MYSTICAL LOVE AND SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION: A SUFI INTERPRETATION OF ELIF SHAFAK’S THE FORTY RULES OF LOVE.

Abstract

This study examines the redemptive potential of mystical love in Elif Shafak's The Forty Rules of Love from a Sufi perspective, drawing on the concept of Ishq-e-Haqiqi (Divine Love). The article proposes to discuss how, in the novel, love is not merely an emotional energy but a spiritual catalyst for the purification of the self and the realization of one's true self. Through thematic analysis, the study mirrors in tandem the journey of Ella Rubinstein, a contemporary American woman on a quest for meaning, and the thirteenth-century spiritual friendship between Jalal al-Din Rumi and Shams of Tabriz. From the metaphysical musings of pre-modern Sufi thinkers like Rumi, Al-Ghazali, and Ibn Arabi, the paper traces how Shafak transforms Sufi adaptations of love and ego destruction into a modern literary genre. This focus is also applied to Shafak's narrative approaches, proclaiming spiritual awakening and transcendence beyond religious and cultural divides.Finally, this study makes the case that The Forty Rules of Love is a work of Sufi wisdom that demonstrates the universal ability of divine love to arouse human consciousness and foster harmony between religions and cultures.