This book is significant to me in more ways than one. The most significant one being the fact that I received this book from a complete stranger forming part of a book chain that was initiated on Social Media. Much to the chagrin and jealousies of naysayers and doomsday prophets, the book link did not turn out to be a devious scheme designed to “Ponzify” its gullible victims. So without naming the benevolent individual who gifted me this precious book,I will just place on record my heartfelt appreciation and admiration!
Now coming to the book itself. This is a selected collection of pearls from Rumi’s Quatrains. These seraphic, rhapsody inducing pieces, selected and translated by Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam M give immense pleasure to the reader. Sensual yet simple; cheerily plain yet pure; melancholic yet melodious, each one of these gems sets the reader to think, experience and get immersed in the dance of words and the depth of meaning. ‘Whispers of the beloved is at once the dervish swirl of Shams of Tabriz and at the next the unabashed dripping eloquence of Rumi paying homage at the feet of the former. A range of emotions permeate the length of this small collection. Scorn goes toe to toe with selflessness and love attempts a dangerous dalliance with rejection. Happiness is interspersed with hatred and forgiveness plays host to irreparable loss.
Rumi’s genius lay in his spontaneity. A spontaneity that enveloped the swirl of human imagination and grasped the essence of the very cosmos. A surreal sense of enlightened spirituality mingled with the alarming innocence of a rustic mind, lends to his works a heightened sense of beauty, realization and fulfilment. Without attempting to say more, Rumi says it all! The unimaginable economy of words opens the door to a universal expression of catharsis. The Rumi imprimatur is one which can be repeatedly attempted and aspired for, but never attained. This extraordinary genius once said “Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love”. The world is eternally indebted to Rumi for silently and steadily allowing himself to be drawn by the pull of not only what he really loved, but more significantly left behind as an immortal legacy to be savoured, cherished and raptured over by a legion of humanity that never cared for trivial punctuations such as caste, creed, colour, sex and religion.
Jalaluddin Rumi – The perennial poet of the past, present and future.
