Teachings of Rumi

JelalludinRumi (1207-1273) led the quiet life of an Islamic teacher in the centralAnatolia (modern Turkey) until the age of thirty-seven, when he met a wanderingdervish named Shams Tabriz—through whom he encountered the Divine Presence ina way that utterly transformed him. The result of this epiphany was thegreatest body of mystical poetry the world has ever seen, and the establishmentof a spiritual movement that would eventually stretch from Africa to China,enduring to our own day. Thiscollection of versions of Rumi by Andrew Harvey contains some of the master'smost luminous verse, along with selections from his lesser-read prose works,with the aim of presenting a balanced view of his teaching that includes boththe high-flying love of God and the rigorous path of discipline essential forthose who seek it.