Unfolding in two parallel narratives - one contemporary and the other set in the 13th century when Rumi encountered the wandering Dervish known as Shams of Tabriz who was to become his mentor The Forty Rules of Love is a rather interesting and to a certain extent thought provoking book which gave me a further insight into some of the Sufism principles and philosophy I had been slightly introduced to during and after my trip to Turkey some years ago.
Being the third book by Elif Shafak I have read I must confess I very much enjoy the way she writes and in this particularly the fact that every part is named after the essential forces of the Universe - Fire, Wind? Earth and Water to which she added another element - the Void.
"Every human being is a work in progress that is slowly but inexorably moving toward perfection. We are each an unfinished work of art both waiting and striving to be completed."
"The past is an interpretation. The future is an illusion. The world does not move through time as if it were a straight line, proceeding from the past to the future. Instead time moves through and within us, in endless spirals. Eternity does not mean infinite time, but simply timelessness."
"Intelect and love are made of different materials. Intelect ties people in knots and risks nothing, but love dissolves all tangles and risks everything."
"Patience does not mean to passively endure, it means to be farsighted enough to trust the end result of aprocess. What does pacience mean? It means to look at the thorn and see the rose, to look at the night and see the dawn."
"Things that can seem malicious or unfortunate are often a blessing in desguise, whereas things that might seem pleasant can be harmful in the long run."
"You might not change your instruments but how well to play is entirely in your hands."
"Intelect and love are made of different materials. Intelect ties people in knots and risks nothing, but love dissolves all tangles and risks everything."
"Patience does not mean to passively endure, it means to be farsighted enough to trust the end result of aprocess. What does pacience mean? It means to look at the thorn and see the rose, to look at the night and see the dawn."
"Things that can seem malicious or unfortunate are often a blessing in desguise, whereas things that might seem pleasant can be harmful in the long run."
"You might not change your instruments but how well to play is entirely in your hands."
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