Title: I am wind, you are fire : the life and work of Rumi /
Authors: Schimmel, Annemarie, 1922-2003
Publisher: Shambhala,
Year: 1992
Subjects: Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, Religion.
Abstract: "This book ... celebrates the extraordinary career of Persia's great mystical poet, Rumi (1207-1273), through the story of his life, along with an enlightening examination of his ecstatic verse. Rumi lived the quiet life of a religious teacher in Anatolia until the age of thirty-seven, when he came under the influence of a whirling dervish, Shams Tabriz, and was moved to a state of mystical ecstasy. One of the results of this ecstasy was a prodigious output of poems about the search for the lost Divine Beloved, whom Rumi identified with Shams. To symbolize this search, Rumi also invented the famous whirling dance of the Melevi dervishes, which are performed accompanied by the chanting of Rumi's poems. Professor Schimmel illuminates the symbolism and significance of Rumi's vast output and offers her own translations of some of his most famous poems."
Contents: Pilgrimage to Rumi -- The road to Konya -- Poetical expression -- A spring day in Konya -- The hidden treasure -- A donkey's tail with angel's wings -- The Koran, the prophets, and the saints -- The chickpeas on the spiritual ladder -- Prayer : the divine gift -- The manifestations of love -- They enter all the dance, the dance ...