The life of Jalaluddin Rumi (1207-1273), a brilliant scholar and popular teacher, was forever changed when he met a powerful wandering dervish and began a new plateau of spiritual enlightenment. Now, from the premier interpreter of Rumi comes the first definitive one-volume collection of the enduringly popular spiritual poetry by this extraordinary Sufi mystic.

This revised and expanded edition of The Essential Rumi includes a new introduction by Coleman Barks and more than 80 never-before-published poems.

Through his lyrical translations, Coleman Barks has been instrumental in bringing this exquisite literature to a remarkably wide range of readers, making the ecstatic, spiritual poetry of thirteenth-century Sufi Mystic Rumi more popular than ever.

The Essential Rumi continues to be the bestselling of all Rumi books, and the definitive selection of his beautiful, mystical poetry.