Unknown Rumi

Book excerpt: In this collection of Rumi poetry, Rumi gives answers to spiritual questions that have been asked for centuries. So many readers and scholars represent Rumi as a mystical poet who can help us understand this world, help us worship God, become better humans, attain human happiness. They confuse Rumi's emphasis on Love with earthly love, and they miss his emphasis on annihilation of self. This is the reason for the title of this book: Unknown Rumi. It is a collection of 100 of Rumi's rubais (four-line poems), with commentary on each rubai by Nevit Ergin, reflecting various stages of Rumi's spiritual journey from human perception to Absence, Advaita, Nothingness. Ergin has translated all 2,217 rubais from Rumi. They are spread throughout the second half of Rumi's Divan-i Kebir. The earliest known manuscript copy of the Persian original, which was completed between 1367 CE and 1368 CE, is housed at the site of Rumi's tomb in Konya, Turkey. Photographs were taken of each page of that manuscript and reproduced for this volume, thus making it truly unique. In addition to the original Persian, each rubai is presented in its English and Turkish translations, A book for spiritual aspirants and lovers of Rumi alike.