went out, never to be seen again. Rumi's love for, and his bereavement at the death of, Shams found their expression in an outpouring of lyric poems, Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi. He himself went out searching for Shams and journeyed again to Damascus.
Rumi found another companion in Salaḥ ud-Din-e Zarkub, a goldsmith. After Salah ud-Din's death, Rumi's scribe and favourite student, Hussam-e Chalabi, assumed the role of Rumi's companion. Hussam implored Rumi to write more. Rumi spent the next 12 years of his life in Anatolia dictating the six volumes of this masterwork, the Masnavi, to Hussam.
In December 1273, Rumi fell ill and died on the 17th of December in Konya.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
February 17, 2013
my Bosnian mom gave me this for my 16th birthday. I read Rumi everyday, if i didn't I'd be a giant asshole.
December 23, 2017
This Everyman’s Library Rumi pocket edition (which I recently finished) is wonderful because it features poems from the various well-known translators of Rumi, including my favorites Coleman Barks, Kabir Helminski, and R.A. Nicholson. So it is a beautiful survey of the different translations of Rumi out there! The editor really wanted to do Rumi justice by featuring all the different translators and their poems. And it's a perfect small size to take anywhere! My favorite translator will always be Coleman Barks, who I believe is Rumi incarnate, but all of these translators are wonderful! If you are a Rumi fan this is a must.
January 22, 2008
i really enjoy reading this poet, his poems often require second glances to fully understand but that is the way it should be with all poetry
April 27, 2012
It is always a beautiful experience to see the world through his eyes. I pity those who haven't the chance to meet Rumi yet.
October 25, 2020
"whatever happens
to the world around
show me your purpose
show me your source
even if the world
is Godless and in chaos
show me your anchor
show me your love
if there is hunger
if there is famine
show me your harvest
show me your resource
if life is bitter
everywhere snakes everywhere poison
show me your garden
show me your meadow
if the sun and the moon fall
if darkness rules the world
show me your light
show me your flame
if i have no mouth
or tongue to utter
words of your secrets
show me your fountain
i'll keep silence
how can i express
your life when mine
still is untold"
Whatever Happens
Rumi
(translated by Nader Khalili)
***
Mesmo não sendo uma pessoa religiosa, não posso esconder que a relação do indivíduo com o divino me interessa (seja ela mais ou menos harmoniosa); interessa-me o ser humano na sua solidão, procurando sentidos e respostas para as questões que o afligem — sejam elas triviais ou estruturantes. A poesia mística (e, sobretudo, a poesia sufi) acaba, no entanto, por me atrair por outro motivo: tal como o Budismo, o Sufismo pode ser encarado como uma Filosofia que qualquer pessoa, independentemente da sua religião, pode seguir e essa abertura e democratização de saber e de sentir é-me muito mais apelativo do que sistemas de ideias fechados em si (dogmáticos, castradores, limitadores da acção e do pensamento).
Do pouco que vou conhecendo da poesia mística (e ainda tenho tanto por descobrir), parece-me haver uma carga de sensualidade que só encontro na poesia erótica. O desejo da fusão do "eu" com algo que o transcende, a ideia da abnegação, o dirigir-se a uma entidade divina como quem se dirige a um amante: este êxtase apaixonado é tão ardente que as palavras do poeta se transformam em palavras de amor. E digo "amor" no sentido mais amplo e agregador possível: Eros, Psyche, amor erótico, sensual, fraterno, paterno, maternal, sexual, que tudo convoca e que tudo contém.
Outro aspecto que me seduz constantemente nesta poesia é a procura de um espaço interior onde se crie um deserto. Há uma solidão indizível na maioria destes poemas, mas de uma solidão que não se coaduna necessariamente com a dor, antes uma solidão necessária e apaziguadora: o caminho é feito individualmente, de dentro para fora, em silêncio, convocando a contemplação (de nós mesmos, dos outros, do mundo que nos envolve); a relação do indivíduo com a Natureza é naturalmente exaltada, sendo que esta se apresenta muitas vezes como um mestre que indica e aponta respostas.
to the world around
show me your purpose
show me your source
even if the world
is Godless and in chaos
show me your anchor
show me your love
if there is hunger
if there is famine
show me your harvest
show me your resource
if life is bitter
everywhere snakes everywhere poison
show me your garden
show me your meadow
if the sun and the moon fall
if darkness rules the world
show me your light
show me your flame
if i have no mouth
or tongue to utter
words of your secrets
show me your fountain
i'll keep silence
how can i express
your life when mine
still is untold"
Whatever Happens
Rumi
(translated by Nader Khalili)
***
Mesmo não sendo uma pessoa religiosa, não posso esconder que a relação do indivíduo com o divino me interessa (seja ela mais ou menos harmoniosa); interessa-me o ser humano na sua solidão, procurando sentidos e respostas para as questões que o afligem — sejam elas triviais ou estruturantes. A poesia mística (e, sobretudo, a poesia sufi) acaba, no entanto, por me atrair por outro motivo: tal como o Budismo, o Sufismo pode ser encarado como uma Filosofia que qualquer pessoa, independentemente da sua religião, pode seguir e essa abertura e democratização de saber e de sentir é-me muito mais apelativo do que sistemas de ideias fechados em si (dogmáticos, castradores, limitadores da acção e do pensamento).
Do pouco que vou conhecendo da poesia mística (e ainda tenho tanto por descobrir), parece-me haver uma carga de sensualidade que só encontro na poesia erótica. O desejo da fusão do "eu" com algo que o transcende, a ideia da abnegação, o dirigir-se a uma entidade divina como quem se dirige a um amante: este êxtase apaixonado é tão ardente que as palavras do poeta se transformam em palavras de amor. E digo "amor" no sentido mais amplo e agregador possível: Eros, Psyche, amor erótico, sensual, fraterno, paterno, maternal, sexual, que tudo convoca e que tudo contém.
Outro aspecto que me seduz constantemente nesta poesia é a procura de um espaço interior onde se crie um deserto. Há uma solidão indizível na maioria destes poemas, mas de uma solidão que não se coaduna necessariamente com a dor, antes uma solidão necessária e apaziguadora: o caminho é feito individualmente, de dentro para fora, em silêncio, convocando a contemplação (de nós mesmos, dos outros, do mundo que nos envolve); a relação do indivíduo com a Natureza é naturalmente exaltada, sendo que esta se apresenta muitas vezes como um mestre que indica e aponta respostas.
October 13, 2014
I fought myself not to read one more piece of this until I read it all.
December 28, 2018
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.”
One of my favorite quotes of all time. Excellent read! And a wonderful introduction to Rumi, looking forward to reading more on him.
One of my favorite quotes of all time. Excellent read! And a wonderful introduction to Rumi, looking forward to reading more on him.
May 15, 2021
I would also name my child after him
December 5, 2018
I’ve never read such a collection of biblical references with so little biblical worldview. Picking out each idea and holding it up against the last idea and against the Bible was super interesting, despite the fact that the poems let me down a lot of the time. There were plenty of gems, though, and I think it may have been worth digging through the rubble to find them.
There was a lot of beauty here.
There was a lot of beauty here.
September 8, 2013
I own this book I can read these forever and never get tired of them Wonderful translation.
March 20, 2022
im gonna be honest i skimmed through it cause i got the translated version and the poems didnt sound great but i wanna read it in farsi one day
February 10, 2020
Absolutely beautiful. Excited to read more of Rumi’s work and poetry in the coming weeks. My heart feels much lighter after exploring some of his texts.
December 3, 2014
I carried this pocket edition around with me everywhere while I was travelling Morocco, and it was a perfect companion.
“Sit with your friends, don’t go back to sleep.
Don’t sink like a fish to the bottom of the sea.
Surge like an ocean,
Don’t scatter yourself like a storm.
Life’s waters flow from darkness.
Search the darkness, don’t run from it.
Night travellers are full of light,
And you are too; don’t leave this companionship.
Be a wakeful candle in a golden dish,
Don’t slip into the dirk like quicksilver.
The moon appears for night travellers,
Be watchful when the moon is full.”
I never thought I was much of an appreciator of metaphysical poets (apart from Donne), but with Rumi, I was immediately smitten. Granted, he’s not your average metaphysical poet. In fact, he pre-dates all the other ‘traditional’ metaphysical poets by a good 350 years.
Still, really glad I picked this up.
“Sit with your friends, don’t go back to sleep.
Don’t sink like a fish to the bottom of the sea.
Surge like an ocean,
Don’t scatter yourself like a storm.
Life’s waters flow from darkness.
Search the darkness, don’t run from it.
Night travellers are full of light,
And you are too; don’t leave this companionship.
Be a wakeful candle in a golden dish,
Don’t slip into the dirk like quicksilver.
The moon appears for night travellers,
Be watchful when the moon is full.”
I never thought I was much of an appreciator of metaphysical poets (apart from Donne), but with Rumi, I was immediately smitten. Granted, he’s not your average metaphysical poet. In fact, he pre-dates all the other ‘traditional’ metaphysical poets by a good 350 years.
Still, really glad I picked this up.
Read
July 24, 2011Beautiful read. Rumi always speaks to me.
The best Sufi poet ever!
The best Sufi poet ever!
April 28, 2014
Any book by Rumi will guide you in your daily life.
Always a recommended Read
Always a recommended Read
January 27, 2022
Unfortunately, I was unimpressed. I fully acknowledge that the fault may be mine. Perhaps it is challenging to capture the beauty of poetry in translation.
That said, I found only a handful of these selections to be in any way inspiring or provocative. I found myself thinking that I should instead just be reading the psalms, which have deeper beauty, philosophy, and theology than any of these ruminations (no pun intended) on the divine.
That said, I found only a handful of these selections to be in any way inspiring or provocative. I found myself thinking that I should instead just be reading the psalms, which have deeper beauty, philosophy, and theology than any of these ruminations (no pun intended) on the divine.
February 14, 2020
Everyone should not only read Rumi but feel it, integrate it into their being. It should be required reading for school and higher education, no matter which field of study you're in. It forms not only the mind but the heart and character, as well as elevating the spirit.
January 28, 2020
Beautiful, interesting, evocative and thought-provoking. Will be reading again. Amazingly modern, in many ways.
January 18, 2021
Come to the root of the root of the root of yourself
June 21, 2023
THE GREATEST.
Read
June 6, 2025picked it up on a whim, not for me
July 15, 2017
Beyoncé and Jay-Z chose a good name for (one of) their twins. Rumi is a boss.
The most similar writer I know of is Chuang Tzu, but Rumi is more learned an intellectual than his ancient Chinese counterpart. These poems are by turns paradoxical, visionary, earthy, hilarious and passionate. I can't think of another poet I've read who wrote so many different kinds of equally successful verse. Though perhaps this edition gives an overstated sense of Rumi's variety, because it uses seven different translators.
Many of the features I admire in these poems can be summed up in three lines from the end of one of his poems:
No poetic justice in this tale, just a paradoxical victory which is never described or explained. These twists and turns are essential to Rumi's mystical project. The true mystic raises the mind to another level of reality, where uncertainty reigns. Great mystical poets must strike a balance between being suggestive and being comprehensible. If they are too suggestive, they risk writing meaningless waffle. If they are too comprehensible, they risk becoming dogmatic. True mystical poetry is made up of symbols which neither repel analysis nor have a single obvious meaning we can extract without effort. Rumi strikes this balance and produces such symbols time after time:
This is a lovely edition. It was an enchanting introduction to Rumi's poetry. A wide variety of poems, translated in a variety of ways, in a beautiful binding. The multiple translators is a real plus, because it allows a poor ignorant reader like me, who has no Persian, to see clearly how the different translators adapt the poems into their individual styles. The editor in fact include two translations of several of the poems, making the comparison of the different translators even easier.
The most similar writer I know of is Chuang Tzu, but Rumi is more learned an intellectual than his ancient Chinese counterpart. These poems are by turns paradoxical, visionary, earthy, hilarious and passionate. I can't think of another poet I've read who wrote so many different kinds of equally successful verse. Though perhaps this edition gives an overstated sense of Rumi's variety, because it uses seven different translators.
Many of the features I admire in these poems can be summed up in three lines from the end of one of his poems:
He lived the marriage of form and spirit
and did absolutely nothing
to deserve it.
No poetic justice in this tale, just a paradoxical victory which is never described or explained. These twists and turns are essential to Rumi's mystical project. The true mystic raises the mind to another level of reality, where uncertainty reigns. Great mystical poets must strike a balance between being suggestive and being comprehensible. If they are too suggestive, they risk writing meaningless waffle. If they are too comprehensible, they risk becoming dogmatic. True mystical poetry is made up of symbols which neither repel analysis nor have a single obvious meaning we can extract without effort. Rumi strikes this balance and produces such symbols time after time:
I can't know, only you can,
What makes my heart laugh,
This branch of flowers
Shaking in your wind.
Drive the sheep, thy senses, to pasture: let them
browse in the verdant meadow of Reality,
That every sense of thine may become an apostle to
others and lead all their senses to that Paradise ...
This is a lovely edition. It was an enchanting introduction to Rumi's poetry. A wide variety of poems, translated in a variety of ways, in a beautiful binding. The multiple translators is a real plus, because it allows a poor ignorant reader like me, who has no Persian, to see clearly how the different translators adapt the poems into their individual styles. The editor in fact include two translations of several of the poems, making the comparison of the different translators even easier.
April 26, 2019
"What you seek is seeking you" - that is what made me seek out a book of poetry by Rumi.
So many quotable quotes. I enjoyed "Restless" - till I see your face I'll never know rest...this heart of mine...only wants to know when you'll arrive...keeping one wish in my heart, making love to your desires."
Other lines that stood out to me: "Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love." Also, "Don't try to steer the boat. Don't open a shop by yourself. Listen. Keep silent...Try to be an ear, and if you do speak, ask for explanations." (The Mouse and the Camel)
I loved "Only You" - "only you I choose among the entire world...my heart is a pen in your hand, it is all up to you to write me happy or sad...all my feelings have the colour you desire to paint."
Another good one is "I am" - "someone's love is knocking me out and pulling me after itself very forcefully though I am in this hell and fire I'm filled with honey and nectar...now the time has come, my sweetheart, kindly express what my tongue can never describe."
Loved "Dissolver of Sugar" - "you keep me away with your arm, but the keeping away is pulling me in."
I laughed out loud when I read, "What is this particularization of the heavens and the earth, since He created all things in general?...[yet no one says] O' Creator of dung and farting and wind-breaking'; one only says..." So unexpected in a book of poetry!
So many quotable quotes. I enjoyed "Restless" - till I see your face I'll never know rest...this heart of mine...only wants to know when you'll arrive...keeping one wish in my heart, making love to your desires."
Other lines that stood out to me: "Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love." Also, "Don't try to steer the boat. Don't open a shop by yourself. Listen. Keep silent...Try to be an ear, and if you do speak, ask for explanations." (The Mouse and the Camel)
I loved "Only You" - "only you I choose among the entire world...my heart is a pen in your hand, it is all up to you to write me happy or sad...all my feelings have the colour you desire to paint."
Another good one is "I am" - "someone's love is knocking me out and pulling me after itself very forcefully though I am in this hell and fire I'm filled with honey and nectar...now the time has come, my sweetheart, kindly express what my tongue can never describe."
Loved "Dissolver of Sugar" - "you keep me away with your arm, but the keeping away is pulling me in."
I laughed out loud when I read, "What is this particularization of the heavens and the earth, since He created all things in general?...[yet no one says] O' Creator of dung and farting and wind-breaking'; one only says..." So unexpected in a book of poetry!
September 9, 2023
Rumi combines deep psychological insights with spiritualist philosophy and some very down to earth and often humorous examples in his poetry. Good stuff for 13th century writing. The physical book itself is wonderful - very small (thus the "Pocket Poets" moniker on the edition) with a wonderful textured purple cloth binding. Has been a go-to for the past year after receiving it as a Christmas present.
July 28, 2021
I like this much more than Essential Rumi because it features a few translators, often translating the same poem, which gives a lot more context and exposes the translators' “goals”, POV, intent, etc.
It’s really interesting consuming it in this format, and really shows how Coleman, author of The Essential Rumi, isn’t really translating anything, but reading a translation and then trying to take that into an internalized lesson to be imparted; often in a puritanical and Christian way. Stripping it of Eastern qualities and imbuing it with Western. You can especially see this with animal motifs.
I’d still like to consume something whole that was translated accurately but it doesn’t really seem like something like that exists in English, so this seems the best. And it is quite profound and interesting, much like The Prophet from Gibran. Though, I think I prefer the Prophet because it is a whole and complete work, with a thematic throughline that is incredible. And the prose is just better, IMO.
It’s really interesting consuming it in this format, and really shows how Coleman, author of The Essential Rumi, isn’t really translating anything, but reading a translation and then trying to take that into an internalized lesson to be imparted; often in a puritanical and Christian way. Stripping it of Eastern qualities and imbuing it with Western. You can especially see this with animal motifs.
I’d still like to consume something whole that was translated accurately but it doesn’t really seem like something like that exists in English, so this seems the best. And it is quite profound and interesting, much like The Prophet from Gibran. Though, I think I prefer the Prophet because it is a whole and complete work, with a thematic throughline that is incredible. And the prose is just better, IMO.
January 1, 2022
started to lose me a bit in the middle as things got kind of repetitive, but boy did the ones that hit really take my breath away. my favorite poems were: all my friends, in every breath, the world which is made of our love for emptiness, story water, and dissolver of sugar. the quatrains were also spectacular.
November 10, 2013
This book will remain on my nightstand for the rest of my life!
October 23, 2015
Rumi's poetry is simply timeless. Love and life radiate from every line.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews