Reason from the Perspective of Rumi

The present book, written by Pari Riahi, a researcher in the field of Masnavi Ma’navi, examines the position and concept of reason from the perspective of Jalal al-Din Rumi Balkhi. The greatness of Rumi’s immortal work, Masnavi Ma’navi, is such that it has been called the Persian Quran. Rumi’s work resembles a sea that guides each reader, according to their condition, to the pearl fishing of meanings and the gleaning of the harvest of lofty human and spiritual concepts. In this study, the author begins each topic by referencing Rumi’s poems and first utilizes various commentaries on Masnavi Ma’navi by authors such as Badi al-Zaman Foruzanfar, Wali Muhammad Akbarabadi, Muhammad Abd al-Ali Bahr al-Uloom, Muhammad Estelami, and Musa Nasri Hamadani. Then, while explaining the difficulties of the words in each verse, the author presents Rumi’s perspective in each set of poems on the subject under discussion. The views of some thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Avicenna, Suhrawardi, and Fakhr al-Din Razi are also cited in this book. The main discussions in this book include universal and particular reason, the reason of saints, reason and judgment, strengthening of reason through consultation, reason and the self, soul and body, reason and heart, reason and love, and reason and patience. At the end of the book, the list of Quranic verses and hadiths, index, and bibliography guide the reader to make better use of the book.