The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi

Elif Shafak

Feb 2010 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

In this lyrical, exuberant tale, acclaimed Turkish author Elif Shafak, author of The Island of Missing Trees (a Reese's Book Club Pick), incarnates Rumi's timeless message of love

Ella Rubenstein is forty years old and unhappily married when she takes a job as a reader for a literary agent. Her first assignment is to read and report on Sweet Blasphemy, a novel written by a man named Aziz Zahara.

Ella is mesmerized by Zahara's tale of Shams of Tabriz's search for Rumi and the dervish's role in transforming the successful but unhappy cleric into a committed mystic, passionate poet, and advocate of love. She is also taken with Shams's lessons, or rules, that offer insight into an ancient philosophy based on the unity of all people and religions, and the presence of love in each and every one of us. As she reads on, she realizes that Rumi's story mir­rors her own and that Zahara—like Shams—has come to set her free.

The Forty Rules of Love unfolds two tantalizing parallel narratives—one contemporary and the other set in the thirteenth century, when Rumi encountered his spiritual mentor, Shams, the whirling dervish—that together explore the enduring power of Rumi's work.

Ratings and reviews

This book has truly changed my life and point of view. It's beautiful. No matter what stage you are in your life, it'll help you become better. I strongly recommend it

Wow! What a beautiful, beautiful story. Though not an atheist, I usually turn away, walk away, put the book down.... if there is discussion of religion, God,etc. However, this was/is one of those books that is extremely hard to put down and when finished, should be left somewhere nearby to be referred to often and re-read time and again. It is that beautiful. It is a profound story of Love. All love.

This book has left me out of words. All I can say is that its a must read! I loved and enjoyed every single page of this so much.

About the author

ELIF SHAFAK is an award-winning British-Turkish author of a dozen novels, including There Are Rivers in the Sky, The Island of Missing Trees, shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award, and 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World, shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Her work has been translated into fifty-six languages. She holds a PhD in political science and has taught at universities in Turkey, the U.S. and the UK. She lives in London and is an honorary fellow at Oxford University.