Coleman Barks

Rowdy, ecstatic, and sometimes stern, these teaching stories and fables reveal new and very human properties in Rumi's vision. Included here are the notorious "Latin parts" that Reynold Nicholson felt were too unseemly to appear in English in his 1920s translation. For Rumi, anything that human beings do--however compulsive--affords a glimpse into the inner life.Here are more than 40 fables or teaching stories that deal with love, laughter, death, betrayal, and the soul. The stories are exuberant, earthy, and bursting with vitality--much like a painting by Hieronymus Bosch or Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The characters are guilty, lecherous, tricky, ribald, and finally possessors of opened souls.Barks writes: "These teaching stories are a kind of scrimshaw--intricately carved, busy figures, confused and threatening, and weirdly funny.This is an entertaining collection from one of the greatest spiritual poets of all time, rendered by his most popular translator."The minute I heard my first love story, I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along."--Rumi

This illustrated tale introduces children to the wondrous teachings from the Muslim theologian and mystic al-Ghazali (1058–1111CE)This enchanting tale illustrates how that the human heart is like a rusty mirror which, when polished through beautiful doings, is able to reflect the real essence of all things. In addition to this story is a poem by the renowned poet, Coleman Barks. Both draw on the same account found in Ghazali’s The Marvels of the Heart, Book XXI, of his magnum opus, The Revival of Religious Sciences.

The poems inHummingbird Sleep move associatively between Coleman Barks's personal experience and his extensive reading, weaving together a wild and eclectic range of material. A discussion of Plotinus, Barks's appearance on PBS NewsHour, a note Keats once left on Wordsworth's mantelpiece, a splinter in the heel, and a quote from the Upanishads-all make their way into Barks's most recent poems, which achieve intimacy and expansiveness at the same time.

As the foremost translator of thirteenth-century mystic poet Jalal Al-Din Rumi, Coleman Barks reaches a devoted, inspired, and ever-widening international audience. Yet the foundation for Barks's work as a translator is his own significant body of work as a poet. Winter Sky offers a selection from Barks's seven previously published books combined with a group of new poems.Barks's open-hearted, free verse poetry is infused with a joy of the spirit at play with the forms of the world. His journey through life is deeply embedded in his work. The poems spring directly from experience and engage with subjects such as the elation and struggle of having and raising children, grief over the deaths of loved ones, the transition from parent to grandparent, or the changing nature and intensity of desire. Barks's open letter to President Bush, written days before the invasion of Iraq and widely circulated online, is a poetic plea for peace, offering a startling and moving alternative to war.Whether it is the childhood excitement of being named best athlete at summer camp or the early signs of dementia at the age of seventy, Barks uses the personal to convey the universal. The unique flow of a life is here in poems that are rueful, confused, torn, and grateful, but always informed by Barks's transcendent sense of joy and playfulness.

Now in paperback, considered one of the greatest works of Persian literature, "The Big Red Book" is one of the masterpieces of Rumi, the medieval Sufi mystic who also happens to be the most popular poet in America.

This is a book of newly-translated Rumi poems, by the pre-eminent Rumi poet Coleman Barks, to celebrate Rumi's 800th birthday in 2007, the Year of Rumi. The book will have 90 new poems, 82 of them never-before published in any form. Rumi's poetry, in addition to bridging cultures and religions, serves as a bridge to carry the reader into the interior silence and joy of the soul. His poems bridge the gap between conscious knowing and soul-deep understanding, bringing the reader into wholeness through the joy of his words; they are a bridge between the mystery of being human and the mystery of the divine - the Soul Bridge.

A year's worth of daily inspirational readings is culled from the writings of the thirteenth-century Sufi mystic, in a volume of translations that represents some of his most mystical and spiritual poetic works. 50,000 first printing.

The Lost Words of the Sufi Master and Father of RumiBahauddin, Rumi's father, was not only a major force in the development of Islamic spirituality, but also a deeply influential force in his son's life. In this, the first ever substantial English version of a wonderful but virtually unknown book, Bahauddin proves to be a daring, spiritual genius. His voice comes through the delightful, passionate craft of Coleman Barks, who transforms the Persian translations of John Moyne into fresh spiritual literature.

Perfect for Valentine's Day, a lavish collection of poems from the highly regarded Sufi mystic celebrates the joy and wonder of love in all its diverse manifestations--divine, friendship, erotic. Reprint. 40,000 first printing.

This revised and expanded edition of The Essential Rumi includes a new introduction by Coleman Barks and more than 80 never-before-published poems of Rumi.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 thirteenth-century Sufi Mystic Rumi more popular than ever. The Essential Rumi continues to be the bestselling of all Rumi books, and the definitive selection of his beautiful, mystical poetry.

The author of The Essential Rumi offers fans of the great thirteenth-century Sufi mystical poet's work new translations of Rumi's best poems, including some that have never appeared in print before. Reprint.