A native of Tennessee, Coleman Barks has been instrumental in opening Western eyes to the teachings of 13th century Persian poet, theologian, and philosopher Jalal Al-Din Rumi. Although Barks relied ...

Jelaluddin Rumi, considered by many to be the Shakespeare of the ancient Islamic world, suggested, "The eye is meant to see things; the soul is here for its own joy." Eyes, ears and souls could all be ...

Jaluddin Rumi is among the best-selling poets in the United States, even though he died more than 700 years ago. Rumi's writings of love, friendship and the joys of life have sold more than half a ...

“Captures the deep humanity and sublime divinity of the poet’s verse†— The Sun Magazine American poet Coleman Barks’s interpretations of the celebrated 13th-century mystic poet Rumi have ...

On May 2, 1977, Coleman Barks dreamed he was sleeping on a bluff above the Tennessee River when a ball of light rose off an island across from where he was sitting. In the dream, Barks woke up. The ...

Rumi, the 13th-century mystic poet, is center stage in a show that event organizers describe as a “multidimensional feast of poetry, music, dance, and story.” Providing the different courses for the ...

Though his English-only translations of the Sufi poet Jelaluddin Rumi (1207–1273) have sold hundreds of thousands of copies, Barks is anything but celebratory in his preface to this new collection: "I ...

The Islamic mystical poet Rumi (1207- 1273) improvised the evocative poems which his followers wrote down. Translator Coleman Barks's The Essential Rumi won the Persian writer American fans, some of ...