Image Source: https://www.elifsafak.com.tr/book/the-forty-rules-of-love Moving in two parallel time zones, weaving the stories of the magical poet Rumi and the relatable woman-next-door Ella together, The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak is unlike any novel I have read before.
When I think of Rumi, I think of him as a born poet with a natural ability to compose verses. But this novel opened up Rumi’s transformative journey from being a privileged preacher living in an orthodox society that looked down on poetry, his inner turmoil, and the liberation that comes with meeting Shams of Tabrez. I think it is a gentle reminder of how the people we meet and the places we travel transform our core identities, so much so that identity, as an idea, becomes fluid. Shams pushes Rumi to go beyond his comfort zone and embrace the risk of criticism that comes with change. I love how the author helps us understand the relationship between Rumi and Shams by creating modern-day characters who imbibe that spirit and get the reader to swerve between two very different yet very similar-seeming points in time. While ‘Forty Rules of Love’ is a piece of fiction rooted in history, it is also a treatise on blind hate and the factors driving human beings towards it. Given that Elif Shafak has been at the receiving end of this kind of hate often unleashed by the Turkish government, the inspiration to weave a story around love is evident. And I think the book does a great job at that. The novel offers profound insights into the Sufi philosophy of love, much needed in a world so fractured by various shades of hate. The style is poetic, and the essence so captivating that it leaves you with many deep thoughts after you finish each chapter. This is my first shot at reading a Turkish woman’s work; she already has a piece of my heart. When I wrapped up ‘Forty Rules of Love,’ I started identifying similarities between the underlying tenets of Sufism and the Hippie movement of the West. I found multiple resources on each of these movements but not much that could guide me to understand the similarities and differences. If you are familiar with any books, articles, movies, documentaries, or anything in between that can help me trace the familiarity between Sufism and the Hippie culture, I would love to hear from you.
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