Rumi's Secret: The Life of the Sufi Poet of Love Hardcover – Deckle Edge, January 17, 2017

Brad Gooch has captured Rumi's life, his religious teachings and the thousands of poems contained in the Masnavi.. It's a well-researched book and an easy read. We learn about Rumi's family and at times a nomadic lifestyle which give us a foundation for understanding how Rumi evolved to become a beloved religious scholar, teacher and poet.There are many secrets uncovered/explored but nothing scandalous other than Rumi's willingness to teach women behind locked doors. Gooch explores Shams of Tabriz mentoring of Rumi and their friendship.and the jealousies of their families and followers.Rumi's real name was Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī for those that are interested and Gooch explains why he's commonly referred to as Rumi.People of all faiths can find meaning and inspiration in Rumi's Secret.Though Rumi died over 700 years ago, his message of love of God, life and family still resonate.

Because Rumi is sometimes called America's best selling poet, and is one of my favorite mystic-poets, I was anxious tto read his biography. Half-way through it right now, I am enjoying this book, and the author's way of blending history, sufi spirituality, and biography. And because Islam is such a misunderstood religion in the West, this biography of the most well known Islamic mystic, the Sufi poet and mystic, Rumi, who created the whirling dervishes, is very important at this time!

It is a good look at a historical figure. Not sure what i Was expecting but it’s more dry than I was hoping for. Book arrived in perfect condition for buying used look like an extra library copy but was in great shape

Such a beautifully written book coupled with the mastery of elaborate research this is an easy recommendation. I am hard to please, but the words can leap joyfully from the pages or drip like a ripe peach. The history of that time and place shape our world today. I would argue that this book is required reading. The story of Rumi just makes it all the better.

A beautifully written and researched book. I've read other Gooch books and am very impressed with the quality of his writing. I can't imagine that the research for this was easy, but feel Gooch masters the integration of facts with a great knack for story-telling.

I was hoping to read more of Rumi's poetry than was shown in this book. Perhaps, that is all that remains of his poetry. I almost wish I had not read this book because I had formerly found his poetry so romantic and believed it bespoke of the love between a man and a woman. This book made it apparent that this was a love tinged with religious devotion and directed to another man. Women hardly figured in Rumi's world, other than figures in a harem or creatures to be doled out in arranged marriages. Knowing this context changed the feeling of the poetry for me. I can take it as a lesson in what gay men feel for each other, that their love for each other is just as passionate and romantic, but that was not what I was expecting when I purchased the book. I did like learning about the swirling meditation of the Sufi religion.

Beautifully written and meticulously researched book about Rumi and his life that reads like a fine literary novel. This book has all the research and scholarship of other Rumi biographies but presents it in a lush story form that well suits the subject matter. Truly wonderful book.

This book offers a concise look at Rumi's life. What I really liked about the book is how the author puts Rumi's beautiful poetry in the context of his daily life. A great introduction to the life of The Revolutionary Master Poet of Love.

Gooch has written well-received biographies of contemporary figures in literature, but to reach back to the 13th century for his next subject must have been quite a challenge. Of course, he has chosen a much revered Sufi "poet of love" whose work is as relevant, moving, instructive and accessible, in many different translations, today as it was in his own time and place. Many a modern Western reader must have wondered what lay behind the brief, unrevealing name of the poet. Well, here is a fine, gracefully written, well-researched evocation of that life; it has given me a vivid picture of the man, his culture, his religion, his place in Islamic history, which satisfies my own curiosity. It's a highly respectful and deeply sympathetic portrait, and is written with a fictional author's eye for telling detail and for psychological insight. I came to it as a Western atheist with little knowledge of Islam or the Sufi version of it; others with more specialised knowledge of the religious background might well get a lot more from it than I did.We learn of Rumi's training as a young man in the priesthood, at the hands of his revered father, an itinerant preacher, and other teachers. He was groomed to take over from him, and did so at an early age after his father's death. Married, with children, he built up a reputation as a teacher, mystic, poet and preacher, always concerned for the poor and the disadvantaged, original in his approach, popular at all levels at society. But once he had established himself, he sense he lacked something essential in his spiritual life. He was to be changed utterly by an intense friendship with the first of his three 'beloveds', Shams, another itinerant preacher and poet, who was nearly twice his age. They spent two and a half years together in the closest communion, with a hiatus of a year, an absence that gave great pain to Rumi. Shams revolutionised Rumi's approach to his religion. He moved Rumi closer to the value of art, music, literature, poetry and dance, and was crucial in turning him into the 'poet of love' that we remember today. When Shams mysteriously disappeared for the second time, never to return, Rumi experienced a long period of profound grief and pain, sending him near mad, obsessed at finding his beloved friend but unable to do so. Out of this turmoil rose the love poetry.Rumi needed a 'beloved' to activate the deeper levels of his spirit. He believed that, "The life of the spirit required two hearts beating as one to work its alchemy." The second beloved was not a scholar but a goldsmith, Salah. If Shams was 'the sun', Salah was 'the moon or the mirror' in Rumi's metaphoric imagination. Neither of these beloveds were universally welcomed by Rumi's many followers; indeed, factions were openly hostile to them, and may have been instrumental in driving at least Shams away. The third beloved was Hosam (star or a constellation of stars), a pupil of Rumi's, who rose to become his chief poetic collaborator and right-hand man, without whom we would probably not have the poetry that survives today. There is no suggestion that Rumi's relationship with these three men had an erotic component, despite the extravagant language of love he addressed to them in his letters and poetry. Indeed, Gooch, who has written extensively about notable gay figures as well as gay fiction himself, in an Afterword rules this out, in just one passing reference, presumably because he found no evidence for it. Popular views might have it otherwise, but one gets the impression that Gooch makes scrupulous use of his resources and invents or supposes nothing beyond the evidence, which gives me at least great confidence in his portrait of the poet.What Rumi's 'secret' was I was never quite sure. It has something to do with the sanctity of the spiritual life, the essential privacy of the soul, but beyond that I did not grasp it. With such a title there is the suggestion of a revelation, but if that's what you're looking for you might, at the superficial, tabloid level at least, be disappointed.This is one of those books that have simmered in the mind, the soul, of the author for years, one that has been built up painstakingly through much reading, as the bibliography indicates, visits to the sites, which the Afterword gives us some indication of, and talks with many scholars and followers of Rumi the world over - as well as an immersion in his poetry, which he quotes in his own translations, enough to make you want to turn back to Rumi once again. It's a distillation in beautiful prose of a decade of inquiry and immersion. I came out of it with the figure of Rumi alive and vital in my imagination.

Love this book. Insightful and accessible

Great inspirational book

Received for birthday gift very interesting read. Mrs D Lomas

A very good read with many quotations of Rumi's writings