The Forty Rules of Love

“When I was a child, I saw God,

I saw angels;

I watched the mysteries of higher and lower worlds. I thought all men saw the same. At last I realized that they did not see…”

This quotation appears before the Preface and is from the real-life Shams of Tabriz. The quote sets the stage for the narrative itself and the loss that individuals in the book have over time. The dreams and goals of youth dissipate as they are replaced by more immediate concerns—wealth, status, prosperity. In the book, Ella’s life involves trying to have the picture-perfect family; when the dramatized Shams meets Rumi in the book, even Rumi is concerned with familial status and material goods. Conversely, these words implore readers to instead look for “God” and “angels,” as it’s those things that are truly important.

“The water that scares you rejuvenates me. For unlike you I can swim, and swim I shall.”

First and foremost, this book is about characters learning to navigate challenging moments in their lives. For Shams, this is confronting his own death, which he has seen again and again in his visions. For Rumi, this means leaving behind the certainty of scholarly life to seek truth more broadly. Ella must learn not to fear change and renewal, and give up the stale life to which she has come to feel only marginally connected.