The last time I went to Barnes & Noble, I decided my main goal was to find a few more books of poetry to add to my library. Mary Oliver highly recommends Rumi, and I can see why. There is a sweetness in his writings, as well as reverence for God and desire to teach his fellow men.
I decided to start my collection of Rumi’s writings with this lovely hardback from Everyman’s Library Pocket Poets collection. It is a little book, maybe four inches by six, but it is packed with poems. You can see in the picture above, the dust jacket looks like an old Persian painting, and there is a picture of Arabic writing on the front too. The cover and the binding make the book feel extra special, almost luxurious. And there is also a little yellow ribbon bookmark too.
The first poem is “The Guest House”, which I shared with you here. It’s like a welcome mat, a sample of the other poems you will find in this volume. In my opinion, that was an excellent choice for first poem. There is also an introduction that explains who Rumi was, which helped me understand some of his writings. I am so glad this is my first volume of Rumi. I will definitely be looking for more.