The Republic of Rumi: a Novel of Reality (2007)

The Republic of Rumi: a Novel of Reality by Khurram Ali Shafique

First published by Iqbal Academy Pakistan in 2007;
reprinted 2009 and 2012

ISBN 978-969-416-388-8

Price Rs.300

Order online within Pakistan: marghdeen@gmail.com (visit online Bookstore for details).

Inside the Garden lies a secret as old as life itself but you must leave everything outside - even your previous knowledge. This is a fascinating voyage of discovery that stops at nothing short of reaching into the heart of the matter - and spirit.

Iqbal reinterpreted Rumi for our times, and now Iqbal has been reinterpreted for the times to come.

What you will discover here may be of a permanent relevance to your life and life in general, which may be better explained now in terms such as the Five Wisdoms, the Seven Stages of the Journey, the Fountain of Life, Jamshid's Cup, the Dance of the Soul, the Falcon and the Leopard and, of course, Joseph!

Comment from Muhammad Suyel Umar, Director, Iqbal Academy Pakistan

Printed on the flap of the dust cover in the book

Khurram Ali Shafique is the first Iqbal scholar to have completed a much-needed requirement in Iqbal Studies that was being pointed out by the scholars for the last few decades.

It has been said about the Quran that "part of it explains other parts of it" and the internal coherence in the writings of Dr. Sir Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938) had for long seemed to be inspired from this aspect of the Divine Word. The thread that runs through his poetry and the function of his lectures as an explanation of his poetry were all aspects that were touched in Iqbal Studies briefly but no has ever attempted to articulate the architectural whole of Iqbal's canon in order to show the intricacy of the design intended by the author himself. This is what Shafique has done in The Republic of Rumi through a narrative that is remarkably readable and accessible without losing the depth that should be expected in such a work.

This is a book for our times and of our times.

Comment from Ahmad Javed, Deputy Director, Iqbal Academy Pakistan
Printed on the back title of the book

This book takes you a long way on the path devised by Iqbal in order that Rumi's system of mysteries could seep into the deepest possible recesses of human consciousness.