Author Description

Meter 18 of the 22 meters of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi's masterpiece, the Divan-i Kebir, translated into English in its entirety for the first time. The Divan-i Kebir, or Divan-i Shams is the anthology of Rumi's poems from the time he met Shams (1244) until the day he died (1273). Although Shams disappeared from Rumi's life after only three years, the impact of this Saint and Master transformed Rumi's life into one of self-annihilation, spiritual longing and ecstasy, all clearly reflected in his poetry. Rumi's poetry is recorded in 13th century Farsi, the language of the times in Anatolia (some Arabic, Turkish and Greek also appears). Rumi did not write down his poetry. Rather, he spontaneously recited poems day and night, and assigned people, called katib-i esrar [secret secretary], surrounded and followed him, recording what he said. These more than 44,000 verses are beautiful explanations of the secret of life, Love, humanity, God, and more. They also serve as historical sketches of 13th Century life in Konya, Anatolia. And, they take the reader into the spiritual journey Rumi took 800 years ago toward the enlightenment of Love. For more information, visit ReadingRumi.com.