Rumi's Sun: The Teachings of Shams of Tabriz

Refik Algan, Camille Helminski (Translation)
Paperback, 464 pages
9780939660193

Rumi's Sun offers something unique in classical Sufi literature: an eyewitness record, by Rumi's own disciples, of the actual personal teachings and conversations of Shams-i Tabriz. In this beautifully readable version, we are given a fascinating insight into a unique and unforgettable personality: a boldly iconoclastic figure whose teachings are marked by an intensity of purpose, and whose own spiritual experience is expressed in an unusually open way. The translators have also done a useful service highlighting the many places where Shams' teachings were subsequently adapted and creatively transmuted throughout Rumi's epic Masnavi and other poems.