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| The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak |
Earlier now, three days ago I have done with "The Forty Rules of Love". I am not talking about any 40 points. Yeah, this is a novel written by internationally acclaimed eminent Turkish Novelist Elif Shafak. The novel is actually based on the life of majestic king of Sufism and master of mysticism Mawlana Jalal ud Din Rumi, known as Rumi with his beloved companion with whom he had a fierce bond and association, the Shams of Tabriz.
The story is such beguiling it carries a man into a new world, a world of Love. It has been portrayed exquisitely with a contemporary family's housewife and six centuries before Rumi's Love and comradeship with Shams Tabriz. How a woman of this epoch reads a manuscript as a critique by her job and her life begins to change. Rumi's story brings revolution in her life and she embarks on a journey to see the author of novel.
This is, all in all, a motivation to open the house of hearts to exhale love. It's a provocation to fill the void with only one thing, that's love. The hearts devoid of Love are mere stone pieces that grieves us and others as well-the hollow one.
There are too forty precise and concrete rules have been included which define the way of Love and conceals in them a true wisdom. All forty rules glorifying the beauty of love are imparting the message of leading life with love, each with versatile and universal meaning, delivered by Shams Tabriz. Each rule is universal in its own proportion but I shall here mention only one of all forty rules, rule thirty one states:
“If you want to strengthen your faith, you will need to soften inside. For your faith to be rock solid, your heart needs to be as soft as feather. Through an illness, accident, loss or fright, one way or another, we all are faced with incidents that teach us how to become less selfish and judgmental, and more compassionate and generous. Yet some of us learn the lesson and manage to become milder, while some others end up becoming harsher than before. The only way to get closer to Truth is to expand your hearts so that it will encompass all humanity and still have room for Love”.
The rule is indispensable clamoring to be gasped by our society. Tolerance has got mysterious in all circles of life even lacking in expecting role models. I’m not talking about all but exceptions are everywhere, a few does comply. If I interpret it, I construe the translation this way, “Love nourishes all, carries away harms and miseries, and thus brings felicity filled by allocating space for entire universe in our hearts”.
Each word of novel is spinning seeking Love, each is in absolute harmony with other, precisely put together, neither it should have been forth nor back, swaying in world of Love, ecstatically blooming, each word should have been really where it is, not slipped aside elsewhere, combining to convey a profound meaning, prevailing wisdom and sagacity being burnt with Love, ready to infuse through one’s existence, shattering soul retaining apparent demeanor into man of oneness, nothingness prevails but Love, oneness dominates that is Love.
This is accurately portrayed in jeweled precious words, exuberant its each word is.
Another but not a rule by Shams but utterance of Rumi, the master of Love, excerpted from “The Forty Rules of Love” reveals:
“Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu, Buddhist, Sufi or Zen. Not any religion or cultural system. I am not of the east, nor of the west…. My place is placeless, a trace of traceless”.
Yes, Rumi is right. He belongs to the world of Love. He is associated with beloved. He has nothing to do with anyone else, not with East, nor of west.
This is the message what Rumi wanted to inculcate in us with profoundness and eternity. This is the effort Ms. Shafak made and we all should adore it.
Tolerance, love, mercy, compassion, harmony, interfaith harmony, mutual interests, peace, unity, and brotherhood, these were all things we have to long for, not to chase after materialistic world.
Rumi had an extraordinarily massive bond that appealed world's modern authors to research and translate his work, from Elif Shafak (The Forty rules of Love) to Muriel Maufroy (Rumi's Daughter), from Coleman Barks (The Essential Rumi) to Rabisankar Bal (A Mirrored Life).
Elif Shafak deserves tribute on scribing a story of Rumi and Shams and carving it in such a mesmerizing way. By her effort, at least who fail to have an eye on Sufism but read novels, will ultimately get aware of Sufism and Rumi’s life. Her effort is really commendable.
I personally suggest everyone to brighten and illuminate himself with this novel and Rumi’s poetry as well.
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