The Soul of Rumi

A New Collection of Ecstatic Poems

This book is renowned poet Barks' first major assemblage of newly translated Rumi poems since his bestselling The Essential Rumi.

Coleman Barks presents entirely new translations of Rumi's poems, published for the first time in The Soul of Rumi. The poems range over the breadth of Rumi's themes: silence, emptiness, play, God, peace, grief, sexuality, music, to name just a few. But the focus is on the ecstatic experience of human and divine love and their inseparability, conveyed with Rumi's signature passion, daring, and insights into the human heart and the heart's longings.

Dimensions: 9.26" L x 6.28" W
Details: Paperback, 448 pages
Author: Coleman Barks

Testimonials

When Rumi was born in Afghanistan in 1207, it was a time of tremendous political turmoil in the Near East. Paradoxically, it was also a time of brilliant mystical awareness," writes translator Coleman Barks in The Soul of Rumi. This brilliance shines through in every passage, as Barks celebrates the ecstatic nature of Rumi's poetry. Barks (The Essential Rumi) has been given much credit for leading modern Westerners to this astounding poet. His sensitivity to the reader is evidenced in how he organizes the poetry according to themes. Since Rumi is often quoted at public gatherings, such as weddings and memorial services, this makes referencing especially easy. In the section entitled 'When Friend Meets Friend,' readers find the poem 'The Soul's Friend':

The most living moment comes when those who love each other meet each other's eyes and in what flows between them then. To see your face in a crowd of others, or alone on a frightening street, I weep for that…

"Barks offers a gracefully rendered introduction to each section, providing personal and historical background of the poetry. Elegantly designed and printed on cream-colored, heavy-stock paper, this is a delight for Rumi fans."
—Gail Hudson, Amazon.com

"The Islamic mystical poet Rumi (1207- 1273) improvised the evocative poems which his followers wrote down. Translator Coleman Barks's The Essential Rumi won the Persian writer American fans, some of whom revere the poet as a religious guide. Now Barks is back with The Soul of Rumi: A New Collection of Ecstatic Poems. The giant volume includes part of Rumi's 64,000-line Masnavi, as well as many short poems and Barks's copious, informal, personal commentary."
—Publishers Weekly

"Coleman Barks' translations of Rumi's poems have been instrumental in making Rumi the cultural icon he has become in America. That is in part due to Barks' willingness, even eagerness, to downplay the Islamic foundation of these ecstatic poems. Barks portrays Rumi as a universal mystic, which may arouse the ire of scholars but doesn't dent the appeal of Barks' versions. This new collection, mostly of poems Barks hasn't previously tackled, is likely to maintain that appeal. Presenting the poems in small thematic groups, Barks may not be as concerned with historical context as are Philip Dunn and his associates in The Illustrated Rumi [BKL F 1 01], but he offers the very best of Rumi's beautiful and challenging imagery. The metaphorical representation of fana, the annihilation into God, is brought into particularly compelling focus: 'A moth flying into the flame says with its wingfire, try this.' Many may never know the Qur'anic verses reflected in Rumi's lines, but as long as Barks is translating them, they will remain popular in English."
—John Green, Booklist

"Coleman Barks's Rumi translations [make] Rumi's raptures accessible in language at once ordinary and lyrical."
—Yoga Journal

"The gold of Rumi pours down through Coleman's words. The words leap off the page and dance!"
—Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart

"Rumi will transform you, in ways you didn't know you needed transforming."
—Jerry Stahl, in Shout NY

About Coleman Barks

Coleman Barks was born and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and went to school at the University of North Carolina and the University of California, Berkeley. He taught poetry and creative writing at the University of Georgia for thirty years.

In 1976 fellow poet Robert Bly showed Coleman Barks some scholarly translations of the great Sufi poet Rumi. Bly suggested to Barks that he make a more modern poetic translation, as Bly recalls saying to Barks, "Release these (poems) from their scholarly cages."

Thus with the encouragement of Bly, Bark sought to recast these Rumi poems in a more modern version. Barks does not seek to replicate the rhyme and rhythm of the original Persian. Instead he prefers to render the essence of the poems into free verse. In making these modern versions Barks is attempting to encapsulate the spiritual insight, humour and spirit of Rumi's original masterpieces.

Coleman Barks' versions of Rumi have proved to be remarkably popular making Rumi into one of America's best selling poets. Many consider that this unprecedented interest in the poetry of Rumi is primarily due to Barks' anthology "The Essential Rumi". A selection of the Rumi translations appears in the prestigious 7th edition of the edition of the Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces.

Coleman Barks is also a poet in his own right. He says of his writings:

"I like translating Rumi and writing my own poems. But in one I have to disappear - with Rumi. In the other I have to get in the way- get my personality and my delights and my shame into the poem."

The father of two grown children and grandfather of three. Coleman Barks is now retired in Athens, Georgia. He has been practising Sufism since 1977 but emphasises that: "Rumi was without boundaries. He would say that love is the religion and the universe is the book, that experience as we're living it is the sacred text that we study, so that puts us all in the same God club."