‘A gorgeous, jewelled, luxurious book’
Written by the women’s
right activist and a public speaker Elif Shafak
About the Author:
Elif Shafak is a Turkish-British novelist, essayist, academic,
public speaker and women’s rights activist. She is an activist on women’s
rights, minority rights and freedom of speech. The Forty Rules of Love is one
of her best sellers.
About the book:
Sufism is the huge theme of this Book. It consists of
a two parallel narratives; One is about the unhappily married Jewish housewife
and the other about the wandering dervish Shams of Tabriz, who is a mystic
sufi. Forty Rules of Love has always been on my wishlist for very long ever
since I read about it in one of the blog relating to the famous sufi poet ‘Rumi’. As the name read, it’s a love
story not only revolving around Ella and Aziz, but mainly focusing on the spiritual friendship between Rumi and Shams. I understand that, sufism is a teaching
derived from the main teachings of Islam where the basic focus is on spiritual
oneness with God and his creations.
Shams is wonderful character that brought about many
priceless messages about love, being grateful and optimistic in life. Messages
given by the Shams in the form of poetry/quotes teaches us and inspires us to
be kind despite what life throw into our faces. Because giving up and blaming
God seems like the easiest thing to do, but still believing in his grace and
love is what brings us out of despair. His “lessons” with Rumi throughout the
book can be an inspiring experience for many of us.
My favorite thought provoking lines from the book are
:
“Every true love and
friendship is a story of unexpected transformation. If we are the same person
before and after we loved, that means we haven’t loved enough.”
"Whatever happens in your life, no matter how troubling things might seem, do not enter the neighbourhood of despair. Even when all doors remain closed, God will open up a new path only for you. Be thankful!"
“Patience does not mean to
passively endure. It means to be farsighted enough to trust the end result of a
process. What does patience mean? It means to look at the thorn and see the
rose, to look at the night and see the dawn. Impatience means to be so
shortsighted as to not be able to see the outcome. The lovers of God never run
out of patience, for they know that time is needed for the crescent moon to
become full.”
Conclusion :
Go, grab your copy now!
Buy your book from Amazon here:
