Rumi's Secret: The Life of the Sufi Poet of Love by Brad Gooch

Tue, 01/31/2017 - 1:55pm -- BHanley

Arguably, Jalaluddin Rumi, a 13th century Sufi mystic, is one of our most popular and frequently quoted poets today, whose universal message has resonated deeply with people from many faiths and cultures. Author Brad Gooch has found Rumi’s writings a “steady pleasure” for over a decade, learning Persian to better appreciate his verses and traveling from Aleppo to Konya to visit sites associated with this medieval poet.  As the author acknowledges, no single biography could possibly capture the subtle complexities of Rumi’s life and work or adequately describe his life-transforming encounter with his spiritual teacher, Shams-i Tabriz. Nevertheless, Gooch has produced a readable biography amply punctuated with his own translations of Rumi’s Persian verses. Of particular interest is the author’s  account of Rumi’s early life and travels in a world as politically turbulent as our own.  As Gooch has demonstrated, Rumi’s  incomparable lyricism, profound spiritual insight, and perennial message of love and tolerance -- “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing is a field/I’ll meet you there” – continue to be as fresh, compelling, and urgent in our times as they were in his own.

Blog Category: 
chat loading...