Inside A Lover's Heart There's Another World, And Yet Another
Rumi's masterpieces have inspired countless people throughout the
centuries, and Coleman Barks's exquisite renderings of the
thirteenth-century Persian mystic are widely considered the definitive
versions for our time. Barks's translations capture the inward
exploration and intensity that characterize Rumi's poetry, making this
unique voice of mysticism and desire contemporary while remaining true
to the original poems. In this volume readers will encounter the essence
of Sufism's insights into the experience of divine love, wisdom, and the
nature of both humanity and God.
While Barks's stamp on this collection is clear, it is Rumi's voice that
leaps off these pages with a rapturous power that leaves readers
breathless. These poems express our deepest yearning for the
transcendent connection with the source of the divine: there are
passionate outbursts about the torment of longing for the beloved and
the sweet delight that comes from union; stories of sexual adventures
and of loss; poems of love and fury, sadness and joy; and quiet truths
about the beauty and variety of human emotion. For Rumi, soul and body
and emotion are not separate but are rather part of the great mystery of
mortal life, a riddle whose solution is love. Above all else, Rumi's
poetry exposes us to the delight that comes from being fully alive,
urging us always to put aside our fears and take the risk of discovering
our core self:
No one knows what makes the soul wake up so happy! Maybe a dawn breeze
has blown the veil from the face of God.
These fresh, original translations magnificently convey Rumi's insights
into the human heart and its longings with his signature passion and
daring, focusing on the ecstatic experience of the inseparability of
human and divine love. The match between Rumi's sublime poetry and
Coleman Barks's poetic art are unequaled, and here this artistic union
is raised to new heights.
