Elif Shafak – Friday 8th July @ The Royal Festival Hall

The Purcell Room

Elif Shafak – Turkey’s biggest selling novelist reads from her novel The Forty Rules of Love and discusses some of the themes of the book.

Shafak started by talking about the nature of writing her novels/books.   She stated that every book was a ‘journey’ and that  The Forty Rules of Love is a ‘book within a book.’

The passage she read from The Forty Rules of Love captured my  imagination.  Having read the book a year ago I recognized the passage. Rumi, put in first person narrative discusses his  love for Shams Of Tabriz and how others could not comprehend  the immensity of such a love. People saw Shams as an  eccentric, unknown, utterly unpredictable dervish.   They failed to see past this or beyond this initial assumption,  in fact they were even scared of Shams.   These words left everyone in a beautifying abyss of  sheer admiration between the two lovers. Rumi who  was water and Shams who was fire. The novel switches between modern American housewife Ella and a modern Sufi living  in Amsterdam.

The topic then changed to language and Elif Shafak’s  talent in switching from Turkish to English. Some of  the audience were curious as to why the books weren’t just translated? Shafak said that she had a fascination  with language, she gave the example of a Turkish middle class women who won’t swear in Turkish but will swear in English.  This reminded me of when I swear in Urdu, for some  reason it is deemed less offensive then swearing in English.   Shafak concluded that language was an existential dimension  and that language makes us change our voice and sometimes our  personality. Thus language often shapes us rather then us being in charge of our languages.

I asked Elif Shafak if Rumi’s message of love could empower the youth of today.   She answered brilliantly, saying that although we are  familiar with Rumi, we should also be inspired by Shams.   She added that their combined message has the power to empower  both young and old.

I wrote a poetry response to the book, it has a  slightly political edge to it. Some of the messages of  The Forty Rules of Love did have a profound impact on me and  this is reflected through this poem. Each stanza covers a  different concept or theme the book covered through  Shams of Tabriz and Rumi.

Reality is a Sketchy imitation,

numbers in bank vaults

inflated oppression like an Israeli occupation

engrained in the minds of the youth

like a pre-pubescent teen singing sensation

hyper hegemony, a twisted hallucinogenic

taking man higher than any cocaine

or powerfully potent chronic.

Made a President’s economics concentrate on semi-automatics

spending millions on star wars not education.

Now that’s advanced Reaganomics

simple misunderstandings taken on face value,

the past tense dictates future events

complex common sense sits on the fence

whilst linguistic lies go from myths to truth.

the Over-curious cat did die another day

9 days later and curiosity saved the mouse

Bond’s built like bridges with the consumer

more poisonous than a cancerous tumour

fake teachers, fake stars…

narcissistic egotistical mentors..

models who aren’t fit for the role..

truth or Haqq, a labour of the heart revealed like a slow-burning coal

a pageant picking the prettiest flowers..

infatuated with the concept that beauty is outward

Anger the by-word for Strength

controlling it is being a apparently a coward

Every word spoken, is stored.

Every truth, untruth and lie

eschatologically more powerful than wi-fi

Into one invisible web of stories

Into one loud silent conversation……..

Life is a temporary loan..

lost in interest, investing our thoughts

we’ve mistaken a toy for the real thing..

I also embarked on a mini-project, I wanted to take  pictures of people who encapsulate what Shams Of Tabriz was.   People who are unknown, feared, unpredictable in society but  have the purest hearts. Often we overlook them and don’t see  beyond what our eyes show us.

 

“The Stronger your Love, the lesser your ego”

 

“A soul which completes yours, your mirror.”

Filed under: London Literature Festival 2011