The Illustrated Rumi

The Illustrated Rumi

A Treasury of Wisdom

The bestselling poet in America today, thirteenth-century Sufi mystic Jalalu'ddin Rumi has inspired and enlightened thousands with his playful, passionate work celebrating the sacred in everyday life. Now the spiritual wealth of Rumi's stories and poetry in translation are accompanied by rare and wonderful art in the Sufi and Islamic tradition. This fresh rendering brings new life to these incomparable parables, which have transcended time, place, culture, and religion to speak directly to the hearts and souls of contemporary readers. With a foreword by Huston Smith, the work of this inimitable mystic is here in prose and poetry taken from all the works of the master.

Each parable, such as The King and the Handmaiden, The Grocer and the Parrot, The Ugly Old Woman, and The Man Who Was Always Being Swindled, are related as Rumi might have related them to his fascinated audiences as he whirled in meditation and trance. But each story also has a spiritual message, a holy essence that applies across all faiths, uttered from the heart of Islam. Each of these messages is provided here in a modern rendering that keeps the flavor of this unique period of history, of culture, and of inspired, passionate beauty.

The translators, Philip Dunn and Manuela Dunn Mascetti, have created and authored many bestselling volumes, including Huston Smith's Illustrated World's Religions, Professor Stephen Hawking's The Illustrated A Brief History of Time, Thomas Moore's The Illustrated Care of the Soul, plus their own works, which include The Buddha Box, Kama Sutra: The Erotic Art of Love, Ganesba: Remover of Obstacles, and many more.