The Essential Rumi
by Jalal AlDin Rumi
2 more
More Recommenders
“Really, really beautiful. | The author’s gotten me in touch with the mystical, and the mysterious, and the magical in life. | The introduction alone will make the hair stand up on your arms. | There is nothing that I enjoy more than at night reading Rumi.”
Source →“Really, really beautiful. | The author’s gotten me in touch with the mystical, and the mysterious, and the magical in life. | The introduction alone will make the hair stand up on your arms. | There is nothing that I enjoy more than at night reading Rumi.”
Source →Recommended by 4 notable people, including Tim O’Reilly and Kevin Kelly
Check price on AmazonProof-backed recommendation
Amazon availability
Reading Profile
Should I read this?
This revised and expanded collection gathers dozens of short, intensely lyrical poems that rely on ecstatic spiritual imagery and intimate metaphors. Many pieces are brief and self-contained, suited to reading aloud or dipping into between tasks, and the added previously unpublished poems widen the emotional range. What works best is a steady stream of memorable lines that resurface on rereading; the main limitation is repetition — shared images and refrains recur, and translation choices sometimes smooth or sentimentalize cultural particularities.
Read this if...
- •a high-school literature teacher prepping a two-week unit on translated lyric poetry for junior-year students next term, because the poems are short enough for single-class close readings and prompt classroom discussion without heavy background material
- •a family member assembling readings for a small naming or memorial ceremony happening in the coming weeks, because the collection supplies concise, lyrical passages that read well aloud and are easy to memorize
- •a literary-salon organizer programming a 15–20 minute guest slot this month who needs immediate, audience-friendly poems that land in performance and don’t require scholarly notes
Skip this if...
- •you'll likely put it down when similar mystical metaphors pile up — many readers feel a mid-book repetition where images and refrains start to feel the same
- •annoying if you prefer narrative or character-driven poems; this is fragmentary lyric rather than story-focused verse
- •annoying if you want literal, heavily annotated translations or cultural background — translation choices lean toward smoothing and the edition offers limited scholarly apparatus
This revised and expanded edition of The Essential Rumi includes a new introduction by Coleman Barks and more than 80 neverbeforepublished poems.Through his lyrical translations, Coleman Barks has been instrumental in bringing this exquisite literature to a remarkably wide range of readers, making the ecstatic, spiritual poetry of thirteenthcent...
Before You Buy
Reading Specifications
Difficulty:hard
Audience Fit
- a high-school literature teacher prepping a two-week unit on translated lyric poetry for junior-year students next term, because the poems are short enough for single-class close readings and prompt classroom discussion without heavy background material
- a family member assembling readings for a small naming or memorial ceremony happening in the coming weeks, because the collection supplies concise, lyrical passages that read well aloud and are easy to memorize
- a literary-salon organizer programming a 15–20 minute guest slot this month who needs immediate, audience-friendly poems that land in performance and don’t require scholarly notes
- you'll likely put it down when similar mystical metaphors pile up — many readers feel a mid-book repetition where images and refrains start to feel the same
- annoying if you prefer narrative or character-driven poems; this is fragmentary lyric rather than story-focused verse
- annoying if you want literal, heavily annotated translations or cultural background — translation choices lean toward smoothing and the edition offers limited scholarly apparatus
Check formats, pricing, and availability options for Kindle, physical print, or audiobooks directly.
View available editions on AmazonKey themes
Why recommended
Recommended by 8 sources and appears in Spiritual, Poetry, and Poetry.
Recommended by notable people
People and public figures who have recommended this book.
Recommendation Signals
Recommendation proof is sourced from public posts, interviews, reading lists, and cited references.
Adam Robinson
“Really, really beautiful. | The author’s gotten me in touch with the mystical, and the mysterious, and the magical in life. | The introduction alone will make the hair stand up on your arms. | There is nothing that I enjoy more than at night reading Rumi.”
View sources (4) ▾80%
Appears In
Not sure if this is the right fit?
Consider Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Recommended by 2 sources.
“Eat Pray Love reads like a personal travel diary stitched into three acts: indulgent, sensory Italian pleasure; slow, instruction-style spiritual time in an ashram; and reflective, relational closure in Bali. Its useful part is a candid first-person voice that makes small moments — meals, mantras, landscapes — vivid and immediate, useful when you want emotive travel writing and honest self-questioning. Its main limitation is repetition and a sometimes indulgent tone; the narrative can feel circular and light on concrete takeaway.”
Similar books
Eat Pray Love
Elizabeth Gilbert
A Monk's Guide to Happiness
Gelong Thubten
Illusions
Richard Bach
Life Doesn't Frighten Me
Maya Angelou
They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us
Hanif AbdurraqibSiddhartha
Hermann Hesse
Freedom from the Known
Jiddu Krishnamurti
Be As You Are
Sri Ramana MaharshiHow recommendation signals are reviewed
Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.