The Persian Mystics

Book excerpt: Rumi (1207-1273) was a Persian jurist and theologian best known for being perhaps the finest of all Sufi poets. His writings have been widely translated and remain especially popular in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. Though written from a Sufi perspective, Rumi's poems on spiritual growth-here collected and edited by F. Hadland Davis and first published in 1907-cross all cultural and religious bounds, and can still be heard today in many secular and religious settings. The Persian Mystics: Jalalu'd-din Rumi includes selections from some of Rumi's most famous works, the "Divani Shamsi Tabriz" and the "Masnavi," as well as passages on his life and work, and the origin and nature of Sufism. FREDERICK HADLAND DAVIS is also the author of The Persian Mystics: Jami (1908) and Myths and Legends of Japan (1912), both available from Cosimo.