In the current wave of renewed interest in Rumi, this book offers the first comprehensive biography of this great historical figure written for the general pubic. Beginning with an analysis of conditions in the 13th century of Christianity and the 7th of Islam, the author pieces together a sensitive and scholarly chronicle of Rumi's life, taking great care to "sift the grain from the chaff." The book covers Rumi's formative years; the appearance and disappearance of the mysterious Shams-i-Tabriz, who transformed Rumi's life; and the sudden "bursting forth" from a middle-aged prose writer of some of the most exquisite and powerful poetry the world has ever known.