Rumi: Soul Fury: Rumi and Shams Tabriz on Friendship

Description

This is how the heart sounds. Do not change the melody, this now, you and I, here together. Let this being with each other be heart-sound. The evocative, spiritual poetry of thirteenthcentury Sufi mystic Rumi has inspired people for centuries, and Coleman Barks' stunning translations are unparalleled. This exquisite new collection speaks to the mystery of soul friendship, specifi cally between Rumi and Shams Tabriz, and universally in the relationships we all share. Jelaluddin Rumi and Shams Tabriz met in 1244 and began a mystical, divine friendship, one not bound to time and space and despite their diff erences. Where Rumi was introspective, loving, and embodied peace and kindness, Shams was wild, brash, and honest-full of a fi ery passion Barks calls "soul fury." Together they shared an eternal friendship that resulted in Rumi's luminous quatrains and the wise Sayings of Shams Tabriz, giving language to the delight of true friendship.

Coleman Barks is a renowned poet and the bestselling author of The Essential Rumi, Rumi: The Big Red Book, The Soul of Rumi, Rumi: The Book of Love, and The Drowned Book. He was prominently featured in both of Bill Moyers' PBS television series on poetry, The Language of Life and Fooling with Words. He taught English and poetry at the University of Georgia for thirty years, and he now focuses on writing, readings, and performances.

"The mystical and soul-stirring friendship between Rumi and Shams Tabriz was built upon mutual exploration of crazy wisdom and dangerous truth that those who surrounded these men could not understand or appreciate. This kind of spiritual friendship... is described repeatedly in Soul Fury." -- Spirituality and Practice