The Forty Rules of Love (2009) – Elif Shafak - Book Review

It is one thing to be prepared for good fiction and absolutely another to be carried away by its therapeutic and mesmerizing charm. I had many misgivings once I started reading this book. Most of which surrounded on the popular belief that a book by such a name ought to be talking about everlasting love or at least about romanticizing love. But what I received instead, as I said is an unimaginable suavity that led me to the beauty of Islamic spirituality and mysticism. Every religion has its own share of mystics and gurus. They are all different in one way or another. Similarly, Islam has its own repertoire of mysticism proliferated by guys like Rumi.

Yet, is this book about one Rumi or his bosom friend Shams of Tabriz? No, it is more about letting go of one’s ego, thus to get captivated by the unfurling abundance of love that each one of us carries within us.-A truly unique reading experience.