' Joking is teaching so take care to listen
- Don't look at just the joke's form of expression To jesters every serious thing's hilarious While to the wise hilarious jokes are serious' Rumi is the greatest mystic poet to have written in Persian & the Masnavi is his masterpiece Divided into six books & consisting of some 26000 verses the poem was designed to convey a message of divine love & unity to the disciples of Rumi's Sufi order known today as the Whirling Dervishes Like the earlier books Book Four interweaves amusing stories with homilies to instruct pupils in understanding of God's meaning It has a special focus on the mystical knowledge of the spiritual guide elaborated through stories such as Solomon's inspiration to the Queen of Sheba & animal fables This is the first ever verse translation of Book Four of the Masnavi It follows the original by presenting Rumi's most mature mystical teachings in simple & attractive rhyming couplets