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Jewels of Remembrance: A Daybook of Spiritual Guidance : Containing 365 Selections from the Wis of Rumi

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Jelaluddin Rumi a thirteenth century Sufi master is recognized as one of the greatest spiritual geniuses of all time and has been one of the most popular spiritual voices in North America for the last decade. In the translators have compiled a collection of literary gems representative of Rumi's spiritual guidance that will be meaningful to people who follow both Western and Eastern traditions. As a daybook the format offers jewels of Rumi's wisdom that are easily accessible to the reader.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1996

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About the author

Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi

1,169 books15.7k followers
Sufism 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.

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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Profile Image for Fusun Dulger charles.
172 reviews19 followers
February 22, 2014
A book I keep by my bed side. A book that one reads over and over again and still finds hidden "pearls". Sometimes I feel that Kabir Helmiski is a reincarnation of Rumi!
Profile Image for Mark David Vinzens.
152 reviews9 followers
July 22, 2021
Rumi's poetry is Divine Poetry. Truly human and truly divine, both at the same time. Rumi is so deeply human that he is divine. His message is clear: Let yourself, your whole life and being, become living poetry. Living every moment of our life as a poem, song or divine dance is the secret of spiritual happiness and freedom.
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