The Forty Rules of Love Review

The Forty Rules of Love Review

The Forty Rules of Love is a novel, by the Turkish author Elif Shafak that contains two parallel narratives:  one contemporary and the other set in the thirteenth century. The contemporary narrative is about a forty-year old and unhappily married woman whose name is Ella Rubenstein and she was assigned to read and report on Sweet Blasphemy, a novel written by a man named Aziz Zahara which is the second narrative: a tale of Shams' search for Rumi and the dervish's role in transforming the successful but unhappy cleric into a committed mystic, passionate poet, and advocate of love.

The book is a great opportunity to learn about Sufism: their beliefs, rituals and history. Infact, their way in worshiping Allah is way different from the sunnah. They believe that a person should worship and serve Allah as he is seeing Him and while he sees Him not yet truly He sees you.

In the novel, there are two kinds of love. Spiritual love between Rumi and Shams of Tabrez. Both of them desire to have a soulmate as a mentor. They somehow find each other. Through their relationship we learn some of the forty rules of love. The second type of love is contemporary one, a love between Ella and the writer of Sweet Blasphemy, Aziz Zahara. She makes contact with Aziz and shares her personal life in the light of these forty rules of Shams. As they talk, they begin to feel closer each other.

I was mesmerized by the writing style which is captivating, fluid and beautiful. I fell in love with Aziz, his mischief, his insight, his kindness were such a delight to read, but I didn’t really love Shams, despite the fact that they are doppelganger living in different eras. I really liked Ella and her story with Aziz, it was predictable but I enjoyed it. The whole novel is inspiring and every rule makes you think, nod and take copious notes!

I recommend this book to all the readers. It is excellent food for thought that may change the way you recieve the world.

Ps: the Arabic version is better than the English !!