SOURCE: E. H. Whinfield, in an introduction to Masnavi I Ma'Navi: The Spiritual Couplets of Maulana Jalalu-'d-din Muhammad I Rumi, edited and translated by E. H. Whinfield, Trubner & Co., 1887, pp. xiii-xxxii.

In the excerpt that follows. Whinfield analyzes the influence of the Koran and Sufism on Rumi's Masnavi, noting that Rumi took these sources and "fused them into a system by the cardinal principal of 'Love.'"

The Masnavi is described by the Author in his Arabic Preface as follows:—

Thus saith the feeble servant, in need of the mercy of God, whose name be extolled, Muhammad, son of Muhammad, son of Husain, of Balkh, of whom may God accept it,—' have exerted myself to enlarge this book of poetry in rhymed couplets, which contains strange and rare narratives, beautiful sayings, and recondite indications; a path for the devout, and a garden for the pious; short in...