The Forty Rules of Love

I’ve put off reading this book for a very long time. I’m excited to have finally read this, and can definitely see myself reading this again, or at least sifting through for passages. I definitely thought the structure of the book, while nothing novel, was done in a way to enhance the story, which sometimes is not the case! It was never difficult to follow, and I became quickly invested in both the modern day stories of Ella and Aziz, as well as the story of Shams and Rumi.

There’s so much that is quotable in this book, not just the forty rules of love that Shams will drop every now and then where relevant. It’s often down to being about the struggle and balance between several different human aspects. Another way to look at it is its about finding your own way through spirituality while maintaining intellectualism. Often, characters in the book will have one and not the other.

I’m a big believer in challenging what I read, and what I’m told - this book does that through Shams’ and Aziz’s narratives. They constantly challenge the way you think, deliberately placing some vagueness and rationality into a few sentences to communicate a strong point.

“Fret not where the road will take you. Instead concentrate on the first step. That is the hardest part and that is what you are responsible for. Once you take that step let everything do what it naturally does and the rest will follow. Don’t go with the flow. Be the flow.”

I may not care too much about the whole ‘flow’ concept, but I completely agree with the above, quite often I concentrate on an entire task beginning to end, when oftentimes if I just take the first step, maybe I’ll start seeing the next steps more clearly.

“…those who like to swim close to the surface are content with the outer meaning of the Quran. Many people are like that. They take the verses too literally…”

As a Muslim, I have thought a lot about the above. Our accepted interpretation is forced down upon us, its rationalized, but the reality is that the interpretations that have been taught to us are all human interpretations, and humans and society change. Nobody can perfectly interpret it, and nobody has, so what is it we are really believing and following? I tend to challenge all scholars and imams these days, and this book basically stroked that mental wave into a tsunami. I really loved the bits where Shams challenges Rumi, especially when he challenges him to walk into a tavern, it really reflects our current state of the world. Among Muslims, going to a bar/tavern was, and still is, quite a taboo act that many judge other Muslims by without knowing the full context of their visit. Elif encapsulates so much in that one example with how people judge others but based on lack of true knowledge as to that person’s intentions.

This book really makes you think and reflect on aspects of your own life. That is essentially what makes this book (or any book) great.

Words I learned from this book:

Supercilious: Behaving as if one is superior to others

Mendicant: Given to begging

Vacillate: Alternate or waver between different options or actions; be indecisive

Peccadillo: A small relatively unimportant sin