The renowned Persian Sufi mystic Mevlâna Jalâluddin Rumi (1207-1273) is one of the most widely read poets in the world today. His compassionate insight into the nature of human existence, his joyful humor, his deep wisdom, and his ecstatic songs of divine union have endeared him to readers for more than seven hundred years. Selected from his most-loved works, this book contains the very best of Rumi's poetry in superb translation. By turns soaring, inspiring, lyrical, entertaining, and always full of profound guidance, Rumi's transcendent words penetrate to the very depths of one's heart, offering eloquent expression for what lies there.

The Shambhala Pocket Library is a collection of short, portable teachings from notable figures across religious traditions and classic texts. The covers in this series are rendered by Colorado artist Robert Spellman. The books in this collection distill the wisdom and heart of the work Shambhala Publications has published over 50 years into a compact format that is collectible, reader-friendly, and applicable to everyday life.

KABIR HELMINSKI is the author of Living Presence: A Sufi Way to Mindfulness and the Essential Self, as well as the translator of numerous books of Sufi literature and especially Rumi. He is the codirector, with his wife, Camille Helminski, of the Threshold Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to sharing the knowledge and practice of Sufism. As the publisher of Threshold Books for some twenty years, he was largely responsible for making Rumi the most widely read poet of our time. As a producer and writer of Sufi music, he has gained recognition for numerous recordings, including his own Garden within the Flames. He is a representative of the Mevlevi tradition founded by Jalaluddin Rumi.