Chasing Rumi: A Fable About Finding the Heart's True Desire

150 Pages·2002·0.61 MB·English

by  Roger Housden

Chasing

Rumi
A Fable
About Finding
the Heart’s
i
True Desire

Roger Housden

Contents
1948 1
1
GEORGIOU ran lightly, two steps at a time, up the… 3
1958 7
2
FLORENCE: the name lingers on the tongue like the taste… 9
3
LIKE MANY young men, Georgiou enjoyed the banter
of café… 11
4
GEORGIOU took out the slim volume of poetry that Andros… 15
5
GEORGIOU had not taken the book out of his pocket… 20
6
THERE WAS no reason to wait; Georgiou decided to leave… 22
7
GEORGIOU set out early the next morning while most of… 26
8
WHEN HE STEPPED ashore from the overnight mail boat
onto… 27
9
THE YOUNG MAN was making ready to leave early the… 31
10
IT TOOK Georgiou almost six days to walk across the… 35
11
GEORGIOU walked into the shrine of Delphi an hour before… 37
12
THE GUARDIAN of the oracle at Delphi was an old… 40
13
ONE EVENING, just before Georgiou finished his work of
restoration,… 43
14
ATHOS—the entire peninsula—is a country within the
country… 47
15
FATHER DIMITRI sat alone in his painter’s studio, a small… 50
16
FATHER DIMITRI unlatched the door and opened it wide.
Georgiou… 52
17
GEORGIOU accepted Father Dimitri’s invitation to stay at
his studio… 56
18
THE NEXT morning, Father Dimitri led Georgiou out
along the… 60
19
FOR MANY days Georgiou worked alongside Father Dimitri,
laboring to… 64
20
GEORGIOU returned to Father Dim-itri’s studio and continued
painting. The… 69
21
GEORGIOU went down to Dafni, the port of the Holy… 71
22
GEORGIOU crossed the border into Turkey. It was the first… 73
23
WHEN GEORGIOU stepped out of the inn the next morning,… 75
24
GEORGIOU continued his journey, traveling for days on
the high… 79
25
BE PULLED ON his clothes, went down the stairs, and… 83
26
GEORGIOU followed his guide through the labyrinth of
alleys, almost… 85
27
MOHAMMED, who was also a Sufi of the Mevlevi Order,… 87
28
THE NEXT MORNING, over strong mint tea, Mohammed
offered to… 91
29
FOR SOME WEEKS Georgiou went every Friday to the sema… 92
30
AS TIME PASSED, Georgiou began to learn the Turkish
language. 95
31
WHEN HE FINISHED work the next evening, Georgiou
took his… 98
32
THE WEEKS TURNED into months. Georgiou almost forgot
the world… 100
33
WHEN HE WAS not with the dervishes, Georgiou was busy… 104
34
IN THE BRIEF hours of his free time Georgiou would… 106
35
GEORGIOU was sad to leave his friends in Istanbul, but… 111
36
THE NEXT DAY Georgiou went to the address that Hassan… 115
37
BE HURRIED after her through the streets to a quarter… 118
38
SOPHIA SARMOUN stood up, fetched a silver bowl of water,… 120
39
GEORGIOU slept long and often, especially in the
beginning. But… 124
40
FOR DAYS ON END Georgiou remained in the quiet, with… 127
41
GEORGIOU no longer cared how long he would spend alone… 129
42
COME,” Sophia said, as she turned to go up the… 131
43
GEORGIOU took the next bus back to Istanbul, where he… 133
44
A FEW WEEKS after his return, Georgiou was standing in… 135
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i1948