Forty Rules of Love is a beautiful novel written by the Turkish-British author, Elif Shafak. It is a beautiful story that depicts the 40 observations about love and God, put forward by the Sufi mystic, Shams of Tabrizi, and how these rules can be interpreted in the modern context through the story of Ella, a twentieth century homemaker. The book is set in two parallel narratives and is amazingly written. Like most people, I mistakenly thought the book to be another novel about love and I withheld myself from reading it for quite some time. But it so was not. Once I started reading it, it had me engaged starting from the prologue and held me captive till the end. Although, the first narrative about Ella seemed like a daily soap and was odd and empty at times, to be honest, it sounded clichéd, but the second one about the friendship and love of Shams and Rumi is amazingly depicted. The book is a must read of everyone. The forty rules of love are not only mesmerizing and deep but with an open perspective and some understanding, they can even be practiced and applied in day to day lives.

It's not just God, We see the world as we ourselves are. We create our own meanings of everything we could perceive and turn them into conclusions but is it really there?

Big Egos are big shields for lots of empty spaces. The more you involve your mind in the matters of your heart, the more you will suffer.

A true lover is the one who loves selflessly without any hidden desires, without anything to ask for in return.

Choose wisely. Love ain't gonna put food on your table, but Intellect ain't gonna let you enjoy life. And when your heart breaks, learn from it for it contains wisdom of your true selves.

Being silent with someone is the best you can do sometimes.

If you feel like you are lonely when you are alone, you need to change your company.

Patience is the key to this one, don't give up hope. Don't depend upon someone else to hold the reigns of your life. Just give your best and trust in yourselves. And be thankful for everyone. Opportunities will present themselves sooner or later.

Good things take time. Be patient, whatever is meant to be will always find it's way.