Spiritual Poems of Rumi - Translated by Nader Khalil

The birds are free from the cage
Cage is empty from the birds
Where have you flown from
To be so happy
I can smell eternity
In your songs.

Let me confess, this is my first foray into reading poetry of Rumi, the acclaimed 13th century poet and sufi mystic. And before delving into anything else, let me tell you, this is a beautifully illustrated book, I would have loved to leaf through a hard bound copy of this.

This collection contains the non literal translations of Rumi, done by Nadir Khalil. There are 3 parts, Pearls from deep, Fountains of fire and Dancing the flames. The first part contains unpublished excerpts while second and third part contains poems previously published in books of same name

I have always wondered how difficult it would be to translate Poetry. Reading through the poems in this collection makes me regret the fact that I will never read them in original Persian, a language long renowned as poetic and musical.

Wikipedia tells me Nader Khalil is a renowned American Iranian Architect whose cites Rumi as an inspiration for his architectural endeavors. I cannot comment about the quality of translation, but I found the poems in the collection a bit uneven. Poems in second and third parts are pretty good while I thought those in the first part wasa drag. Still, this is a book I would like to have on my bookshelf and leaf through every once in a while, when the mood strikes.

And did I tell you, the illustration is awesome.

I cannot recommend this book enough!

I have read Rumi here and there, mostly on the internet, this is his first poem book that reaches me.
If this book seems appealing, have in mind that these are spiritual poems, most of them have a strong connection to and there are many, many mentions of God (the Source, the Divine, however you would like to call it).

There is so much beauty in these simple and so meaningful verses. It's a charming translation, easily to be understood by anyone, with simple concepts, beautiful metaphors and yet timeless, perfect for our times. There is no sense of an old, traditional language, it flows beautifully modern.

This is a perfect book to keep close on your nightstand, inside your backpack and to offer it as a gift, it is very inspiring for struggling times but also for one's deepest questions and even in times of creative hiatus (this last one I can attest :)

I am grateful to have received a free copy of this in exchange for my honest opinion. It was a wonderful chance to discover Nader Khalili who turned Rumi's teachings into (arhitectural!) form and his life's philosophy. Talk about inspiration!

Beautiful poems with deep spiritual meeting. Great for every age. Beleivier or not believer. Lessons of life and living given here.
The only thing I would comment on negatively is the fact that this book is not available in kindle format.

As always, I find Rumi’s words enlightening, inspiring and uplifting. This is one beautiful gathering of beautiful words.

A nice bunch of poems by Rumi and the paper it's on makes them even more beautiful. A nice light read with meaning.

What a lovely compilation of translated Rumi poems and proses.
I find the faith-centred themed ones to be incredibly beautiful and uplifting. I saved quite a number of pages. After all, Rumi never disappoints.
I would definitely buy myself a physical copy of this book or gift it to a friend -
Thank you Netgalley & Wellfleet Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book comes out September 15th.

The Spiritual Poems of Rumi was a wonderful experience. I loved the beautiful and complementary used of Islamis art which decorated the pages. The poems while short were full of meaning and highlighted the humbling and profound experience of religion. Many of the poems evoke deep feelings of introspection and inspiration and was a lovely read.

I adore Rumi and his impassioned spiritual poetry. My fave piece by this 13th century Persian mystic is one I posted online one Election Day:

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.”

So many people responded, because Rumi resonates at the soul level.

That said, I was drawn at first to this carefully curated book of 120 poems because of the gorgeous cover. Alas, I found that the clumsy internal design detracted from the elegance of the poetry itself.

Nonetheless, Rumi’s power overcomes awkward layouts every time. Still highly recommended for avid fans and newbies alike.

4 of 5 Stars

Pub Date 15 Sep 2020

Thanks to Quarto Publishing Group – Wellfleet Press, and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#TheSpiritualPoemsofRumi #NetGalley

I found this book incredibly fascinating.

In the introduction of this book the author explains that Rumi's poems are from the 1200's.
I just can't believe that words written so long ago can still be so relevant and beautiful today! It's amazing!
A few stand out favourites of mine were - 'when I die', 'there is a soul', 'don't think too much', 'you can't escape people', and 'there are two attitudes' - these ones really struck a chord with me.

One thing I didn't like about the book was the illustrations around the prose. I found it far too 'busy' and very generic. I would have liked more variety in the images, as they became quite repetitive. I felt that with such powerful imagery within the writing, it would have been easy to draw upon this to create some beautiful illustrations to go with them. Unfortunately this was not the case. I also felt at times, some of the illustrations reminded me of a 'ruler' with lines measuring - like you used to have at school - very bizarre. I appreciate the book is so much more than just the illustrations, but I do feel like they let the book down somewhat.

Overall I loved the words of Rumi, and will be looking into more of his writing - but I wasn't a fan of the illustrations or layout of this particular book.