The Forty Rules of Love- Book Review
“The forty rules of love” by “Elif Shafak” is a heart-touching Novel. This novel is based on love, Sufism, and friendship. Elif Shafak unfolds two parallel stories in the book from the twenty-first century and the thirteen century.
Ella Rubinstein a forty years old woman who is unhappy with her married life and takes a job as a reader for a literary agent to read a manuscript the first book she gets is “Sweet Blasphemy” by Aziz Zahara.
In this Ella reads about the thirteen-century Sufi poet Rumi and Shams of Tabriz, and his forty rules of love and life. Shams lived with forty rules of love which helped him in every way of Life. He inspired Rumi to become a poet and express the voice of wisdom. Ella’s heart soared while reading “Sweet Blasphemy” and she was uplifted by the Sufi wisdom and the forty rules of love by shams.
The novel teaches love for God, tolerance, patience, and many principles of life. If someone wants to be happy and get inner peace and God’s love then they should follow those rules. Ella became inspired by reading “Sweet Blasphemy”.
Among the forty rules of love a rule nicely defined, “Whatever happens in your life, no matter how troubling things might seem, do not enter the neighborhood of despair. Even when all doors remain closed, God will open up a new path for you. Be thankful, it is easy to be thankful when all is well. A Sufi is thankful not only for what he has been given but also for all that he has been denied. If one door is closed do not be worried because God is here to open the next and best path for you“.
As another rule described “You can study God through everything and everyone in this universe because God is not confined in a mosque, synagogue, or church. But if you are still in need of knowing where exactly His abode is, there is only one place to look for him in the hearts of a true lover“. This rule simply suggests that God is present everywhere, especially in the heart of true lovers and believers.
Life is the name of ups and downs. In this journey, everyone faces problems so everyone has to keep patience. One of the Shams rules described that “Patience does not mean passively endure”. It means to be farsighted enough to trust the resulting process. What does patience mean? It means to look at the thorns and see the rose, to look at the night and see the dawn. Impatience means to be so short-sighted as to be able to see eye outcomes.
”The lover of God never runs out of patience, for they know that time is needed for the crescent moon to become full“.
These rules are not only related to Sufism or the thirteen-century Islamic period but also they are the principles that should be followed in this modern world. And it is an outstanding work of Elif Shafak who brought a novel within a novel with the spiritual journey of love with God and inspire everyone to change their habits of life.