Rumi's Little Book of Love and Laughter

More than 40 fables and teaching stories by Rumi, gathered around love, laughter, death, betrayal, and the soul. Earthy and vital, these tales move through a cast of guilty, lecherous, tricky, and ribald characters whose encounters reveal unexpected openings of the spirit.

Intricately shaped and often strange, the stories carry the dense, darkly comic energy of Hieronymus Bosch or Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. This collection is rendered by Coleman Barks, Rumi’s most widely read translator.

“The minute I heard my first love story, I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along.” --Rumi