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The Rumi Collection
Arranged by topic and by theme, this introduction to the works of the great mystical poet Rumi features some of the best translations of his verse
Rumi’s poems are beloved for their touching perceptions of humanity and the Divine. Here is a rich introduction to the work of the great mystical poet, featuring leading literary translations of his verse. Translators include Coleman Barks, Robert Bly, Andrew Harvey, Kabir Helminski, Camille Helminski, Daniel Liebert, and Peter Lamborn Wilson.
To display the major themes of Rumi’s work, each of the eighteen chapters in this anthology are arranged topically, such as “The Inner Work,” “The Ego Animal,” “Passion for God,” “Praise,” and “Purity.” Also contained here is a biography of Rumi by Andrew Harvey, as well as an introductory essay by Kabir Helminski on the art of translating Rumi's work into English.
Rumi’s poems are beloved for their touching perceptions of humanity and the Divine. Here is a rich introduction to the work of the great mystical poet, featuring leading literary translations of his verse. Translators include Coleman Barks, Robert Bly, Andrew Harvey, Kabir Helminski, Camille Helminski, Daniel Liebert, and Peter Lamborn Wilson.
To display the major themes of Rumi’s work, each of the eighteen chapters in this anthology are arranged topically, such as “The Inner Work,” “The Ego Animal,” “Passion for God,” “Praise,” and “Purity.” Also contained here is a biography of Rumi by Andrew Harvey, as well as an introductory essay by Kabir Helminski on the art of translating Rumi's work into English.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published November 14, 199
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About the author
Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi
1,170 books15.7k 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 55 reviews
August 31, 2009
I'm late discovering Rumi, but if you like mystical poetry, this is your man. The translations are uneven -- some wonderful, some wacky and weird -- but overall the voice of an extraordinary man comes through, a deep soul from the 13th Century who speaks with startling insight into the modern condition. Another way of saying, I suppose, that 8 centuries later we're still struggling with the same ideas and yearnings.
Currently reading
December 4, 2009These are my bedtime stories. These poems inspire sweet dreams and are how antidepressants are supposed to work. Even stuff I don't like, I fall in love with:
"The Love of women
is made attractive to men.
God has arranged it: how can they avoid
what God has arranged?
Inasmuch as God created woman
so that Adam might take comfort in her,
how can Adam be parted form Eve?
Woman is a ray of God.
She is not that earthly beloved:
she is creative, not created."
"The Love of women
is made attractive to men.
God has arranged it: how can they avoid
what God has arranged?
Inasmuch as God created woman
so that Adam might take comfort in her,
how can Adam be parted form Eve?
Woman is a ray of God.
She is not that earthly beloved:
she is creative, not created."
April 19, 2013
I loved most of these poems. There were plenty that I clearly did not have the cultural or religious background to understand. This was a compilation of various translations, and here were certain translators that I did not enjoy at all. I often wonder, reading something that has been both translated and modernized, how much of the original is retained. I am sure I was mostly enjoying Rumi's skill, but I'm also absolutely certain that the skill of the interpreter matters a great deal as well.
November 12, 2012
What can possibly be said about Rumi?
My favorite mystic poet and the world's greatest Sufi master!
My favorite mystic poet and the world's greatest Sufi master!
March 16, 2021
I love Rumi's peoms but this book was a Literal translation, I mean to say this version of translation is weak and doesn't satisfy the true meaning of what Rumi's peoms are about . When you're planning to read Rumi's peotry look for the best translations not just any .
December 6, 2016
Not one of my favorite books. I was expecting more since a few of my recent favorite quotes have been attributed to Rumi. Unfortunately none were in this collection. Rumi seems to be a fine poet. As a mystic, I suppose I prefer my mystics to be realists rather than idealists or believers.
February 22, 2014
Sheikh Kabir eats, sleeps and lives Rumi and you can feel that love and devotion in his translations. A must if you want to "feel" Rumi.
July 15, 2023
An admirer of any work released by Rumi. As I read, I feel things animate around me, a sensational feeling of innocence and purity. Each piece I read, fulfills me with peace. I am full.
July 11, 2019
I received this book of poetry as a graduation present, to start anew. This summer, I’ve decided to nourish my soul before (quite literally) beginning the next chapter of my life. Poetry has a funny way of doing just that. Here are a few of my favorites:
“If love were only spiritual,
the practices of fasting and prayer would not exist.
The gifts of lovers to one another are,
in respect to love, nothing but forms;
yet, they testify
to invisible love.”
“Is it possible for the bodily eye to see You?
Can thought comprehend Your laughter or grief?
Tell me now, can it possibly see You at all?
Such a heart had only borrowed things to live with.”
-When a Man and a Woman Become One
“Night cancels the business of day;
inertia recharged the mind.
Then the day cancels the night,
and inertia disappears in the light.
Though we sleep and rest in the dark,
doesn’t the dark contain the water of life?
Be refreshed in the darkness.
Doesn’t a moment of silence
restore beauty to the voice?
Opposites manifest through opposites:
in the black core of the heart
God created the eternal light of love.”
“If It were always summertime,
the blazing heat would burn the garden,
soul and roots, so that nothing would ever grow
again.
December is grim yet kind;
summer is all laughter, and yet it burns.”
-Expansion and Contraction
“If love were only spiritual,
the practices of fasting and prayer would not exist.
The gifts of lovers to one another are,
in respect to love, nothing but forms;
yet, they testify
to invisible love.”
“Is it possible for the bodily eye to see You?
Can thought comprehend Your laughter or grief?
Tell me now, can it possibly see You at all?
Such a heart had only borrowed things to live with.”
-When a Man and a Woman Become One
“Night cancels the business of day;
inertia recharged the mind.
Then the day cancels the night,
and inertia disappears in the light.
Though we sleep and rest in the dark,
doesn’t the dark contain the water of life?
Be refreshed in the darkness.
Doesn’t a moment of silence
restore beauty to the voice?
Opposites manifest through opposites:
in the black core of the heart
God created the eternal light of love.”
“If It were always summertime,
the blazing heat would burn the garden,
soul and roots, so that nothing would ever grow
again.
December is grim yet kind;
summer is all laughter, and yet it burns.”
-Expansion and Contraction
February 19, 2015
I burnt in Rumi's wisdom and love. A profound reading experience!
"You know the value of every article of merchandise,
but if you don't know the value of your own soul,
it's all foolishness.
You've come to know the fortunate and the inauspicious stars,
but you don't know whether you yourself
are fortunate or unlucky.
This, this is the essence of all sciences
that you should know who you will be
when the Day of Reckoning arrives"
"The intellectual is always showing off;
The lover is always getting lost.
The intellectual runs away, afraid of drowning;
the whole business of love is to drown in the sea.
Intellectuals plan their repose;
lovers are ashamed to rest.
The lover is always alone, even surrounded with people;
like water and oil, he remains apart.
The man who goes to the trouble
of giving advice to a lover
gets nothing. He’s mocked by passion.
Love is like musk. It attracts attention.
Love is a tree, and lovers are its shade."
"You know the value of every article of merchandise,
but if you don't know the value of your own soul,
it's all foolishness.
You've come to know the fortunate and the inauspicious stars,
but you don't know whether you yourself
are fortunate or unlucky.
This, this is the essence of all sciences
that you should know who you will be
when the Day of Reckoning arrives"
"The intellectual is always showing off;
The lover is always getting lost.
The intellectual runs away, afraid of drowning;
the whole business of love is to drown in the sea.
Intellectuals plan their repose;
lovers are ashamed to rest.
The lover is always alone, even surrounded with people;
like water and oil, he remains apart.
The man who goes to the trouble
of giving advice to a lover
gets nothing. He’s mocked by passion.
Love is like musk. It attracts attention.
Love is a tree, and lovers are its shade."
January 26, 2012
The books that are written by Rumi were originally written in the Persian language. Having translated doesn't give the reader the full understanding and meaning that Rumi is trying to get across. The book is separated in chapters of one topic like love, intellect, life etc. Being of the same religion of him I hear this stuff all the time and it quite frankly gets old. I don't mean to say that what he's written is bad, but sometimes it is hard to really comprehend. It is an okay book his view on life is nice but a little harsh. When I first started reading the poems they were nice but as went on it was the same thing over and over again with different words. Anyways if I had any other choice I would read a poem or two a night.
September 12, 2011
Sufism is a word tossed around by Sunnis claiming to have any hold on the subject, but further inquiry reveals they don't consider it to be orthodox, with the celebration in dancing and singing and so on they don't think are halal practices. For them, it is outside the realm of Islam. In actuality, it pre-dated Islam but later merged with it in its own branch. The result, however, is something quite beautiful, and the poems here show this. I might even say the poetry is very sensual.
April 23, 2013
Shaykh Kabir remains true in his translation and true to meaning. The deeper spiritual and mystical insights, though, need to be explained to novices who first encounter the work. This is a great translation but...
I wish there were some way to express the rhythm that is present in the original tongue of Rumi. Unfortunately, so much is lost in translation, even with masters of Rumi's Path like Shaykh Kabir Helminski translating.
I wish there were some way to express the rhythm that is present in the original tongue of Rumi. Unfortunately, so much is lost in translation, even with masters of Rumi's Path like Shaykh Kabir Helminski translating.
January 28, 2021
This is a great book for people who are just starting out reading Rumi because it includes a bunch of different translators, which allows you to pick who your favorite ones are and buy their translations in the future :) Not only that but I think seeing different translators in the same book really makes you aware of how much of what you’re reading is really Rumi coming through and how much of it is the translator.
May 25, 2012
the images are fascinating...i've been reading it on the subway and trying not to miss my stop!
October 25, 2015
I love Rumi and I try my best to love him too!!
I read most of Rumi's work which is translated in English so far. And this one I found the best of all.
I read most of Rumi's work which is translated in English so far. And this one I found the best of all.
January 3, 2020
Generally speaking I am not a great fan of poetry. Reading this I realized that religious inspirational poetry is definitely not for me.
October 13, 2023
I enjoyed this poetry collection although it was far more religious than I expected. I got the book via a Goodreads giveaway, and while I knew of Rumi and had seen bits of Rumi's work here and there, I didn't have much knowledge of who the poet was or how much the poet's work was explicitly religious. All that said, despite being secular, I still found much to like in the many translations that comprise this book. For one thing, it's fascinating to see how varied the translations can be from one translator to another. I found Robert Bly's translations particularly appealing while others' translations had vastly different feels. (It'd be fascinating to compare different translations of the exact same poem, but this collection didn't offer that.) From a language standpoint, this collection is good. The religiosity isn't something I'm drawn to, and I imagine that may turn off some readers.
May 10, 2017
As much as I love Rumi and also love Shambhala Publications, this particular compilation did not resonate with me as much as I expected. I think that is partly due to the various styles of interpretations that were used. It seemed like a lot of the interpretations were trying too hard to update the metaphors and similes to be very modern and then others would be so ancient I would have to look up what they meant. I also noticed a lot of the poems talking about Jesus...I don't know much about this but isn't that sort of an attempt to "erase Islam" as this timely New Yorker article calls it? If you happen to know anything about this please feel free to comment. I could use the education on this topic!
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-t...
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-t...
May 1, 2023
I was looking forward to this book, Mary Oliver is one of my favorite authors and a devoted fan of Rumi. And I did respect his writing and love for all Abrahamic, and by further note, all religions, to give it this rating, but I got very tired of reading through this.
Some of these messages practically encourage harm on yourself and others portrayed as worship. I don't understand the devotion to a life beyond this one, that there is no proof of, when heaven is below our footprints. But that is my own fault.
Some of these messages practically encourage harm on yourself and others portrayed as worship. I don't understand the devotion to a life beyond this one, that there is no proof of, when heaven is below our footprints. But that is my own fault.
July 27, 2018
The collection of poems and the passages from Fihi Ma Fihi based on the headline for each chapter. The challenge is always there to translate a poem , especially the ones with mystic context and full of ecstasy from Rumi. While losing the sound of Persian , having some interpretations creating different meaning is also a challenge.
May 31, 2023
I haven't read a lot of Rumi so I don't know if this a better translation than other volumes. It's hard to go wrong with Rumi, and I enjoyed collection.
Thanks very much for the free copy for review!!
Thanks very much for the free copy for review!!
March 17, 2025
i had trouble with this one. no dog-eared pages, no sense of flow. chapters organized thematically resulted in preachy, repetitive rhythm reminiscent of a religious summer camp. i know that rumi is beautiful, so i believe that much has been lost in translation(s) here!
July 11, 2019
Ground breaking stuff. The highest level of spirituality, beyind Taoism and Buddhism.
November 9, 2019
Beautiful but sometimes a bit lost in translation
December 28, 2019
Rumi's collection is untiring book which you read everyday for phylosophy/thinking/ debating or discussing thoughts behind wisdom sayings.
April 8, 2020
Breathtaking and eye opening
March 28, 2021
When you read Rumi, you are also reading the translator. I liked this collection of poems and these translations. Many gems to discover.
November 14, 2021
The poems are not too long but very deep with meaning. Not something to be read hurriedly but at true lazy leisure so the words may penetrate one's heart.
January 24, 2023
Beautiful poetry. Favourite poem “Emptiness” on the Purity chapter.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews