Forty Rules of Love: Book Review

 Book author: Elif Shafak

The book carries on two stories at the same time. One about sufi mysticism in 13th century Konya, a town in Turkey. Another about an American woman Ella, who just turned forty and suddenly discovers a new routine in her life. Both the stories shared a deeper insight of life that remains the same despite the different time frame of the stories.


It was a very interesting plot. Sufi mysticism part offered the perspective from a handful of characters. But I still missed a lot of things. First of all, I couldn’t believe in the story. It is the ‘mysticism’ part that seemed unbelievable to me. What I believe is- sufi or an ordinary human, we all are flesh and bone and blood. For the sake of the story, I am not convinced to believe in any exception. So, Shams’ super power, Kimya seeing ghosts, sufis meditating for consecutive forty days without coming outside of the room (how the excretory system worked?) and consuming only a piece of bread each day and at the same time looking like handsome hollywood heroes- didn’t make sense to me. Also, I couldn’t get the strong love between Rumi and Shams. Love at first sight (actually they had a premonition that they would unite), trusting the other blindly- these don’t define true love to me. After all, I am just an ordinary person.


Another thing I missed badly in the sufi part is- details. When I read a book, the setting and the surroundings, the faces of the characters get visualized in my imagination according to the details provided by the writer. For imagining 13th century Konya, the minimum details are not offered in this book. It’s not New York city or some modern part of the world, so that the readers can imagine everything themselves from their knowledge of other books, tv series or movies. So, I borrowed my imagination from One Thousand and One Nights- the only book that was close to the time frame and plot of this story.


I liked Ella's part. It was more realistic, more relating. This part made my reading journey enjoyable. I wish the sufi part were less dramatic and more detailed. Then I didn't have to keep a mixed feeling about this book.


I am not a fan of definite rules. I believe that a set of rules can’t apply for everyone’s goodness. So the name ‘Forty Rules of Love’ can easily make me claustrophobic. But the rules were the opposite of claustrophobia, they were free and boundless. I admired a few of them and I am gonna keep those in my review.


"How we see God is a direct reflection of how we see ourselves. If God brings to mind mostly fear and blame, It means there is too much fear and blame welling inside us. If we see God as full of love and compassion, so are we."


"The path to the Truth is a labor of the heart, not of the head."


"We were all created in His image, and yet we were each created different and unique. No two people are alike. No two hearts beat to the same rhythm. If God had wanted everyone to be the same, He would have made it so. Therefore, disrespecting differences and imposing your thoughts on others is tantamount to disrespecting God's holy scheme."


"When a Sufi stares at someone, he keeps both eyes closed and instead opens a third eye—the eye that sees the inner realm."


"Hell is in the here and now. So is heaven. Quit worrying about hell or dreaming about heaven, as they are both present inside this very moment. Every time we fall in love, we ascend to a heaven. Every time we hate, envy or fight someone, we tumble straight into the fires of hell."


"Love cannot be explained. It can only be experienced.

Love cannot be explained, yet it explains all"


"They think God gave us music—not only the music we make with our voices and instruments but the music underlying all forms of life, and then He forbade our listening to it. Don't they see that all nature is singing? Everything in this universe moves with the rhythm—the pumping of the heart, the flaps of a bird's wings, the wind on a stormy night, a blacksmith working iron, or the sounds an unborn baby is surrounded with inside the womb. . . . Everything partakes, passionately and spontaneously, in one magnificent melody."


A different theme, few different perspectives and the same reverberation that deeply insight our lives are not so different- I would cherish these parts from this book.