It is hardly conceivable that after centuries of study of the Mathnawī of Jalal alDin
Rūmī, this most famous work of mystical poetry in the Persian language,
it could still be possible to make a new discovery of such import and dimension
concerning Rūmī’s masterpiece as one fi nds in this book. Th is discovery
is nothing less than the unveiling of the general structure of the Mathnawī
to which there is no reference in earlier studies of this bible of Sufi sm. Th e
book marks, therefore, a major event in the study of Sufī literature in general
and of Rūmī in particular.