Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Book Review: Teachings of Rumi by Andrew Harvey


Jalal-ud-din Rumi, one of the greatest mystics of Islam was probably born in Balkh Afghanistan in September 1207. He died in Konya in Southern Turkey in December 1273. Mevlevi order was founded by him and continued by his son Sultan Valad. He spread his vision all over Asia and Africa.

 Rumi combined the intellect of a Plato, the vision and enlightened soul-force of a Buddha or a Christ, and the extravagant literary gifts of a Shakespeare. This particular book is divided into four movements. The first one is call, second is named Be a Lover, third one is Ordeal and the last one is Union. Quotations have been taken from the whole range of Rumi’s work. Letters, table talk, stories, sections from Mathnawi, poetry and prose have also been included. At one place in the book Rumi says: “God is He who consumes man and makes him nothing, since no reason can understand Him”.

On page 23 author quotes from Mathnawi:
“You went on pilgrimage to Mecca, but where are you now?”

Page 27:
“Yet how could I know His presence near me without traveling across the world?”

Page 46:
Take care! Don’t commit crimes and sins saying to yourself, “I will repent tomorrow and take refuge in God.”

Page 53:
“Rise up, use this time richly, you poor man!
If you don’t, you’ll burn with regret
When your soul’s separated from your body.”

Page 71:
“Every low-souled person who confines himself to contemplating the garden remains deprived of the vision of the Gardener.”

Page 91:
“Palace before the sun burning candle,
See how its shinning disappears before those lights”.

Page 107:
“If you don’t have the cane of prudence and judgement,
Take the eyes of the one who sees as guide”.

Page 116:
“From every direction, agonies have crowded you
To drag you at last towards the Direction less”.

Page 124:
“You’ll only enjoy the city and your relations
After enduring all the griefs and ordeals of exile.”

Page 147:
“To speak of God is to speak of the soul
And to speak of the soul is the Speak of God.”

Page 157:
Rumi quotes Imam Dja’far Cadiq. When Imam purified his soul and paid no attention to Caliphs and Kings, was asked about this pride, he replied, “I myself am not proud. I have abandoned my own existence, the greatness of God has annihilated me and installed itself in place of my pride; the pride I am speaking of springs directly out of the heart of the greatness of God; as for me, in the middle of this glory, I do not exist.”

Jellaludin Rumi (1207-1273) led the quiet life of an Islamic teacher in Central Anatolia (modern Turkey) until the age of thirty-seven, when he met a wandering dervish named Shams Tabriz through whom be encountered divine presence.

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