A comprehensive collection of ecstatic poetry that delights with its energy and passion, The Essential Rumi brings the vibrant, living words of famed thirteenth-century Sufi mystic Jelalludin Rumi to contemporary readers.

The essential poems of the inspirational thirteenth-century Persian philosopher, scholar and mystic The founder of the order of the Whirling Dervishes, Rumi was also a poet of transcendental power. His verse speaks with the universal voice of the human soul and brims with exuberant energy and passion. Rich in natural imagery, from flowers to birds and rivers to stars, the poems have an elemental force that has remained undiminished through the centuries. Their themes - tolerance, goodness, the experience of God, charity and awareness through love - still resonate with millions of readers around the world. Translated by Coleman Barks with John Moyne

Scenes of Moderate Violence is the debut collection from award-winning poet John Moynes. If you think that modern literature doesn't include enough time-travelling cowboys, then this is the book for you. If you need poems about history, love, death, madness and the future then buy this book now. If you want a new pair of jeans you're probably in the wrong shop. With poems ranging from the funny to the frightening, this is a book that refuses to be pinned down - and is perfect for readers who do the same. * 'John Moynes will make you laugh and make you think, and while he's at it he'll break your heart in a hundred different ways. Every poem in this collection is a thing of rare beauty. And so is each and every line. John manages to do that very difficult thing of being deeply wise while being deeply funny. And I deeply hate him for that.' Paul Howard, author of the Ross O'Carroll Kelly series

The Lost Words of the Sufi Master and Father of Rumi

Bahauddin, Rumi's father, was not only a major force in the development of Islamic spirituality, but also a deeply influential force in his son's life. In this, the first ever substantial English version of a wonderful but virtually unknown book, Bahauddin proves to be a daring, spiritual genius. His voice comes through the delightful, passionate craft of Coleman Barks, who transforms the Persian translations of John Moyne into fresh spiritual literature.

This Rumi collection features selections from one of the world's great spiritual masterpieces, the "Mathnawi." The "Mathnawi" consists of six volumes of poetry in rhyme--over fifty-one thousand verses--inspired by folklore, the Qur'an, stories of saints and teachers, and sayings of Muhammed. Rendered by Rumi's premier English translators, these excerpts from the "Mathnawi" are presented in American free-verse style.

Rumi's short poems have many tones and effects: some of them are quick, joyful and whimsical; some are finely faceted abstract statements; some probe the inward space of patience and longing. Moyne and Barks translated these poems using a free-verse style, connecting these poems with those of great American spiritual poets such as Walt Whitman and Gary Snyder.

These quatrains and odes reveal a most human and accessible side of the great poet and mystic. They are the personal records of one man's encounter with the Divine.