Rumi’s Spiritual Verses is the greatest mystical poem in Islamic culture. Rumi tells of our human separation from reality, from love, and from truth. He shows how love—neither erotic nor sentimental but divine, by which the universe is held together—enlightens ignorance and dissolves suffering. This first book of the Masnavi is the key to the whole work: it takes off from simple, amusing tales into realms unimaginable but is wholly familiar to the human heart.