The Philosophy of Ecstasy: Rumi and the Sufi Tradition

Jalal al-Din Rumi (1207-73), founder of the Mevlevi Sufi order of Whirling Dervishes, is the best-selling poet in America today. Rumi was one of the preeminent thinkers of Sufism, the esoteric form of Islam. In this groundbreaking collection of 13 essays on Rumi, many of the world s leading authorities in the field of Islamic Studies and Persian Literature discuss the major religious themes in his poetry and teachings.