The book Rumi’s Daughter is a masterpiece of Muriel Maufroy in which she has beautifully depicted a mystical story of a girl named Kimya who was born in a village in Anatolia. Both father and mother were worried about their youngest 7-year-old daughter because she was totally different from other children of her age. She used to love being alone. She found serenity in the mountains, in the springs, in the murmur of the trees in the wind, in the radiance of dawn. Sometimes, she was completely lost in her imaginary world.
A religious scholar advised Kimya’s parents to send her to Konya, where Maulana Jalal ud din Rumi adopts her and takes her under his guidance wing. Kimya started learning from Maulana by hearing different stories.
Everything goes well but suddenly life gets a twist with the arrival of a darvaish, Shams of Tabraiz, to whom Maulana Rumi became so much attached. Later on, kimya got married to Shams. It was very challenging for her to set herself in Sham’s lifestyle because he was spiritually absorbed in the love of God. She was sometimes overwhelmed by a feeling of joy and sometimes found herself in a pain that she thought would never end.
This story is mainly about the Love of God and self-discovery. True love is hidden somewhere deep inside everyone but a person first needs to purify his heart from worldly desires to attain the love of God. When we finally find the light of God’s love, it transforms the copper of our being into gold.
The story is full of Sufism, mysticism, and the true love of God. But the ending of the story was unexpected and saddening. Kimya died and shams disappeared forever after Kimya’s death.
Book Review By: Shumaila Ghazal
She is a student of International Relations at International Islamic University, Islamabad.
