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Say I Am You: Poetry Interspersed With Stories of Rumi and Shams
Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso
- GenresPoetrySpirituality
128 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1994
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About the author
Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi
1,171 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 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 23, 2010
A lovely book with some beautiful poetry. Some favorite lines....
"Your own transformation,
like the play of wind with a flag, moves
in you now, that near, that simple."
"The world is an open green
in the middle of a garden."
"If you have times you don't ache with love,
you shouldn't be here with us."
"Each moment you call me to you
and ask how I am, even though you know.
The love I answer you with
stirs like wind through cypress."
"From cane reed, sugar.
From a worm's cocoon, silk.
Be patient if you can, and from sour
grapes will come something sweet."
"Someone who doesn't make flowers makes thorns.
If you're not building rooms where wisdom
can be openly spoken, you're building a prison."
"Do you hear what the violin
says about longing?
The same as the stick,'I was once
a green branch in the wind."
"Your own transformation,
like the play of wind with a flag, moves
in you now, that near, that simple."
"The world is an open green
in the middle of a garden."
"If you have times you don't ache with love,
you shouldn't be here with us."
"Each moment you call me to you
and ask how I am, even though you know.
The love I answer you with
stirs like wind through cypress."
"From cane reed, sugar.
From a worm's cocoon, silk.
Be patient if you can, and from sour
grapes will come something sweet."
"Someone who doesn't make flowers makes thorns.
If you're not building rooms where wisdom
can be openly spoken, you're building a prison."
"Do you hear what the violin
says about longing?
The same as the stick,'I was once
a green branch in the wind."
January 19, 2013
Rumi is translated by the ever love-drunk Barks, which is a wonderful pairing. These poems pull you in to your own soul, invite you to a laugh around the table with friends, and leave you wondering who you just met. Beautiful, alive, flowing, you move through Rumi's river of spirit in a trance. You come into this trance again and again each time you pick up the book. It is never finished.
March 1, 2015
Beautiful translation that captures both the allegorical mysticism and spiritual wisdom of Rumi and Shams' teachings.
With gentle imploration we are instructed to stop searching among the branches for what appears only in the roots, to submerge ourselves in a profound love deep beneath the waves of the sea, eternally forming and unfolding.
With gentle imploration we are instructed to stop searching among the branches for what appears only in the roots, to submerge ourselves in a profound love deep beneath the waves of the sea, eternally forming and unfolding.
July 11, 2011
This is by far one of my favourite books EVER. A friend gave it to me 6 years ago, and I always have it somewhere close, and if I go on a trip I always bring it. Every page has something beautiful on it. Amazing book.
July 16, 2010
Gift from Kristen. Full of gems even if not a sufi oneself. Each opening, opens more, as in ''A shadow can't ignore the sun that all day creates and moves it''.
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January 22, 2016Rumi poetry always provides interesting wisdom and insights useful to leaders and OD practitioners alike. I always enjoy translations from Coleman Barks.
January 15, 2013
Awesome..
June 14, 2017
Mystic thinking. A must reread. "A Green-Winged Longing" struck me most- this time.
August 2, 2023
I'm slowly enjoying poetry. Reading Rumi reminds me of Buddhism. I want to see the connections between Sufism and Buddhism.
January 16, 2024
Beautiful poetry and
inspiring I loved this text:
A poet breathes into a reed
flute, 🪈 and the tip of every
hair makes music. 🎶
inspiring I loved this text:
A poet breathes into a reed
flute, 🪈 and the tip of every
hair makes music. 🎶
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews