The Forty Rules of Love

Book Name: The Forty Rules of Love

Author: Elif Shafak

Genre: Fiction

"Quit worrying about hell or dreaming about heaven, as they are present inside us this very moment. Every time we fall in love, we ascend to heaven. Every time we hate, envy, or fight someone, we tumble straight into the fires of hell."

Elif Shafak's "The Forty Rules of Love" is a novel that unveils another novel inside which tells us two different stories from two different eras simultaneously. The protagonist of the novel Ella Rubinstein is reading a novel "Sweet Blasphemy" by A.Z Zahara. Ella is an unhappy housewife having three children and an unfaithful husband. She later falls in love with the author of "Sweet Blasphemy" A.Z Zahara.

"Sweet Blasphemy" is a historical fiction based upon the actual events of the thirteenth century. It refers to the event in the life of the famous mystic poet Jalal ud din Rumi and a wandering dervish Shams of Tabriz. "Sweet Blasphemy" is about spiritual love, self-discovery, and Sufism. "Sweet Blasphemy" shows the perspective of every character which shows us the real picture of what was happening.

This book does not preach about religion instead, it tells us to be spiritual and stop splitting society over the name of religion and God. As an agnostic, I adored the book because it gave me words to describe my ideologies about religion and God. This book subtly criticized the religious hypocrites who, in the name of religion and God, divided society into several pieces.

Now people assuming this book to be a romantic novel suggested by the title will be more surprised that this book is about love but it is about spiritual love and happiness. This book taught me to love, to be kind and gentle towards others without judging them. This book gives us a message that If we love God, then firstly we must learn to love his creation. If we cannot fall in love with the creation of God, then we do not love God at all.

"Every true love and friendship is a story of unexpected transformation. If we are the same person before and after we loved, that means we haven't loved enough."

I would recommend everyone to read this book once and I am sure that after finishing this book, your opinions will change for the better.

Do read this book and don't forget to share your views in the comment section.