The Forty Rules of Love Summary: A Transformative Journey Through Rumi’s Mystical World
Elif Shafak builds the novel from two interwoven narratives set eight centuries apart.
One follows Ella Rubinstein, a contemporary Massachusetts housewife.
The other follows the 13th-century mystic Shams of Tabriz and the poet Rumi in Anatolia.
Readers looking for a clear account of the plot, characters, themes, and ending will find the key facts gathered here.
TL;DR: The Heart of This Two-Timeline Novel
Ella Rubinstein, a Massachusetts housewife nearing forty, takes a reading job and encounters a manuscript about the 13th-century mystic Shams of Tabriz and the poet Rumi.
The manuscript’s teachings about love and inner awakening unsettle her predictable life and pull her into an unexpected correspondence with the author.
In the historical narrative, Shams arrives in Konya and transforms Rumi from a respected scholar into a passionate mystic, provoking scandal and resentment.
The novel moves between two timelines, both centered on the cost and power of choosing love over security.
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Characters In This Book
| Character | Role |
|---|---|
| Ella Rubinstein | A Massachusetts housewife who undergoes a spiritual and romantic awakening. |
| Aziz Z. Zahara (Craig Richardson) | A Scottish Sufi, photographer, and author of Sweet Blasphemy who becomes Ella’s lover. |
| Jalal ad-Din Rumi | A famous 13th-century scholar in Konya who becomes a world-renowned mystic poet. |
| Shams of Tabriz | A wandering dervish and Rumi’s spiritual companion who teaches the Forty Rules of Love. |
| David Rubinstein | Ella’s husband, a successful dentist whose infidelities push Ella away. |
| Aladdin | Rumi’s younger son, whose jealousy and traditionalism lead him to conspire against Shams. |
| Sultan Walad | Rumi’s loyal elder son who deeply respects Shams and eventually brings him back to Konya. |
| Kimya | Rumi’s gifted adopted daughter who marries Shams and dies of unrequited love. |
| Kerra | Rumi’s second wife, a former Christian who struggles with Shams’s disruptive presence but eventually finds respect for him. |
| Desert Rose the Harlot | A prostitute who escapes a brothel and finds spiritual refuge in Rumi’s household. |
| Suleiman the Drunk | A tavern regular who is treated with compassion by Shams and Rumi. |
| Hasan the Beggar | A leper in Konya who receives kindness and a silver mirror from Shams. |
| Baybars | A cruel security guard who hates Shams and participates in his murder. |
| Sheikh Yassin | An orthodox religious scholar who views Shams and Rumi’s new path as blasphemy. |
| Jackal Head | A professional assassin hired to kill Shams. |
| Baba Zaman | The master of a dervish lodge in Baghdad who helps Shams find his destiny. |
| Master Sameed | Aziz’s Sufi mentor in Morocco. |
| Jeannette, Orly, and Avi | Ella’s children, whose growing independence and personal struggles mirror Ella’s shift. |
The Forty Rules of Love Summary: Two Journeys, One Call to Love
Spoiler Warning: This section reveals the full plot including the ending.
Ella Rubinstein lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, in 2008. Her marriage to dentist David is emotionally empty despite their material comfort.
She takes a job at a literary agency and receives the manuscript Sweet Blasphemy by the unknown author A.Z. Zahara. The manuscript tells the story of Shams of Tabriz and Rumi.
Ella begins emailing the author, Aziz Z. Zahara. Their digital correspondence becomes emotionally intimate and pulls her away from her cynical views.
In 1242, Shams of Tabriz is a wandering dervish in Baghdad. He receives a vision of his own murder and a call to find a spiritual companion in Konya.
Rumi is a highly respected Islamic scholar in Konya who feels an inner void. When Shams and Rumi meet in 1244, they retreat into seclusion for forty days to discuss the Forty Rules of the Religion of Love.
Shams transforms Rumi from a mainstream cleric into a passionate poet and mystic. This bond provokes intense jealousy from Rumi’s son Aladdin and anger from orthodox leaders like Sheikh Yassin.
Shams befriends the city’s outcasts, including Desert Rose the prostitute, Suleiman the Drunk, and Hasan the Beggar. Rumi arranges for Shams to marry his adopted daughter Kimya to stabilize his place in the family.
The marriage is tragic because Shams cannot provide the domestic love Kimya craves. Kimya dies of a broken heart, and Shams leaves Konya before being brought back by Rumi’s elder son Sultan Walad.
The resentment against Shams culminates in a conspiracy. Aladdin, Baybars, and other conspirators confront Shams in Rumi’s courtyard, and the assassin Jackal Head kills him.
His body is dumped in a well. Rumi finds him, lets out a terrifying scream, and is permanently changed by the loss.
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Rumi spends the rest of his life dictating the Mathnawi and formalizing the whirling dervish dance. In the modern timeline, David discovers Ella’s correspondence with Aziz.
Aziz travels to Boston to meet Ella. He reveals that he is a Sufi with terminal skin cancer and only months to live.
Ella chooses the present moment and leaves her husband and children to be with Aziz. In 2009, they travel to Konya together.
Aziz collapses and dies in a hospital in Konya. Ella buries him near Rumi’s tomb in a funeral filled with music and joy, as he requested.
Ella does not return to her old life in Massachusetts. She moves to Amsterdam to live one day at a time, finally understanding that a life without love is of no account.
Summary by Chapter: The Five Stages of the Journey
Spoiler Warning: Detailed chapter groupings follow.
Earth: The Call to Leave Safety
Ella Rubinstein receives the manuscript Sweet Blasphemy and feels a strange connection to the author’s words.
Shams of Tabriz leaves his lodge in Baghdad after receiving a vision of his spiritual companion in Konya. Both protagonists prepare to abandon their established safety for the unknown.
Water: Arrival and the First Flow
Shams enters Konya and begins interacting with its most marginalized citizens, including Hasan the Beggar and Desert Rose the Harlot.
In the modern day, Ella and Aziz begin their email correspondence, which becomes a fluid medium for Ella to confess her unhappiness. The characters start to challenge their internal boundaries and social mirrors.
Wind: The Stirring of Scandal
Shams and Rumi finally meet, shifting the power dynamics of Rumi’s household and the city of Konya.
As they retreat into seclusion to discuss the Forty Rules, gossip and resentment grow from Aladdin and the local orthodox scholars. Ella’s modern life also evolves as she adopts a more detached, Sufi-like composure toward her family’s drama.
Fire: Trials and the Price of Love
This section focuses on the damage caused by Shams’s radical teachings, including Rumi’s scandalous visit to a tavern and the introduction of the sema dance.
Aladdin’s jealousy turns murderous, and Kimya’s unrequited love for Shams leads to her tragic illness and death. In the present, Ella meets Aziz in Boston, confesses her love, and learns of his terminal illness.
The Void: Legacy Through Absence
The final chapters deal with the presence of the beloved through absence. Shams is murdered, leaving Rumi to find his dervish-self through grief.
Aziz dies in Konya with Ella by his side.
The novel concludes with both Ella and the spirit of Rumi realizing that the essence of love remains an eternal, whirling circle.
The Novel’s Deeper Ideas
| Theme | How the book presents it |
|---|---|
| The Nature of Love (Spiritual and Material) | The novel contrasts Ella’s empty domestic love with the spiritual love Shams teaches Rumi. Both narratives show love as a force that demands risk and surrender. |
| Transformation and Spiritual Awakening | Rumi changes from a respected scholar into a poet and mystic after meeting Shams. Ella shifts from a passive housewife into someone who chooses her own path. |
| Conflict between Orthodox Religion and Mysticism | Sheikh Yassin and other orthodox leaders view Shams and Rumi’s new path as blasphemy. This tension drives much of the historical plot. |
| Submission to Destiny | Shams receives a vision of his own murder and accepts it as part of his path. Ella also accepts Aziz’s terminal illness and chooses to live in the present. |
| The Power of the Present Moment | Aziz tells Ella that the present moment is all that matters. Both timelines emphasize living fully now rather than waiting for a safe future. |
| Duality vs. Oneness | The novel sets up contrasts between East and West, past and present, orthodox and mystic. The Forty Rules push characters toward seeing beyond these divisions. |
| Loneliness and Companionship | Rumi feels an inner void despite his fame, and Ella feels isolated in her marriage. The bond between Shams and Rumi, and between Ella and Aziz, answers that loneliness. |
| The Internal Jihad against the Ego (Nafs) | Shams teaches that the greatest struggle is against one’s own ego. The novel shows characters confronting pride, jealousy, and the need for control. |
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Frequently Asked Questions
How does The Forty Rules of Love end?
The Forty Rules of Love ends with two parallel conclusions. In the 13th-century timeline, Shams is murdered and Rumi transforms his grief into poetry and the whirling dervish tradition. In the modern timeline, Ella leaves her old life and moves to Amsterdam after Aziz dies in Konya.
Is The Forty Rules of Love based on a true story?
The historical narrative in The Forty Rules of Love is based on the real 13th-century relationship between Rumi and Shams of Tabriz. The modern storyline about Ella Rubinstein is fictional.
Similar Books to Explore
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho — Shares the theme of a spiritual journey and searching for one’s destiny.
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse — Explores the quest for enlightenment and the limitations of traditional dogma.
My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk — A historical novel set in the Ottoman Empire that blends art, philosophy, and mystery.
The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak — Another work by the same author exploring Turkish history and family secrets.
Snow by Orhan Pamuk — Deals with the tension between modern secularism and religious mysticism in Turkey.
The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali — A dual-timeline story of love and loss set against political upheaval in Iran.
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