These are unsettling, even biblical times.

The environment groans as we plunge into what Richard Leakey calls the Sixth Great Extinction. Everywhere we look the one human family is turning into us and them–and the rattle of the war drum has become the new background radiation of our lives. The world seems ready to burst into flames. But if all this fills us with a deep sense of helplessness, it also calls up a deep yearning for light, particularly the light that knows no boundaries and makes whole the spirit.

One of the great light-sources of our time is a 13th century Persian poet named Jelalludin Rumi. His poetry—folksy, ecstatic, always saturated with the authority of transcendent experience—somehow opens a window in the heart to a vast and spacious place with room enough for Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, everyone! to meet in fruitful exchange.

In 1997, artist and writer Michael Green joined forces with poet Coleman Barks and created The Illuminated Rumi. Inspired by the illuminated manuscripts of an earlier time, it was a new kind of poetry book for people who don’t ordinarily read poetry. The Illuminated Rumi became a national bestseller. Said Jane Goodall,

This is astonishing. It penetrates the deep recesses of mind and heart. It is beautiful, profound and cleansing. Rumi is in a class of his own, a voice from the past that helps us to understand our future, the future of life on earth. On each page we find God smiling so that our spirit is lifted to the place from which we came, the place that we inhabit now, the place where we can finally understand Love. You must, absolutely must, have this glorious book for your own. “

Today, Rumi is America’s most-read poet, but largely perceived as someone beyond the boundaries of religion. In truth he was also a committed and faithful Muslim. Now, as the most sympathetic Islamic figure in the West, he has become a unique bridge between cultures, a world-healer whispering to whoever will hear,

All religions, all this singing,

one song...

For seven hundred years this open embrace has gently challenged the sectarian divisions among the children of Abraham. In September, 2005, a new Illuminated Rumi will reach out to an even wider audience with revealing glimpses of Rumi’s deep and touching affection for both Moses and Jesus. Not even the unbeliever is excluded when he celebrates the simple sacredness of everyday existence. One Song is filled with fresh new translations, more of the extraordinary art that made the first book a classic, and a powerful new collaboration between word, image & music


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		These are unsettling, even biblical times. The environment groans as we plunge into what Richard Leakey calls the Sixth Great Extinction. Everywhere we look the one human family is turning into us and them–and the rattle of the war drum has become the new background radiation of our lives. The world seems ready to burst into flames. But if all this fills us with a deep sense of helplessness, it also calls up a deep yearning for light, particularly the light that knows no boundaries and makes whole the spirit. One of the great light-sources of our time is a 13th century Persian poet named Jelalludin Rumi. His poetry—folksy, ecstatic, always saturated with the authority of transcendent experience—somehow opens a window in the heart to a vast and spacious place with room enough for Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, everyone! to meet in fruitful exchange. In 1997, artist and writer Michael Green joined forces with poet Coleman Barks and created The Illuminated Rumi. Inspired by the illuminated manuscripts of an earlier time, it was a new kind of poetry book for people who don’t ordinarily read poetry. The Illuminated Rumi became a national bestseller. Said Jane Goodall, This is astonishing. It penetrates the deep recesses of mind and heart. It is beautiful, profound and cleansing. Rumi is in a class of his own, a voice from the past that helps us to understand our future, the future of life on earth. On each page we find God smiling so that our spirit is lifted to the place from which we came, the place that we inhabit now, the place where we can finally understand Love. You must, absolutely must, have this glorious book for your own. “ Today, Rumi is America’s most-read poet, but largely perceived as someone beyond the boundaries of religion. In truth he was also a committed and faithful Muslim. Now, as the most sympathetic Islamic figure in the West, he has become a unique bridge between cultures, a world-healer whispering to whoever will hear, All religions, all this singing, one song... For seven hundred years this open embrace has gently challenged the sectarian divisions among the children of Abraham. In September, 2005, a new Illuminated Rumi will reach out to an even wider audience with revealing glimpses of Rumi’s deep and touching affection for both Moses and Jesus. Not even the unbeliever is excluded when he celebrates the simple sacredness of everyday existence. One Song is filled with fresh new translations, more of the extraordinary art that made the first book a classic, and a powerful new collaboration between word, image & music