The 40 Rules of Love is written by Elif Shafak, a British-Turkish novelist and non-fiction writer. Elif Shafak is most widely read female writer in Turkey and she has written 17 books among them 10 are novels both in Turkish and English languages. Her highly read books are Honour, The Flea Palace and A Migrating Bird, including the world’s bestselling books The Bastard of Istanbul, The 40 Rules of Love and her recent Three Daughters of Eve. Elif Shafak is also an academic, a public speaker and women’s rights activist. She has also taught in different universities around the globe. “Every true love and friendship is a story of an unexpected transformation. If we are the same person before and after we loved, that means we haven’t loved enough” This novel is about the unexpected transformation and consists of two parallel stories. This book has five chapters. Earth: the things that are solid, absorbed and still. Water: the things that are fluid, changing and unpredictable. Wind: the things that shift, evolve and challenge. Fire: the things that damage devastate and destroy. The Void: the things that are present through their absence. The two parallel narratives one is of well-known mystic shamas of Tabrizi who is wonderer and dreams interpreter but does not have dreams of his own and the famous philosopher and preacher Maulana Rumi. Elif Shafak is also an academic, a public speaker and women’s rights activist. She has also taught in different universities around the globe This explains how the shams transformed the life of scholar and preacher to a Sufi and a poet. The other story is of Aziz who is the writer of a novel sweet blasphemy and a photographer who wander all over the globe and of Ella a forty years old, a literary agency review writer, an unhappy and a monotonous housewife. Likewise, Rumi’s life, this novel also explains how the life of Ella is transformed. One who lacked any survival techniques to help her cope with life’s hardships on her own. She was not cautioned to the wind. Even changing her daily coffee brand was a major effort. But what happened that she filed for divorce after twenty years of her marriage. There was a reason “love” The life of both Rumi and Ella was transformed into poignant love because of their beloveds shamas and Aziz. This is the book which may highly influence on one’s life. The one who will read this book surely will try to read it once again. A life-changing book and full of mystic lessons have 40 rules of love told by shamas of Tabrizi in different situations and phases which are full of wisdom and holy epics about the love. The most loveable rules are given below. Rule no 1 How we see God is a direct reflection of how we see ourselves. If God brings to mind mostly fear and blame, it means there is too much fear and blames welled inside us. If we see God as full of love and compassion, so are we. Rule no 3 You can study God through everything and everyone in the universe because God is not confined in a mosque, synagogue or church. But if you are still in need of knowing where exactly His abode is, there is only one place to look for him: in the heart of a true lover. Rule no 10 The midwife knows that when there is no pain, the way for the baby cannot be opened and the mother cannot give birth. Likewise, for a new self to be born, hardship is necessary. Just as clay needs to go through intense heat to become strong, Love can only be perfected in pain. Rule no15 It’s easy to love a perfect God, unblemished and infallible that He is. What is far more difficult is to love fellow human being with all their imperfections and defects. Remember, one can only know what one is capable of loving. There is no wisdom without love. Unless we learn to love God’s creation, we can neither truly love nor truly know God. Rule no 27 Whatever you speak, good or evil, will somehow come back to you. Therefore, if there harbour ill thoughts about you, saying similarly bad things about him will only make matters worse. You will be locked in a vicious circle of malevolent energy. Instead for forty days and nights say and think nice things about that person. Everything will be different at the end of 40 days because you will be different inside. Rule no 32 Nothing should stand between you and God. No imams, priests, rabbits or any other custodians of moral or religious leadership. Not spiritual masters and not even your faith. Believe in your values and your rules, but never lord them over others. If you keep breaking other people’s hearts, whatever religious duty you perform is no good. Stay away from all sorts of idolatry, for they will blur your vision. Let God and only God be your guide. Learn the Truth, my friend, but be careful not to make a fetish out of your truths. Rule no 40 A life without love is of no account. Don’t ask yourself what kind of love you should seek, spiritual or material, divine or mundane, Eastern or Western. Divisions only lead to more divisions. Love has no labels, no definitions. It is what it is, pure and simple. Love is the water of life. And a lover is a soul of fire! The universe turns differently when fire loves water. The number 40 has great importance as it is the most beautiful age for both men and women. In mystic thought, 40 symbolises the ascent from one level to a higher one and spiritual awakening. When we mourn, we mourn for 40 days. When a baby is born, it takes 40 days for him to get ready to start his life on Earth. And when we are in love, we need to wait 40 days to be sure of our feelings. The writer is a blogger and a student at Iqra University. She can be reached at uzma7659@gmail.com