Rumi: Captives of the Light (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9789819835003)

This book is a sweeping historical story that brings to life the legendary bond between Jalal ad-Din Rumi and Shams-i Tabrizi. Evren Sharma invites readers into 13th-century Konya, where poetry, mysticism, and forbidden love collide in a world of devotion and desire.

Told in five parts, the story traces Rumi's transformation from revered scholar to spiritual poet, while illuminating the hidden struggles of the women around him - wives, daughters, and companions whose voices have long been silenced. Through their eyes, readers witness love's power to heal and destroy, faith's ability to inspire and imprison, and longing's capacity to shape destinies.

With lyrical prose and unforgettable imagery (whirling dervishes, oceans meeting deserts, candles burning in the dark), Sharma weaves a tale of passion, betrayal, and transcendence. Rumi-Captives of the Light is both a timeless love story and a meditation on the human spirit, perfect for readers drawn to historical account, spiritual journeys, and the enduring poetry of Rumi.

'Freedom lay on the other side of that door. Everything beyond it - the skies, the fields, the rivers and the mountains - had become her prison. She was a captive in Konya, a captive in her own house. Everything she longed for was in that room behind the door, yet she was locked out - locked out of Mevlana.'

When the wandering mystic Shams of Tabriz arrives in 13th-century Konya, his encounter with the revered scholar Mevlana Jalal ad-Din Rumi sparks a love that will transform spiritual history. Their bond gives a new meaning to devotion, provokes jealousy and disturbs the fragile order of a household, a city and a society. But while the world remembers the poet and the man he called his 'Sun', history remains silent about the women left in their shadow.

Rumi-Captives of the Light gives voice to Kerra Khatun, Rumi's steadfast wife, and Kimia, his innocent step-daughter, whose lives are forever altered by a love that transcends reason and defies convention. In a time where passion and exile walk hand in hand, they must confront betrayal, longing and the unseen cost of spiritual enlightenment. This is a story not only of those who seek the light - but of those who burn in its fire.