Discourses of Rumi

In Arabic this book was known as "Fîhî ma Fîhî", which means, unhelpfully, "In It What Is In It". It consists of conversations between the great Sufi and those who came to see him, recorded by his followers. Any subject can and does come up, and the Master's associations of ideas are subtle and far-reaching. Just as he could improvise sublime lyric poetry when the mood struck him, here he creates profound spiritual teachings... Read Full Review

Professor Thackston has done admirably with this translation of "Fihi ma fihi." Especially since, in my opinion, this is the hardest of Rumi's works to translate.In his poetry, Rumi is sublime, and accordingly difficult to translate, but any translator can only do so much with a poem. If you miss some nuances, it's just the tradeoff that the translator of poetry must make. The "Masnavi", on the other hand, is a lengthy work,... Read Full Review

It is the translation of Fihi Ma Fihi, which is full of Rumi's discourses. It sort of dispells all notions of "sufism vs islam" rather sufism is Islamic Mysticism in the truest sense and Rumi explains why the outter conformity to the Sharia (Sacred Law)is very important (i.e. the religous dispensations that are given to mankind through the last of the revalatory Porphet, according to Islam; Prophet Muhammed saws). He himself... Read Full Review

Rumi's discourses are really not so different from his poetry. In each he tries to make the listener (because his style is essentially teacher speaking to apprentice) understand that it is LOGICAL to see how much God loves each person. Because it is more difficult for the rest of us to see what is obvious to those so touched with delight by the intimate presence of God, he uses emotions to convey what to him is the logic... Read Full Review