Hearth and Pages: Warriors of Love by Jalaluddin Rumi and James Cowan

“Rumi and Shams teach us not only the importance of friendship as a civilizing conduct in the affairs of men, but also how important it is to identify friendship with a power that is not of ourselves.”

I received a free digital copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The life of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi—One of Islam’s most celebrated poet, scholar, theologian and Sufi mystic—change when he met a man named Shams of Tabriz who visited Konya in 1226. Shams of Tabriz search for a man who could understand his connection and views of God, and he finally found it in Rumi. They become some kind of soul-bonded friends, both Rumi and Shams find the love for God in their mutual love as friends. Warriors of Love contains new interpretation by James Cowan of some poems that Rumi created for his dearest friend, Shams of Tabriz, as well as his love of God.

Warriors of Love is an autobiography and poetry book crossover. The first part of this book is a long and thorough introduction by James Cowan. This autobiography-ish part tells story about Rumi and Shams. Starting from the time when they don’t know each other, to the moment they met and became friends, and then the moment they got separated in life. Cowan’s description of Rumi and Shams’ friendship is an interesting one. This is my first time reading background story of both Rumi and Shams, and honestly Cowan’s narrative really intriguing to the point that makes me want to read more about both men, especially Shams of Tabriz.

Shams and Rumi friendship is described as some sort of spiritual love and seeing God in the same light. There are many moments when I read this book that I kind of feel that maybe Rumi and Shams are not just friends, but more. When I read Cowan narratives I really feel like friendship is not a strong enough word to described what Rumi and Shams had. Cowan also compares the relationship between both men to others like Achilles and Patroclus, Vincent Van Gogh and his brother Theo, and Friedrich Nietzsche and Richard Wagner. They all have a different kind of friendships/relationships that could shed some lights to how strong Rumi and Shams’ relationship is.

The second part of this book contains Rumi’s poems which inspired by Shams of Tabriz. When Shams died, both men might be physically separated, but Shams keeps on living through Rumi’s words and verses. In this book Cowan is also the one who translated Rumi’s poems. Though I’m pretty sure we won’t get the whole experience of Rumi’s love for Shams unless we read them in his original language, the translated poems in this book give clear insights of it.

If you’re looking for a book about poetry or poet and the story behind their poems—especially if you’re a fan of Rumi’s works—you would probably adore this book. Cowan gives us a great and very informative background story of Rumi and Shams, and his translation of Rumi’s works in this book is also a good one to read. There are also some fun and interesting part about Islam’s history and Sufism through the life of Rumi and Shams.