The author of "The Forty Rules of Love" is the Turkish novelist Elif Shafak, born on October 25, 1971, in Strasbourg, Eastern France. She writes in both Turkish and English, and her works have been translated into over thirty languages. The author uses her first name and her mother's name as her literary pseudonym. Shafak holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science from the Middle East Technical University in Turkey, as well as a master's degree in "Gender and Women's Studies" and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the same university. Her master's thesis on Islam, Women, and Sufism earned her an award from the "Institute of Sociologists." She gained fame for her novel "The Forty Rules of Love" in 2010. [1]
About The Forty Rules of Love
An introduction to "The Forty Rules of Love." What awards did "The Forty Rules of Love" receive? "The Forty Rules of Love" was first published in 2009 by Viking Publishing and Distribution. It had 500 pages. The novel has been translated into many languages worldwide. It was nominated for the Dublin International Literary Award in 2011 and received several awards, such as the Mohammed Hassan Al-Askari Award for Literary Translation in 2017. [2]
Characters of "The Forty Rules of Love." Who is Ella Rubinstein, whose life changed with Shams Tabrizi? Ella Rubinstein: A forty-year-old American woman, married to an unfaithful man, with whom she has three children. She is a housewife but unhappy with her life. However, she finds work as a reader at a literary agency, which changes her life. [3] Aziz Zahara: An unknown writer and novelist, originally from the Netherlands, who converted to Islam, embraced Sufism, and immigrated to Turkey to live there. He is the author of the novel "Sweet Blasphemy." [3] Shams Tabrizi: One of the great dervishes and Sufis of the thirteenth century AD. He is a wandering dervish who advocates Sufism and incites against preconceived social and religious judgments and traditional wisdom. [3] Jalal ad-Din Rumi: A renowned sheikh, religious scholar, and imam. Despite this, he was not happy or satisfied with his life. He is the person Shams Tabrizi is searching for. [3]
Content of "The Forty Rules of Love." How did Ella Rubinstein meet and get influenced by Shams Tabrizi? Ella Rubinstein's Life: The novel's events unfold along two timelines, as if it were two novels in one. The story begins by discussing Ella Rubinstein's life in the early twenty-first century, specifically in 2008. [4] Despite the stability of her life at home with her husband and children, her husband is unfaithful to her, and she lives unsatisfied with her life, without motivation or passion, and with no reason for happiness. She begins searching for a job to pull her out of her gloomy and miserable state. She finds work as a reader and critic at a literary agency, where she reads and reviews novels or books assigned to her. Fortunately for her, the first work assigned to her was the novel "Sweet Blasphemy" by an unknown Turkish novelist named Aziz Zahara. [5]
Sweet Blasphemy: Ella is delighted with her first assignment and begins reading "Sweet Blasphemy," which takes place in the thirteenth century AD. It starts with the Sufi Imam and famous dervish Shams Tabrizi, who sees a vision in his dreams that he will die. He embarks on a long journey to search for Jalal ad-Din Rumi, who was then residing in Konya. Rumi was a respected religious scholar and a renowned preacher, and people flocked from everywhere to hear him. However, he was also dissatisfied with his life due to the loss of love and his Sufi values. For this reason, Tabrizi was searching for him, to guide him out of his state into the world of Sufism and love, and to rediscover religion with new methods and ideas different from traditional beliefs. [6]
Ella Rubinstein and Aziz Zahara: While reading "Sweet Blasphemy," Ella began corresponding with its obscure author, Aziz Zahara, via email after a long search for him. She introduced herself with a few details about her life. After some time, a friendship developed between them, and they exchanged emails several times a day until that friendship transformed into a deep love affair, and romantic feelings surfaced. Ella is captivated by Aziz's honesty in his thoughts about love and living in the present. She begins to dream of the meeting that will bring them together, just as Jalal ad-Din Rumi and Shams Tabrizi once met. [5]
The Meeting of Tabrizi and Jalal ad-Din Rumi: Shams finally arrived and met Jalal ad-Din Rumi, and began to change his life. Rumi transformed from an imam and preacher who admonished people into a great Sufi and poet who called for divine love. However, he secluded himself from people and stayed with Shams Tabrizi, which angered his family against Tabrizi, especially his son Alaa al-Din, who disliked his father's transformation from an imam surrounded by people to a Sufi poet. He decided to kill Tabrizi, and despite Tabrizi's warnings that his death would harm Rumi, Alaa al-Din did not listen. In the end, Rumi found Tabrizi's body in the well, and he was deeply affected and grieved for him, and that incident continued to occupy him and his poetry and his life. [5]
Ella and Aziz's Meeting: Ella told her husband that she would meet Aziz, and then decided to travel with him to the Netherlands. However, he informed her that he had cancer and had one year and four months left before he would pass away. Ella couldn't wait, and a few days later, she packed her bags and traveled to Aziz. Over the course of a year, she and Aziz traveled the world and explored many things before arriving in Konya, the place where Jalal ad-Din Rumi met Shams Tabrizi. Shortly after, Aziz Zahara died, and Ella took care of his funeral, burying him. She decided to live according to his Sufi path and traveled to the Netherlands to start her new life from there. [5]
Review of "The Forty Rules of Love." What kind of love does "The Forty Rules of Love" advocate? "The Forty Rules of Love" received great acclaim and gained immense approval, entering the hearts of most readers. In Turkey, the novel was one of the best-selling books ever, and it was often described as capable of positively changing people's lives due to the topics it fearlessly addresses. The novel's theme is an invitation to love as a great religion, revolving around spiritualities that are not confined to a specific religion or people, and calling for absolute tolerance, sincerity, and divine love, in addition to love in everything until the last breath. However, some criticize it for certain events not being historically confirmed, such as the manner of Shams Tabrizi's death. [2]
Quotes from "The Forty Rules of Love": In addition to the main story, the novel contains forty rules of Shams Tabrizi, which offer profound insights into an ancient philosophy based on uniting people and religions, and the presence of love within each of us. Among these rules are: [7]
The way we see God is merely a reflection of the way we see ourselves. If God brings only fear and blame to our minds, it means that a great deal of fear and blame flows within us. But if we see God as full of love and mercy, then we are also like that.
The path to truth passes through the heart, not the head. Let your heart, not your mind, be your primary guide. Face, challenge, and ultimately overcome the ego with your heart. Your knowledge of yourself will lead you to knowledge of God.
Every reader of the Holy Quran understands it at a different level according to the depth of their understanding. There are four levels of insight: The first level is the outward meaning, which most people are convinced by. Then comes the inward level. On the third level is the inward of the inward. The fourth level is the depth, and it cannot be expressed in words, so it is impossible to describe.
You can study God through everything and everyone in this universe; because God's existence is not confined to the mosque, the church, or the synagogue. If you still want to know exactly where His throne is, there is only one place you can search for it, and that is the heart of a true lover. For no one has lived after seeing Him, and no one has died after seeing Him. Whoever finds Him remains with Him forever.
Source: Sotor
qawaeid aleishq alarbieun
