The forty rules of love

The heroine of the novel, Ella, the unhappy wife, reached the age of forty when she read a novel dealing with the life of Jalal al-Din al-Rumi and his Sufi dervish teacher, Shams of Tabriz. She was fascinated by Shams''s rules, which illuminate ancient philosophical concepts about the unity of peoples and religions, about the passion for poetry, and the depth of love buried in each of us. Ella''s ...