Book Review – Sufi Comics Rumi
With the latest Sufi Comics ready and out, I once again fail to determine which among the three touched me most!
Rumi was a 13th Century poet who lived in different parts of the Persian Empire that included present day Afghanistan, Iran & Turkey. He was a mystic, a philosopher and top Islamic Scholar of his time. But he’s most popularly known for his timeless Poetry that sprang from his yearning for the Divine. What is astonishing is that he’s the best selling poet in America. Even outselling giants of English literature like Shakespeare. What is it about Rumi that makes him so popular?
Sufi Comics Rumi is perhaps one of the great gateways to us, providing many of us our first exposure to the mystic, and consequently, endowing us with further opportunity of relating with the Holy Book, i.e. the Quran, along with the traditions of the Immaculate Household of the Prophet. “Since you are I” for instance sheds light upon Imam Ali’s lines in the whispered prayer of Sha’baan wherein he says, “My Lord, grant me complete severance of my relations with everything else and total submission to You,” while ever-repeating themes of control of the inner-self and “Keep your Dragon in the Snow,” continuously remind us that ‘Yet I do not absolve my [own carnal] soul, for the [carnal] soul indeed prompts [men] to evil, except inasmuch as my Lord has mercy. Indeed my Lord is all-forgiving, all-merciful.’ [12: 53]
Putting it briefly, Sufi Comics Rumi does not stop at just being a delightful read, but that it goes all the way down to the soul, once again reminding us of the empty nature of this transient life, and while we pursue the mirages of our dreams, the only thing that holds weight and true happiness, is God himself! Hence, unlike other books on our past-time list, it would be much oppression if this book did not push us forward towards gaining inspiration from Rumi’s own inspiration and source of wisdom – the Holy Quran; “those who have faith and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of Allah.’ Behold! The hearts find rest in Allah’s remembrance!” [13:28]
Hats off to the Sufi Comics Team once again for their magnificent work, and may they be rewarded in like, by the Beloved. Looking forward to more soul-freshening comics from the lives of the Immaculate Household, Mystics, and the Giant Scholars!
For more information on Sufi Comics Rumi, visit: http://www.suficomics.com/rumi
