Overview

"For several years, the thirteenth-century mystical poet Jalaluddin Rumi has been the best-selling poet in the United States. Rumi is not alone, however, but an extraordinarily expressive representative of a vast, thousand-year-old tradition of Persian mystical poetry-a magnificent, still-living tradition that speaks a common language. Love's Alchemy is one of the first books to introduce the wider tradition of Sufi mystical poetry and its greatest writers to the English language. While many recent bestsellers of Sufi poetry have been interpretations of the poems made from other English translations, translators David and Sabrineh Fideler work from the original Persian sources. ""Love's Alchemy"" offers faithful yet elegant translations from the Sufi tradition of 150 of the best poems written in roba'i form: concise, tightly focused meditations that span only four lines in the original Persian, but which can reveal worlds of meaning. The poems and mystical epigrams collected here represent all the major Sufi poets, including Rumi, and explore many aspects of human life and the spiritual path, but centre on the liberating power of love-which possesses the power to lead us beyond our isolated selves to experience a larger vision of reality."

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9781577318903

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I have appreciated the highly original, solid, and beautiful work of David Fideler for many years. Love's Alchemy could come only from his wide knowledge and sense of aesthetics. In its musical words, the Sufi poets paint a delicate word-bridge between the earthly and the spiritual, and they charm us, wakening the human urge to transcend ourselves. -- Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul and Dark Nights of the Soul Love's Alchemy takes us into the tavern of mystical love, full of intoxicating treasures of Sufi poetry. Here are the masters of love, Rumi among them, whose words speak directly to the soul. With beauty and wisdom they teach us the truth of our eternal nature and how the heart opens to God. Treasure these poems and allow them to nourish the secret and hidden parts of your innermost being. -- Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, PhD, author of Sufism: The Transformation of the Heart Love's Alchemy is a delightful and absorbing collection of translations from the major Persian Sufi poets. David and Sabrineh Fideler have provided authentic interpretations of these mystical texts in memorable form. Lovers of Rumi will be pleased to find so many other great authors from this tradition. -- Carl W. Ernst, Zachary Smith Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill This is how Sufis themselves teach Sufism: through poetry as alchemy. And these translations are indeed transmutations, changing the gold of Persian into the gold of English. -- Peter Lamborn Wilson, author of Sacred Drift: Essays on the Margins of Islam

I have appreciated the highly original, solid, and beautiful work of David Fideler for many years. Love's Alchemy could come only from his wide knowledge and sense of aesthetics. In its musical words, the Sufi poets paint a delicate word-bridge between the earthly and the spiritual, and they charm us, wakening the human urge to transcend ourselves. <br>-- Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul and Dark Nights of the Soul <br><br> Love's Alchemy takes us into the tavern of mystical love, full of intoxicating treasures of Sufi poetry. Here are the masters of love, Rumi among them, whose words speak directly to the soul. With beauty and wisdom they teach us the truth of our eternal nature and how the heart opens to God. Treasure these poems and allow them to nourish the secret and hidden parts of your innermost being. <br>-- Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, PhD, author of Sufism: The Transformation of the Heart <br><br> Love's Alchemy is a delightful and absorbing collection of translations from the major Persian Sufi poets. David and Sabrineh Fideler have provided authentic interpretations of these mystical texts in memorable form. Lovers of Rumi will be pleased to find so many other great authors from this tradition. <br>-- Carl W. Ernst, Zachary Smith Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill<br><br> This is how Sufis themselves teach Sufism: through poetry as alchemy. And these translations are indeed transmutations, changing the gold of Persian into the gold of English. <br>-- Peter Lamborn Wilson, author of Sacred Drift: Essays on the Margins of Islam

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