Forbidden Rumi

Nevit Ergin, a Turkish-born surgeon, is the original translator of the entirety of Rumi’s 44,829 verses into English. He has been a student of Sufism and the poetry of Rumi since 1955 and published his first Rumi translation in 1992. With the publication of The Forbidden Rumi, his translation of Rumi’s work is complete. He lives in California. Will Johnson is the founder and director of the Institute for Embodiment Training, which combines Western somatic psychotherapy with Eastern meditation practices. He is the author of several books, including the award-winning Rumi: Gazing at the Beloved. He lives in British Columbia.

• IntroductionSongs to Shams, Songs to GodHe Took Me Under His Arm Split Wide OpenI Won’t Repent His LoveHow Can I Fool Him?WaterStay with MeConversations with God The Greatness of AbsenceHow Happy a TimeWhat a Bird!Love Letter to ShamsDeath Is Life for You More Than TheseWhat Can I Do?Give Up YourselfI Keep Smiling Why Are You Deceiving Me?He Embraced Me Like His Own Soul The Placeless PlaceEveryone Else Is a StrangerBeautiful OneThe Promise Is SweetStill Say NothingFlying High On Your WineOffer Your WinePlease Don’t GoIt Wasn’t Like ThatShamseddinThe Road Is Narrow Don’t Go AwayLifting the CurtainHis TraceWherever You AreDon’t Go Anywhere Without MeYour Blessing Is UnconditionalSongs of Advice, Songs of AdmonitionSearch ThereThe Best NourishmentFastingDivine RoadChoose LoveGod’s OceanWatch How God Opens the DoorThe Journey Starts HereAscend the Mountain of Love Don’t You Recall?These Two WorldsOutside the SackA Rascal in the BazaarJust Do It Your Overflowing SecretsThe Drunks of UnionAhead of the ThoughtThe Land of AbsenceLove Is Its Own Proof Advice to the Drunk at Heart Light and Shadow Words into DustTime to JourneyCome as You AreThe Language of the HeartFree WineThe Perfect Host A Helper of HeartsA Life Without Art God’s ArtistryAll That Is GoodOpen the DoorDonkey and OxCheckmateThe Caravan’s BellsSteal PearlsThis Temporary WorldSome AdviceMusic at the Tavern of Eternity The Eggshell of the BodyOpen Your Door Heaven’s DoorRebornSubmerged in AbsenceLife Is Coming to the Rose GardenThe Path in the HeartThe Rose’s PleaWhy Are You So Reasonable?You Are in His HandCries of ConfirmationWords of the SecretsHidden from the EyesYou Snatched My HeartThe Moon’s SlaveCut It ShortSongs of HeresyYou Can’t Get AwayI Came Back to YouEveryone Is Welcome to This SchoolA Stranger to Myself I Am the One!Wake Up from Your SleepHe Is Beyond PraiseTranslator’s Afterword

“For the past fifty years Nevit Ergin has been working to bring into English the entirety of Rumi’s vast Divani Shamsi Tabriz. This last volume is the most incendiary and it clearly dissolves the boundaries of organized religion and national ego that keep us from the table of friendship that Rumi invites us to. . . . We are very grateful to Dr. Ergin for his life’s work.”