The Drop That Became the Sea

     This collection of poems introduces a general readership to Yunus Emre (1240-1321), called the "greatest folk poet in Islam." An unlettered Turkish shepherd who sang mystical songs that are still popular today, he was the first in a great tradition of Turkish Sufi troubadours who celebrated the Divine Presence as the intimate Beloved and Friend. Yunus's verse conveys the spirit and philosophy of Islamic mysticism in simple, earthy language.     "The songs that sing to us from these pages are fresh and simpleand as deep as the Sea itself. What better to say of a book than it came when it was needed." —ImpressionsKabir Helminski is the author of Living Presence: A Sufi Way to Mindfulness and the Essential Self, as well as the translator of numerous books of Sufi literature and especially Rumi. He is the codirector, with his wife, Camille Helminski, of the Threshold Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to sharing the knowledge and practice of Sufism. As the publisher of Threshold Books for some twenty years, he was largely responsible for making Rumi the most widely read poet of our time. As a producer and writer of Sufi music, he has gained recognition for numerous recordings, including his own Garden within the Flames. He is a representative of the Mevlevi tradition founded by Jalaluddin Rumi.