The power of words in The Forty
Rules of Love
The Forty Rules of Love¹ (2010), by Elif Shafak² is a novel that stirs readers’ knowledge, imagination, and
curiosity. It is a novel, that after being read, it leaves one with many
questions, not only about life, but also about one’s self. “As Turkey’s
bestselling female writer, [Elif Shafak] is a brave champion of
cosmopolitanism, a sophisticated feminist, and an ambitious novelist who
infuses her magical realist fiction with big, important ideas” (Goldberg, “Lost
in Translation”).
One of the main aspects of this novel is the role words play in
changing people’s lives. Words, either
written or said, can have a great influence on people; they can make people
happy, make them sad, or even change their lives completely. In The Forty
Rules of Love by Elif Shafak, words play a very important role in changing
people’s ideas and beliefs. They are the real protagonists of this novel,
because they do not only alter the lives of characters, but they also create a
particular mood in readers, who feel hypnotized by these words.
The Forty Rules of Love, as
a novel, is made of words, which are presented in a way that makes readers
think about various aspects of life. Elif Shafak has written a novel in which
past and present are intermingled, moving between the 13th century
Turkey and present-day United States, in a way that does not make readers
shocked, but instead it makes them find similarities between the two eras, by
feeling and understanding every detail of a story that is in no way an ordinary
one. As Ayers argues in her review “Finding Harmony in All”, Shafak’s novel
“cross[es] the bounds of time, culture and belief” (42). It is like a dream in
which the reader sees two different stories: the first story is about Ella
Rubenstein, a 40-year-old unhappy wife and mother of three children, whose
marriage is cold and passionless. At the beginning of the novel readers get to
know that she has just started working in a literary agency, and that her first
assignment is to write a review of a manuscript called Sweet Blasphemy,
written by a man called Aziz Z. Zahara. This text includes the second story of
this novel, its central one, that of the
philosopher and poet Rumi, who has met his mentor Shams of Tabriz – a wandering
dervish- and of the change Shams has caused in Rumi’s life, turning
him into a real Sufi. “The two become inseparable, and as Shams shares the
liberating “forty rules of love”, Rumi becomes a rebel mystic, the inventor of
the “ecstatic dance” of the whirling dervishes, and a fervent and cherished
poet.” (Seaman)
Shams believes in universal love rather than dogmatic religion, and
he lives by “forty rules of love”, which represent his principles concerning
every aspect of life: they deal with
love, tolerance, patience, and many other principles a man should follow in
order to be happy, and to reach inner peace and God’s love. “Shams of Tabriz
and the great Rumi…[i]n an age of deeply-embedded bigotries and clashes, they
had stood for a universal spirituality, opening their doors to people of all
backgrounds equally. They spoke of love as the essence of life, love that
connected us all across centuries, cultures and cities.” (Shafak, “The Story
behind the Forty Rules of Love”).
For its unusual and spiritual content, Sweet Blasphemy
becomes the most important thing in Ella’s life, as it makes her realize that
life has many beautiful aspects she has never experienced. She finds herself
writing mails to the author of the manuscript - a Sufi man like his character
Shams - and soon she falls in love with him, leaves everything behind, and decides
to continue her life with this Sufi man.
The entire novel is very influential, but there are different
levels in which words function in a stronger way. The whole novel is full of significant
words, such as those in Ella and Aziz’s emails,
in Rumi’s sermons and poems, as well as the “forty rules of love” of Shams that
make him change the lives of many characters, especially that of Rumi and of the
harlot Desert Rose. His words have great influence also on other characters in
the novel, such as Kimya - Rumi’s adopted daughter - and Suleiman the drunk. Readers, while analyzing and reflecting on the
“forty rules of love”, feel the real power of words. These words are powerful
in the sense that they drastically change the characters’ lives, making them
realize another side of life to which they had no access before.
In the chapters called “Ella” readers are introduced to the emails
Ella and Aziz exchange, and in these emails Aziz uses very powerful and
hypnotic words to make Ella understand his Sufi way of life, as well as making
her reconsider her life in general, and start believing that this spiritual
approach to life is what she really needs in order to be happy. After being
forty, she feels old and lonely, but Aziz has a different way of seeing this
stage of life:
Dear Ella,
Happy
birthday! Forty is a most beautiful age for both men and women. Did you know
that in mystic thought forty symbolizes the ascent from one level to a higher
one and spiritual awakening? When we mourn we mourn for forty days. When a baby
is born it takes forty days for him to get ready to start life on earth. And
when we are in love we need to wait for forty days to be sure of our feelings. The
Flood of Noah lasted forty days, and while the waters destroyed life, they also
washed all impurity away and enabled human beings to make a new, fresh start.
In Islamic mysticism there are forty degrees between man and God. Likewise,
there are four basic stages of consciousness and ten degrees in each, making
forty levels in total. Jesus went into the wilderness for forty days and
nights. Muhammad was forty years old when he received the call to become a
prophet. Buddha meditated under a linden tree for forty days. Not to mention
the forty rules of Shams. You receive a new mission at forty, a new lease on
life! You have reached a most auspicious number. Congratulations! And don’t
worry about getting old. There are no wrinkles or gray hair strong enough to
defy the power of forty!
Warmly,
Aziz (Shafak 77)
This is how Aziz approaches life, and these words show how optimistic
he is as a character. Through these words he manages to change Ella’s mood, and
in addition to this, he makes her realize that the best part of her life is yet
to come, and that being forty has nothing to do with being old and spiritless,
but that it is a beginning of a new phase in life, a phase that she has to
enjoy fully. She decides to change her way of living, and every time she feels
confused, she writes emails to Aziz to find guidance, such as
Beloved Aziz,
In
one of your earlier e-mails, you said the idea that we could control the course
of our lives through rational choices was as absurd as a fish trying to control
the ocean in which it swam. I thought about your next sentence a lot: “The idea
of a Knowing Self has generated not only false expectations but also
disappointments in places where life does not match our expectations. (Shafak 97)
She keeps reflecting on Aziz’s
words, which have become fascinating to her. Everything he writes in his emails
becomes sacred; his words have to be followed, because they are the fruit of a
life spent travelling throughout the world and experiencing things she cannot
even imagine. In one of his mails Aziz explains to Ella the core of Sufism by
saying
Dear Ella,
…this
is what the Sufis call the fifth element—the void. The inexplicable and
uncontrollable divine element that we as human beings cannot comprehend and yet
should always be aware of. I don’t believe in “inaction” if by that you mean
doing nothing at all and showing no deep interest in life. But I do believe in
respecting the fifth element. I believe we each make a covenant with God. I
know that I did. When I became a Sufi, I promised God to do my part to the best
of my ability and leave the rest to Him and Him only. I accepted the fact that
there are things beyond my limits. I can see only some parts, like floating
fragments from a movie, but the bigger scheme is beyond my comprehension. (Shafak
97)
This hypnotic use of words, very philosophical and deep, has a
great influence on Ella’s life, and it is what changes her way of perceiving
things. For her, these words written in simple emails are like a huge tornado, which
has turned her life upside down. Ella and also readers are hypnotized by Aziz’s
words, and they are enchanted by their power. While reading these emails, Ella
hears a voice in her ears telling her she has to take this path and change her
life completely.
The same influence that Aziz’s words
have on Ella is seen in the influence that Shams’s “forty rules of love” have
on Rumi, on Desert Rose and on other characters. In order to understand how
potent Shams’s influence is on these characters of The Forty Rules of Love, some
of these rules should be read and analyzed, with the intention of understanding
their main principles. The second rule of the “forty rules of love” says “[t]he
Path to the Truth is a labor of the heart, not of the head. Make your heart
your primary guide! Not your mind. Meet, challenge, and ultimately prevail over
your nafs with your heart. Knowing your ego will lead you to the
knowledge of God.” (Shafak 33) This is one of the main principles of Sufism,
and one of the rules that helps Shams in changing Rumi from a dogmatic Shaikh
to a real Sufi. Sufism focuses on heart
more than on mind, and preaches the need of purifying one’s heart and of
challenging one’s ego, in order to reach a state in which the love for God
becomes more important than the nafs or ego.
Sufism “makes you erase what you know and what
you are sure of. Then you start thinking again. Not with your mind this time,
but with your heart” (Shafak, “The Story behind the Forty Rules of Love”). This
is related also to rule number three, which says that “[y]ou can study God
through everything and everyone in the universe, because God is not confined in
a mosque, synagogue or church. But if you are still in need of knowing where
exactly His abode is, there is only one place to look for him: in the heart of
a true lover.” (Shafak 43) This rule unifies all people, highlighting the fact
that God is there for everyone, no matter where a person is, or in what
religion this person believes. God is present inside every one of the
believers, in their hearts, and consequently people should not look for God in
mosques, synagogues or churches, but inside their own hearts. Therefore, Sufism
teaches people to look inside themselves, to purify their nafs from evil
influences, and to reach an ultimate state of peace of mind.
Shams’s rules teach to be always thankful and
to be patient. People should be optimistic, because
Whatever
happens in your life, no matter how troubling things might seem, do not enter
the neighborhood of despair. Even when all doors remain closed, God will open
up a new path only for you. Be thankful! It is easy to be thankful when all is
well. A Sufi is thankful not only for what he has been given but also for all
that he has been denied. (Shafak 53)
The simple fact that we are alive is something to be thankful for,
and we should endure everything we are facing during our lives with extreme
patience. However,
Patience
does not mean to passively endure. It means to be farsighted enough to trust
the end result of a process. What does patience mean? It means to look at the
thorn and see the rose, to look at the night and see the dawn. Impatience means
to be so shortsighted as to not be able to see the outcome. The lovers of God
never run out of patience, for they know that time is needed for the crescent
moon to become full. (Shafak 54)
These rules are not only related to
Sufism and to the 13th century Islamic period, but they are
principles that should be followed also in our modern life. In an interview,
Elif Shafak declares that “[i]n my novel Sufism is not introduced as a
theoretical, abstract teaching. It is a living, breathing, moving peaceful
energy. I am interested in what Sufism means for us in the modern world. I
wanted to bring out how Rumi’s philosophy appeals to us today, even when we
seem to be miles and centuries and cultures away from it” (Mundo, “The Forty
Rules of Love: an Interview with Bestselling Author Elif Shafak”).
These rules can be seen as religious, but also
secular, because they deal with the most important aspects of life, a life
lived by both religious and non-religious people, a life where the hard
situations people face are the same, no matter of their beliefs. Shams’s “forty
rules of love” encourage people to follow what they believe in, to make a
change in their world, and to believe in themselves. As Elif Shafak herself
defines,
[s]piritual
paths are like stars in the dark satin of the sky. Some are long dead but their
light still shines upon us. Some are there but we cannot see them. Some have
been in the same place for such a long time we take simply them for granted.
All together they set alight the sky we look up at for meaning and inspiration
as move toward the promise of a new day, a new Self. (Shafak, “The Story behind
the Forty Rules of Love”).
This idea is clear in rule number nineteen, which says “[f]ret not
where the road will take you. Instead concentrate on the first step. That’s the
hardest part and that’s what you are responsible for. Once you take that step
let everything do what it naturally does and the rest will follow. Do not go with
the flow. Be the flow.” (Shafak 91)
Another of Shams’s principles is
that people should stop judging others or say evil things about them, and
rather focus on their lives, trying to make the best out of them; this concept
is highlighted also by rule number twenty-seven, which says that
[t]his
world is like a snowy mountain that echoes your voice. Whatever you speak, good
or evil, will somehow come back to you. Therefore, if there is someone who harbors
ill thoughts about you, saying similarly bad things about him will only make matters
worse. You will be locked in a vicious circle of malevolent energy. Instead for
forty days and nights say and think nice things about that person. Everything
will be different at the end of forty days, because you will be different
inside. (Shafak 141)
As it is clear from the “forty rules
of love”, Sufism is about tolerance, patience, and love, and all these
principles are what make Shams a character loved by readers. People, from
different races, cultures and religions, believe in these principles and
especially in the importance love has in life. Love is the essence of everything
good in people’s existence, it is the source of strength to face problems, it
makes one realize his/her importance in other people’s lives, and it also gives
meaning to everything one does. The last rule of Shams of Tabriz – number
forty- encapsulates all these ideas:
A
life without love is of no account. Don’t ask yourself what kind of love you
should seek, spiritual or material, divine or mundane, Eastern or Western.
Divisions only lead to more divisions. Love has no labels, no definitions. It
is what it is, pure and simple. Love is the water of life. And a lover is a
soul of fire! The universe turns differently when fire loves water. (Shafak 224)
This concept of love is not present
only in the forty rules of Shams, but also in Rumi’s poems. After Shams has
left him, Rumi is invaded by sadness and loneliness, and it is during this
phase that he starts writing poems, transforming all his feelings into words.
His words in these poems have nothing to do with the words he used to pronounce
in his famous sermons, because the two phases of Rumi’s life are extremely
different. His sermons were full of dogmatic, abstract words, used to convince
people that religion is the only solution for everyone on earth. He used to
talk about suffering, while he – as a wealthy man from a respectable family –
had not experienced the real meaning of it.
His words were addressed only to the
respectable people of Konya, but in spite of this, the harlot Desert Rose –
willing to start a new phase of her life in search of God- decided to disguise herself and to attend one of his
sermons, describing this experience by saying
This
is how I found myself listening to the great Rumi in a mosque full of men. I
didn’t even want to think what could happen if they found out there was a woman
amid them, let alone a harlot. Chasing off all dark thoughts, I gave my full attention
to the sermon. “God created suffering so that joy might appear through its
opposite,” Rumi said. “Things become manifest through opposites. Since God has
no opposite, He remains hidden.” As the preacher talked, his voice rose and
swelled like a mountain stream fed by the melting snow. “Look at the abasement
of the earth and the exaltation of the heavens. Know that all the states of the
world are like this: flooding and drought, peace and war. Whatever happens, do
not forget, nothing God has created is in vain, whether wrath or forbearance,
honesty or guile. (Shafak 81)
Despite the fact that she was really enjoying the sermon, and that
Rumi’s words were changing something inside her, her happiness did not last for
too long, since she was discovered by Baybars the Warrior who attacked her,
protesting on how a harlot could attend a religious lecture. Rumi did not
intervene to protect her, but instead it was Shams of Tabriz who saved her from
people’s insults.
As explained by this episode, before his
encounter with Shams, Rumi enjoyed being seen as the best of men, as someone
standing above everyone else, and as being the source of religion to everyone
in the town, but after their encounter, he becomes a common man, a man who is
no more detached from people, but he is a part of them. He starts identifying
with the lower classes of the town, sympathizing for beggars and prostitutes,
understanding that all people are equal in their love for God, and that what
matters is not the appearance of people, but their hearts. At that moment, Rumi
stops giving sermons, he imprisons himself in his thoughts, not dealing
physically with people, but being aware
of their troubles and misfortunes, a feeling that was absent while he used to
be surrounded by these people during his orations. He says that
[f]or
[Shams] I went through trial and tests, states and stages, each of which made
me look more deranged in the eyes of even my most loyal followers. Before, I
had plenty of admirers; now I have gotten rid of the need for an audience. Blow
after blow, Shams managed to ruin my reputation. Because of him I learned the
value of madness and have come to know the taste of loneliness, helplessness,
slander, seclusion, and, finally, heartbreak. (Shafak 188)
In the past his words were powerful and persuasive, but they were
not deeply felt by him, but now, after Shams has changed him into a Sufi poet,
in his poems words become more impressive, and this is clear in this poem:
Whatever you see as profitable, flee from it!
Drink poison and pour away the water of life!
Abandon security and stay in frightful places!
Throw away reputation, become disgraced and shameless! (Shafak 188)
These words are the description of the stages he has been through
in order to become a Sufi: he has escaped from everything beneficial to him, he
has decided to leave the easy life he was conducting, to leave his security and
to ruin his reputation in order to defeat his ego, and to make his heart feel
the real love for God, which has nothing to do with material gaining. Now that
he has reached this stage, the only way he can express himself through is by
writing poems.
Everyone in Rumi’s house is
enchanted by his verses, and especially his wife Kerra, who recites two verses
written by Rumi to his son Sultan Walad:
“Mawlana
is writing verses. They are beautiful. Shams’s absence is turning him into a
poet.” Dropping her gaze to the Persian carpet, her cheeks moist, her round
mouth pouting, Kerra sighed, and then she recited the following:
‘I have seen the king with a face of Glory
He who is the eye and the sun of heaven’” (Shafak 185)
Rumi words are full of meanings, his verses are not long like his
sermons, but with few words he is capable of conveying many feelings and ideas
he failed to express before. His words
now are written in order not to be lost by time; they are there for everyone, documenting
this stage of Rumi’s life. Ayers, in her article “Finding Harmony in All”,
quotes one of Rumi’s poems, which is not included in the novel The Forty
Rules of Love, but which highlights this importance of writing: “When ink
joins with a pen, then the blank paper can say something. / Rushes and reeds
must be woven, to be used as a mat. / If they weren’t interlaced, the wind
would blow them away.” (42)
For all these
reasons, words are extremely powerful, not only in works of literature, but
also in one’s everyday life and in one’s memory. (Bartkevicius 209) They can
change not only one’s way of thinking but also one’s entire life. They make one
reflect on many aspects of life, re-evaluate one’s actions and also plan a
better future. Words, written or said, can be a guide through one’s life, they
can be a source of inspiration or even a way of expressing repressed feelings.
They can have many roles, but the most important thing is that one has to pay
attention to them, to never underestimate their power, and to always try to
understand their lessons.
Notes
¹ The Forty Rules of Love sold more than 600 000 copies, becoming a best-seller in Turkey
and in France awarded with the Prix ALEF - Mention Spéciale Littérature
Etrangère. (Curtis Brown – Literary and Talent Agency)
² Elif Shafak was born in Strasbourg, France, in 1971. She is an
award-winning novelist and the most widely read woman writer in Turkey. Critics
have named her as “one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Turkish
and world literature”. Her books have been translated into more than forty
languages and she was awarded the honorary distinction of Chevalier of the
Order of Arts and Letters. (Curtis Brown – Literary and Talent Agency)
Works Cited
Review Ayers, J. “Finding Harmony in All”. Rev. of The
Forty Rules of Love, by Elif Shafak. I Am Modern (n.d): 42-43. Web.
23 April 2014.
<
http://www.elifshafak.com/images/reviews/iammodern/index.html >
Bartkevicius, J. “The Luminous Power of Words”.
Explorations in Nonfiction. Vol 3. No 2 (Fall 2001): 208-213. JSTOR.
Web. 15 April 2014. < http://www.jstor.org/stable/41938659
>
“Elif
Shafak”. Curtis Brown – Literary & Talent Agency. n.p, n.d. Web. 21 April
2014.
< http://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/elif-shafak/>
Goldberg, M. “Lost in Translation”. New Republic, 25 March 2010. Web. 19
April 2014. <http://www.newrepublic.com/book/review/lost-translation#>
Review Seaman, D. Rev. of The Forty Rules of Love,
by Elif Shafak. Booklist . 15 Feb 2010. Web. 23 April 2014.
<http://www.elifshafak.com/images/reviews/viking/index.asp>
Shafak,
E. The Forty Rules of Love.
London: Viking, 2010. Print.
Shafak, Elif. Interview by Frank
Mundo. “The Forty Rules of Love: an Interview with Bestselling Author Elif
Shafak”. LA Books Examiner. 01 March 2010. Web. 19 April 2014. < http://www.elifshafak.com/images/interviews/examiner/index.asp>
Shafak, E. “The Story Behind the Forty Rules of
Love”. Elif Shafak Official Website. n.d. Web. 20 April 2014.
<http://www.elifshafak.com/aboutlove.asp>
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