In 1244, the brilliant poet Rumi and the wandering dervish Shams of Tabriz met and immediately fell into a deep spiritual connection. taps a major, yet little explored theme in Rumi's poetry-the mystical experience that occurs in the meeting of the eyes of the lover and the beloved, parent and child, friend and soul mate. Coleman Barks's new translations of these powerful and complex poems capture Rumi's range from the ethereal to the everyday. They reveal the unique place of human desire, love, and ecstasy, where there exists not just the union of two souls, but the crux of the universe. Here is a new kind of love lyric for our time-one of longing, connection, and wholeness.