The Masnavi, Book One

Rumi's Masnavi is widely recognized as the greatest Sufi poem ever written, and is sometimes called 'the Koran in Persian'. The thirteenth-century Muslim mystic Rumi composed his work for the benefit of his disciples in the Sufi order named after him, better known as the whirling dervishes. In order to convey his message of divine love and unity he threaded together entertaining stories and penetrating homilies. Jawid Mojaddedi's sparkling new unabridgedverse translation of Book One follows the original in presenting Rumi's most mature mystical teachings in simple and attractive rhyming couplets.