"My heart wandered through the world
constantly seeking after my cure,
but the sweet and delicious water of life
had to break through the granite of my heart."

When the words of Rumi enter your heart, something softens, breaks, and is subtly reborn. That he wrote the words seven hundred years ago in a medieval Persian world that bears little resemblance to ours makes their uncanny resonance to us today just that much more remarkable. Here is a treasury of daily wisdom from this most beloved of all the Sufi masters--both his prose and his ecstatic poetry--that you can use to start every day for a year, or that you can dip into for inspiration any time you need to break through the granite of your heart.

Jalaluddin Rumi has become one of the most widely read poets in our time. This collection of verse is drawn from Rumi's masterwork the "Mathnawi, "often referred to as the "Qur'an" in the Persian tongue. The "Mathnawi "comprises six volumes of rhymed verse drawing on favorite stories from the "Qur'an, " tales of Sufi saints and masters, the sayings of Muhammed, folklore, and popular humor. Throughout its intricate tales, Rumi scatters precious gems of wisdom. Like jewels, his words seem to catch the light and reflect it to the reader's soul. The Helminskis' translations beautifully convey the subtlety, tone, and depth of the original texts.