The Forty Rules of Love: A Journey of Love, Faith, and Transformation

Great book for the soul

The story begins with Ella, a housewife from Northampton, who has recently started working for a literary agency. Her first assignment is to read a novel and write a report on it. The novel, is a historical tale that delves into the spiritual bond between Rumi, the renowned 13th-century poet, and Shams of Tabriz, a wandering dervish.

Shams of Tabriz, a mystic with profound spiritual wisdom, brings with him the "Forty Rules of Love," a philosophy that transforms lives. On his journey to Konya, he meets Rumi, a respected religious teacher and preacher. Their connection profoundly impacts Rumi, helping him discover his inner strength and inspiring him to become one of the greatest poets of all time.

Their deep conversations and spiritual bond create waves in their community. While some admire Shams, others grow jealous and resentful, blaming him for Rumi's transformation.

Initially, I struggled with the philosophical themes and found them difficult to grasp. However, as I delved deeper into the story and tried to understand its essence, I realized the beauty of its narrative. Elif Shafak’s storytelling is mesmerizing, particularly her portrayal of Shams and Rumi's journey.

The Forty Rules of Love is a beautifully written novel, enriched with profound characters like Ella, Kimya, The Desert Rose, Suleiman, and, of course, Shams and Rumi.

If you enjoy reading books with philosophical undertones and spiritual wisdom, this is a must-read. However, if philosophy isn’t your cup of tea, you might find it challenging to connect with.

Such a wonderful book with a great storyline and elaborate character description. Makes me want to read more books on Rumi, and Sufi books in general. Loved the plot.

I have so many things to say about this book that I feel speeches,I always say if I have a option to keep just one book from my bookshelf then it is Forty Rules Of Love

When I picked up this little gem of a book from our “The Book Elf Library Pune”, I thought this would be a teenage love story where the lovey-dovey couple will set up some rules for their love and all that. How wrong I was, as this one turned out to my pleasant shock and surprise to be a book full of Rumi and Shams of Tabriz’s philosophy and their 40 Rules of “Religion of Love”, how beautiful that sounds :) So you can imagine how fantastic this book must have been. Confession: I am not at all into poetry and stuff, but the way Rumi narrates his little gems in this one, especially following all of them with one-paragraph stories, was simply terrific to read. I wish I could read Urdu to read his original works in his language, that would be fantastic, but for now, we will make do with translations only. This one is a love story of a middle-aged woman, married with 3 kids (one set of twins included). She has her differences with her teenage daughter when she suddenly decides to get married to her boyfriend, the one that her mother doesn't like much. In the meantime, she too is going through her struggles with her husband, who is cheating on her unashamedly. She starts looking for work and gets hired by an agency that wants her to proofread, edit and provide feedback on a debutante’s book based on Rumi’s philosophy called “Sweet Blasphemy”. How the book turns out and the story of Rumi and Shams not only touches her but the reader in me, too. I want to keep going, but I will leave it to your imagination till you pick up this one, read and love it big time. This is a must-read for all, as those 40 rules are so heartening that I couldn’t agree more with the writer. Incredible read.

The most beautiful part of the entire book, and both the stories in parallel, is the way the author has captured various perspectives. She has written it from the point of view of not only Rumi and Shams as the main characters in what they were going through but even from some characters which are not directly related to either of them, i.e a Harlot that they both come across, a drunk guy, a security guard, both of Rumi’s sons who both have their own opinion on Rumi and Shams not only relationships but on teachings too. Making it a further engrossing read, the only regret is that the story is too short, hardly 350 pages. It was so good that I never wanted it to end.

Have you read this one and loved it too? Also, which one is your favourite Elif Shafak book? And I will be adding a few from Rumi too, short stories to start with :).