Pilgrimage to Paradise

Written almost 800 years ago, Rumi's stories reflect the blended characteristics of the East and West. The Sufi poet traveled in a landscape divided between the Persian and Byzantine empires and his poetry expressed the passions, fables, and faith of both worlds. Inspired by Rumi, Kamla K. Kapur's Pilgrimage to Paradise is a reworking of the translations of thirty of his stories—tales of wit, wisdom, and faith. The basis for Kapur's stories is Rumi's six volume Mathnawi, an epic Sufi mystical poem of more that 25,000 verses, as translated from the Persian by Reynold A. Nicholson. Kapur brings the dense, intimidating volume into a more readable form—putting her own spin on the stories, yet remaining true to Rumi's vision. Charming stories such as "The Witch of Kabul" and "Moses Learns a Lesson," bring Rumi's verses to life as clever fables. Pilgrimage to Paradise gives readers one of Persia's greatest literary treasures in an accessible form that will entertain and enlighten.