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1-Page Summary of The Essential Rumi
Overall Summary
The Essential Rumi brings together the timeless poetry of one of the world’s most revered spiritual thinkers. Translated by Coleman Barks, these words are just as powerful and important to today’s society as they were when first written in the thirteenth century. None of these poems or observations are long, dry philosophical treatises; that is not Rumi’s style. Instead, he distills age-old questions and spiritual wisdom into crystal-clear images and metaphors that shed brilliant light on what it means to be a spiritual being having a human experience—which we all are.
The Essential Rumi is a book that separates the writings of Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi into 28 different categories. Barks says, “to confuse scholars who would divide Rumi’s poetry into the accepted categories.” The categories of which Barks speaks are general ones that anyone might use to organize any writer/thinker who created a monumental amount of output: odes, quatrains, poems, discourses, letters and sermons. But instead of separating all of these by type of writing as some books do with other writers’ works; Barks takes on the far more challenging (and creative) role of separating them by recurring motifs. Some themes include emptiness and silence; loving; separation; union and even taverns. This approach underscores the fluidity in Rumi’s writing because he doesn’t contradict or change his message throughout this work but rather informs it while supporting its theme at hand.
The author includes a brief reflection before each section to set the stage for what’s to come. These reflections don’t really add any meaning, but they do provide some context about Rumi and his writings.
Rumi is a poet. He uses several characters in his poems, including Shams of Tabriz. Rumi and Shams have an amazing friendship that inspires all of Rumi’s poetry after the two part ways. The Essential Rumi contains some of their best conversations, which are compiled into this book for readers to enjoy.
Rumi quotes Jesus, Moses and Mohammad to help him understand his own spiritual path. He is a Muslim in the Arab world but feels a strong connection with these figures from other religions (especially Jesus). Rumi thinks of them as friends who have experienced similar things to what he’s going through now.
Rumi had many friends, including Saladin Zarkub and Husam Chelebi. Animals also played an important role in Rumi’s life, such as frogs and mice.
Rumi’s poems are often advice to the reader. They defy religion and instead speak to the universal condition of being human. “Gamble everything for love,” he says in one poem, while another reads: “Give up wanting what other people have.” And in yet another: “Dance when you’re broken open.”
Rumi seems to have a lot of wisdom, and it’s not just something he learned from other people.
Rumi’s words are soothing, but they’re also playful and fun. Some of the poems in this collection celebrate life while others express sadness and misery. There are also sensual poems that speak about love with a sense of physicality. Overall, these writings encapsulate the full range of human emotions and experiences. In addition to being relatable, Rumi’s poetry is spiritual as well; it speaks about an eternal love that can be found through God or nature.
