Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak

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                                                            The Forty Rules Of Love

Every true love and friendship is a story of unexpected transformation. If we are the same person before and after we loved, that means we have not loved enough – Elif Shafak.

Shafak's most recent novel, The Forty Rules of Love sold more than 5,50000 copies, becoming an all time best-seller in Turkey. That it has already been translated into many languages  is not surprising in the least. It would have been, if the outcome had been any different. She is the most widely read writer in Turkey and essentially every novel that she has written has been awarded and has won the attention of the literary world at home and abroad. She writes in both Turkish and English. She is rooted in her native culture like a compass with a solid centre, but her other leg travels in a wide circle touching places, people and distant borders. She weaves stories questioning the status of immigrants, the marginalized, sub cultures, women in Islam and the lost love in humanity. 

The Forty Rules of Love is a fictional endeavour to showcase the mystic essence of Islam found in Sufism. The whirling dervish dance and heretical summation of  Koranic text breaks away with rules of convention, illuminating the love and brotherhood of mankind that Islam espouses and Jihad turns out to be a struggle within to win over our nafs, pride and ego.   

The structure of the novel involves two parallel narratives – the story of a Jewish American wife Ella  in Northampton, Massachusetts devoid of love  who is transformed by an intriguing manuscript about the Sufi mystic poet Rumi and Sufi mystic  dervish Shams of Tabriz wherein two soul mates  meet and attain beatitude. The second narrative is told by a range of characters including Rumi's wife and sons, self-proclaimed guardians of Sharia, prostitutes, drunkards and other marginalized citizens of that society. The narrative is gripping, told in first-person fragments, letters, emails and braided  with Shams's theosophy as told through his 40 rules of love.

 “The 13th century was a turbulent period in Anatolia, rife with religious clashes, political disputes and endless power struggles. In the West, the Crusaders, on their way to Jerusalem, occupied and sacked Constantinople, leading to the partition of the Byzantine Empire. In the East, highly disciplined Mongol armies swiftly expanded under the military genius of Genghis Khan. In between, different Turkish tribes fought among themselves while the Byzantines tried to recover their lost land, wealth and power. It was a time of unprecedented chaos when Christians fought Christians, Christians fought Muslims, and Muslims fought Muslims. Everywhere one turned, there was hostility and anguish, and an intense fear of what might happen next. In the midst of this chaos lived a distinguished Islamic scholar, known as Jalal Al-Din Rumi. Nicknamed Mawlana -Our Master- by many, he had thousands of disciples and admirers from all over the region and beyond, and was regarded as a beacon to all Muslims.

In 1244, Rumi met Shams - a wandering dervish with unconventional ways and heretical proclamations. Their encounter altered both their lives. At the same time it marked the beginning of a solid, unique friendship that Sufis in the centuries to follow likened to the meeting of two oceans. By meeting this exceptional companion, Rumi was transformed from a mainstream cleric to a committed mystic, passionate poet, advocate of love and originator of the ecstatic dance of the whirling dervishes, daring to break free of all conventional rules.

In an age of deeply-embedded bigotries and clashes, he stood for a universal spirituality, opening his doors to people of all backgrounds. Rumi stood up for an inner-oriented jihad where the aim was to struggle against and ultimately prevail over one's ego, nafs.

Not everyone welcomed these ideas, however, just as not everyone opens their hearts to love. The powerful spiritual bond between Shams and Rumi became the target of rumor, slander and attack. They were misunderstood, envied, vilified, and ultimately betrayed by those closest to them. Three years after they met, they were tragically separated.

But the story didn't end there. 
In truth, there never was an end. Almost eight hundred years later the spirits of Shams and Rumi are still alive today, whirling amid us somewhere...”

The novel celebrates love, in myriad hues. Love between soul mates, man–woman love, and love for all of humanity. Ella leads a colourless life with grown-up children and an unfaithful husband. She is given the assignment of reading a book Sweet Blasphemy written by Aziz Zahara by her literary agency. The latter forms the second narrative in the novel.

Ella’s story is predictable and also seems a bit contrived. It is the second narrative about Rumi and Shams of Tabriz which really is of paramount importance, and holds the reader. It is indeed a triumph on which the book sails high. A prophecy leads them to each other resulting in an encounter where they first test each other, become firm friends and then love each other. A coming together which transforms each, such that Shams of Tabriz surrenders his life to the conniving hatred of his friend’s family(they are driven to desperation because of the complete change in Rumi, who no longer connects to them) and Rumi becomes a passionate poet, a mystic. He writes transformative poetry which generations can never get enough of, leading all followers to a love which breaks away from conventions and is pristine in its purity and form.

The two stories work together to allude to the forty rules of love which are revealed in italics through the novel. A very Paulo Coelo like writing technique, but then it deviates from it, that there is nothing allegorical about the narrative. It is a fictionalized version of the coming together of Rumi and Shams of Tabriz, the effect of their merging mindscapes on themselves and others around them.

The forty rules of love, the treasure trove of the book, if expounded could become a treatise in themselves. Here are a few to savor and think about, for ruminate you shall; the core philosophy of Sufism:

East, west, south, or north makes little difference. No matter what your destination, just be sure to make every journey a journey within. If you travel within, you’ll travel the whole wide world and beyond.

 The quest for Love changes us. There is no seeker among those who search for Love who has not matured on the way. The moment you start looking for Love, you start to change within and without.

 Try not to resist the changes that come your way. Instead, let life live through you. And do not worry that your life is turning upside down. How do you know that the side you are used to is better than the one to come?

 Real filth is the one inside. The rest simply washes off. There is only one type of dirt that cannot be cleansed with pure waters, and that is the stain of hatred and bigotry contaminating the soul. You can purify your body through abstinence and fasting, but only love will purify your heart.

 The whole universe is contained within a single human being—you. Everything that you see around, including the things you might not be fond of and even the people you despise or abhor, is present within you in varying degrees. Therefore, do not look for Satan outside yourself either. The devil is not an extraordinary force that attacks from without. It is an ordinary voice within. If you get to know yourself fully, facing with honesty and hardness both your dark and bright side, you will arrive at a supreme form of consciousness. When a person knows himself or herself, he or she knows God.


The book is a keeper, highly recommended for a read.