Rating: 
Summary: Reviewing the book, not the editor/translator
Review: I love Rumi and I like this book very much. I note that the negative 'reviews' here are not actually reviews of the book, but rather criticisms of the editor/'translator'. I have no opinion about how one ought to go about creating and presenting translations of poetry, and won't offer one. All I know is that regardless of how these versions of Rumi's poetry came to be, they are wonderful and capture the spiritual insights, the beauty and the charm of Rumi's work.
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Summary: Rantings of a madman
Review: I don't know if the problem is with the original or the translation. This book consists of nonsensical streams of consciousness punctuated by bad parables with useless morals. The most glaring of these is the pornographic parable about the two women and the donkey. I suspect that most people who buy this book don't actually read it but instead display it prominently on their bookshelves. Somebody needs to say that the Emperor isn't wearing any clothes. I think that which most people were looking for in this book would be better found in The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam by Edward Fitzgerald
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Summary: Look elsewhere for Rumi's essence.
Review: This pretty book of verse calls well-deserved attention to Jalaluddin Rumi, a 13th-century mystic considered by many to be one of the greatest poets the world has ever seen. But while author Coleman Barks's intentions may be the best, it's doubtful that what he serves up here is the essential Rumi, if only because Barks speaks not a word of Persian, the language in which Rumi wrote. Barks freely admits that he relied entirely on academic translations to concoct his popularized renderings. This would be less of a handicap were Rumi merely trying to entertain or to convey feelings, moods and subjective impressions. But as Barks himself points out, Rumi was a Sufi; and Sufis maintain that, far from being the emotional outpourings appearance might suggest, their poems are actually precise and carefully constructed technical instruments designed to have very specific effects on the reader under the right circumstances. These effects, which depend heavily upon the language in which the poems were written (not to mention the specific audience they were written for, which is another matter entirely), are easily blunted by translation and other forms of tampering. Barks - in translating translations - would seem to be carrying this tampering a step further, despite his skill as a wordsmith. The result, however aesthetically pleasing and emotionally evocative, is unlikely to be what Rumi had in mind - any more than the miming of a surgeon's hand-movements, however gracefully executed, is likely to heal the sick. Those interested in Rumi's essential - and still relevant - message would do better to read THE SUFIS by Idries Shah, THE LIFE & WORK OF JALALUDDIN RUMI by Afzal Iqbal, or E.H. Whinfield's TEACHINGS OF RUMI.
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Summary: Hosokawa Fujitaka, "Farewell to the World", 1600
Review: "In the world that today remains unchanged from ancient times leaves that are words retain seeds in the human heart"
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Summary: Beautiful translations
Review: Either Barks is a masterful translator of Rumi, or he is an exceptional original poet riffing on Rumi. It's irrelevant - there are absolute gems here. And his translations are more sympathetic to the Sufi roots of Rumi than Fitzgerald ever was of Omar Khayyam....
Rating:
Summary: good work in cold-blood
Review: true,cool,well-done,sufficiently deep, tasteful,readable,semi-amateur but honest,refreshing,house-guest,frothy,discreet,wavy,giving the sap,hourglass,timid sometime and confident in another time,makes you on the jump,gnat-wing, a welcomed caller
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Summary: Engages the mind and soul
Review: Rumi inspires all who love GOD! Eventhough I'm a Christian and Rumi is clearly Muslim, there are many lessons I've learned from his writings. I don't see how one could read this book and not believe in GOD. It's the best attempt I've ever seen of spiritual transendence being able to be captured in words. I now understand the phrase "divine laughter." Rumi's words opens the soul!!
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Summary: Proof that the profound lies quietly within the simple
Review: Whether you're contemplating Rumi in a meadow or while stuck in traffic, his eloquence reaches across the centuries to move you.I highly recommend this book for anyone just beginning their study. The introduction and accompanying editorial comments provide a starting point for personal perspective.
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Summary: Intiment knowledge of Human-Soul
Review: Rumi expresses emotions of content and forever-happiness. Rumi translates that silence is true contentment, for when you are quit with yourself, you have no needs... your mind is empty and therefore satisfied... I have never appreciated any poet as much as I appreciated Rumi.
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Summary: Compeling you to see yourself in "Rumi's Mirrior"
Review: simply sublime! The imagery is beautiful. I wish I knew persian to fully enjoy Rumi but Mr. Barks has done an extraordinary job in bringing this beauty as it was meant to be. I highly recommend this book. In the words of Rumi, "I wish you know", what I found after reading this wonderfull book.
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