The first English translation of the rubais of Rumi • Presents 233 of the most evocative of Rumi’s 1,700 rubais • Shows that the mystical embrace is the way to directly experience the Divine Rumi is well known for the over 44,000 verses that appear in a 23-volume collection called the Divan-i Kebir. Yet Rumi also composed 1,700 rubais, short aphorisms and observations, whose depth and message belie their brevity. The form of rubais first became well known through the 11th-century collection The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. But unlike Khayyam, who like most poets would sit and carefully craft each word, Rumi would compose and speak his poems through the spontaneous “language of poetry” that poured from his lips as he traveled the streets of Konya, Anatolia (present-day Turkey). Very few of Rumi’s rubais have been translated into any of the languages of the contemporary Western world. Now, Nevit O. Ergin, the translator of the complete Divan-i Kebir, and Will Johnson present here 233 of the most evocative of Rumi’s 1,700 rubais. Rumi’s poetry expresses profound and complex truths in beautiful yet simple language. He reveals that by going deep into the interior of our heart and soul, we can arrive at a place in which we once again merge and connect with the divine. This mystical quest, Rumi contends, is the birthright of us all. Anything less than a complete dissolving into the world of divine union will not provide the satisfaction and peace that we all seek. The simple, yet profound spiritual truths and visions contained in The Rubais of Rumi lead the way to the path of reconnection to the direct energies of God.

The secret Rumi found in beholding the Divine in his sacred relationship with Shams-i-Tabriz • Shows how, in 1244, Sufi poet and mystic Jalaluddin Rumi was first brought to a state of ecstatic union with the cosmos and all its creatures • Reveals the radical spiritual practice Rumi formulated in his private retreat with the mendicant seeker Shams-i-Tabriz • Uses the poetry and prose of Rumi to explain how to come face-to-face with the Divine One of the most extraordinary events in the history of Sufism occurred in 1244 when the Sufi poet and mystic Jalaluddin Rumi met a wandering seeker named Shams-i-Tabriz. Upon meeting, the two men immediately went into private retreat together, emerging ninety days later in a transformed condition. In The Spiritual Practices of Rumi, Will Johnson reveals the radical spiritual practice that transpired between Rumi and Shams. To put it simply, they sat and gazed into each other’s eyes. Because the eyes are portals to the soul, their sustained gazing formed the basis of a devotional practice that opened the doors to a profoundly ecstatic state of divine union. Johnson draws on the poetry and prose of Rumi to unfold his story. He also explains how one may embark on the practice of intentional gazing to experience the state of ecstatic divine union shared by Rumi and Shams so many centuries ago.

Poems and commentary that open the door for a new generation to experience the ecstatic and embodied spiritual truths contained in Rumi’s poetry • Reveals how the four practices of eating lightly, breathing deeply, moving freely, and gazing intently can invoke the divinity within us all • Explains how these practices dissolve the self’s need for identity so that we may experience a state of transcendent ecstasy and union with the divine • Takes Rumi’s path to finding God from theoretical to embodied practices The great thirteenth-century Sufi mystic and poet Jalaluddin Rumi began his life as an orthodox Islamic believer but felt that to fully experience complete union with the divine he must abandon institutionalized religion and its prescribed forms of worship. Surrendering his will to his overriding urge for a much more immediate, intuitive, and compelling union with the divine, he found that by manipulating certain behavioral aspects of his physiology--eating lightly, breathing deeply, moving freely, and gazing raptly--he was capable of loosening the rigid confines of the self, thereby overriding its limitations and achieving a transcendent merging with his own divinity. His message is simple: if you wish to affect the spirit, you must first make changes in the way your body responds to the world. Through clearly written commentary interspersed with Rumi’s beautiful poems, this book details these four practices in a very precise way. As such, it is a sweet and open invitation to follow the examples set forth in order to embark upon one’s own path of inner illumination. The freshness of Rumi’s poetry dissolves the 700 years that separate his life from our own time, making his message as pertinent today as when he walked the streets of Konya, Anatolia (present-day Turkey), reciting his inspiring verse. This book allows us, through Rumi’s gentle guidance, to touch the face of God that resides deep within us all.

Most, if not all, of the popularly read versions of Rumi are not direct translations - they are translations of translations. Dr. Nevit Ergin is a scholar specializing in Sufic literature and Rumi, and is fluent in Rumi’s original language of Farsi, or Persian as it is also known. In Crazy As We Are he presents 128 previously untranslated quatrains direct from the Farsi. Dr. Nevit Ergin is a retired surgeon who practiced for more than thirty years. He has been a student of Sufism for more than fifty years, and has published sixteen volumes of Rumi's Divan-i-Kebir. He lives in San Mateo, California.

In this collection of Rumi poetry, Rumi gives answers to spiritual questions that have been asked for centuries. So many readers and scholars represent Rumi as a mystical poet who can help us understand this world, help us worship God, become better humans, attain human happiness. They confuse Rumi's emphasis on Love with earthly love, and they miss his emphasis on annihilation of self. This is the reason for the title of this book: Unknown Rumi. It is a collection of 100 of Rumi's rubais (four-line poems), with commentary on each rubai by Nevit Ergin, reflecting various stages of Rumi's spiritual journey from human perception to Absence, Advaita, Nothingness. Ergin has translated all 2,217 rubais from Rumi. They are spread throughout the second half of Rumi's Divan-i Kebir. The earliest known manuscript copy of the Persian original, which was completed between 1367 CE and 1368 CE, is housed at the site of Rumi's tomb in Konya, Turkey. Photographs were taken of each page of that manuscript and reproduced for this volume, thus making it truly unique. In addition to the original Persian, each rubai is presented in its English and Turkish translations, A book for spiritual aspirants and lovers of Rumi alike.

An exploration of the profound Sufi practice of Itlak Yolu • Examines the three main facets of this practice: zikr or breathing exercises, fasting, and mental suffering • Shares new Sufi parables, the sayings of Sufi master Hasan Lutfi Shushud, and Rumi’s philosophy on annihilation of the Self • Reveals how once the Self is annihilated higher levels of perception are reached In this exploration of the profound spiritual practice of Itlak Yolu, the Sufi path of annihilation, Nevit Ergin examines the three main facets of this path: zikr or breathing exercises, fasting, and mental suffering. Sharing experiences and discussions with Hasan Lutfi Shushud, renowned Sufi saint and final guide of Gurdjieff’s disciple J. G. Bennett, the author illustrates how suffering--“the searing fire of contrition”--is the most effective instrument of spiritual progress, for it is suffering that burns the Self. He explains how faithful practice of zikr and fasting will bring on this kind of suffering when the student is ready and will make the suffering tolerable. He shows how once the Self is annihilated higher levels of perception take hold and one finds oneself on the path to sainthood and immortality. Interwoven throughout with sayings by Shushud, Sufi parables, and poems by Rumi, Ergin shares the unique Itlak perspective on the major questions of every seeker: the true nature of love and religion, life and death, and other major spiritual questions. The book also includes an essay on annihilation and absence in Rumi’s philosophy and biographical portraits of Hasan Lufti Shushud by other aspirants who met with him.

The first collection of poems translated into English from the forbidden volume of the Divan of Rumi • Presents Rumi’s most heretical and free-form poems • Includes introductions and commentary that provide both 13th-century context and modern interpretation After his overwhelming and life-altering encounters with Shams of Tabriz, Rumi, the great thirteenth-century mystic, poet, and originator of the whirling dervishes, let go of many of the precepts of formal religion, insisting that only a complete personal dissolving into the larger energies of God could provide the satisfaction that the heart so desperately seeks. He began to speak spontaneously in the language of poetry, and his followers compiled his 44,000 verses into 23 volumes, collectively called the Divan. When Nevit Ergin decided to translate the Divan of Rumi into English, he enlisted the help of the Turkish government, which was happy to participate. The first 22 volumes were published without difficulty, but the government withdrew its support and refused to participate in the publication of the final volume due to its openly heretical nature. Now, in The Forbidden Rumi, Will Johnson and Nevit Ergin present for the first time in English Rumi’s poems from this forbidden volume. The collection is grouped into three sections: songs to Shams and God, songs of heresy, and songs of advice and admonition. In them Rumi explains that in order to transform our consciousness, we must let go of ingrained habits and embrace new ones. In short, we must become heretics.

Rumi the Persian poet is widely acknowledged as being the greatest Sufi mystic of his age. He was the founder of the brotherhood of the Whirling Dervishes. This is a collection of his poetry.

HAKIM SANA'I Pioneer of the Persian Sufi Ghazal SELECTED POEMS Translation and Introduction by Paul Smith One of the most prolific and influential Sufi Master Poets of all time Hakim Sana'i (d.1131) composed many ghazals (over 90 translated here), masnavis, qasidas, qita's and over 400 ruba'is that influenced all the ruba'i writers that followed him. His long masnavi (rhyming couplets) mystical work The Enclosed Garden of the Truth is said to have had a profound influence on Rumi's composing of his Masnavi and in Sadi's composing his Bustan ('The Orchard'). Included in the Introduction are the Life and Times and Poetry of Sana'i and a history of the ghazal with a selection by its greatest Sufi poets. Selected Bibliography. The correct rhyme-structure has been kept, often for the first time, as well as the beauty and meaning of these powerful, mostly spiritual, beautiful, immortal ghazals. Large Format Edition in Paperback 7" x 10" Pages 214 COMMENTS ON PAUL SMITH'S TRANSLATION OF HAFIZ'S 'DIVAN'. "It is not a joke... the English version of ALL the ghazals of Hafiz is a great feat and of paramount importance. I am astonished." Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran. "Superb translations. 99% Hafiz 1% Paul Smith." Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator of many works in English into Persian and knower of Hafiz's Divan off by heart. "I was very impressed with the beauty of these books." Dr. R.K. Barz. Faculty of Asian Studies, Australian National University. "Smith has probably put together the greatest collection of literary facts and history concerning Hafiz." Daniel Ladinsky (Penguin Books author). Paul Smith (b. 1945) is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets of the Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Pashtu and other languages... including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Lalla Ded, Mahasti, Iqbal, Ghalib, Rahman Baba, Ibn al-Farid, 'Iraqi, Faiz, Urfi, Rahim and many others, as well as his own poetry, fiction, plays, children's books, biographies and a dozen screenplays. www.newhumanitybooks.com

*RUBA'IYAT OF DARA SHIKOH* Translation & Introduction by Paul Smith Dara Shikoh (1615-1659) was the oldest son of Emperor Shah Jahan of Mughal India and was known to be a loving husband, a good son and loving father. He was a fine poet, his poems having the influence of Sufism to which he was dedicated. He used 'Qadiri' as his takhallus or pen-name. His Divan of ghazals, ruba'is and qasidas in Persian was not the only work he left us, his five prose works on Sufism and mysticism are popular in India even today. His Majma al-Bahrain or The Mingling of the Two Oceans is an explanation of the mystical sameness of Sufism and Vedanta. He also translated the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and Yoga-Vasishta into Persian. He was defeated after leading an uprising against his cruel, fundamentalist brother Emperor Aurangzeb and was brutally killed in 1659. The correct rhyme-structure has been kept and the meaning of these beautiful, powerful, always mystical poems. This is the largest translation of his poems into English. 148 pagesCOMMENTS ON PAUL SMITH'S TRANSLATION OF HAFIZ'S 'DIVAN'."It is not a joke... the English version of ALL the ghazals of Hafiz is a great feat and of paramount importance. I am astonished. If he comes to Iran I will kiss the fingertips that wrote such a masterpiece inspired by the Creator of all." Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran."Superb translations. 99% Hafiz 1% Paul Smith." Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator of many mystical works in English into Persian and knower of Hafiz's Divan off by heart."I was very impressed with the beauty of these books." Dr. R.K. Barz. Faculty of Asian Studies, Australian National University."Smith has probably put together the greatest collection of literary facts and history concerning Hafiz." Daniel Ladinsky (Penguin Books author). Paul Smith is a poet, author and translator of over 80 books of Sufi poets from the Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Pashtu and other languages... including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre and many others, as well as poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books and screenplays. Published by New Humanity Books amazon.com/author/smithpa