Elif afak, the most widely read writer in Turkey, has received a growing fan base around the world with the sale of her book The Bastard from Istanbul. The Forty Rules of Love is her lyric, new and original novel about the famous Sufi, Jalal al-Din al-Rumi. The book blends East and West, and the efforts, past and present, to create an exciting, compelling, and zealous story about how love is in the world. The Forty Rules of Love unfolds two novels: one story in the thirteenth century, when she encounters his spiritual mentor, Rumi, known as the Dervish Wandering Sun of Tabriz, and a contemporary story about an unhappy American wife inspired by Rumi's message of love, finds the courage to transform her life.