When I first read Rumi, the universe as I knew it exploded. Suddenly, I started realizing that the connections I share with others are bound by spontaneity, and I was opened to new levels of love. Reading Rumi is a transformative experience, and it's something that I owe to Coleman Barks, a scholar who is well known for his translations of the Sufi poet. Although Coleman Barks doesn't actually speak or read Farsi, what he's done for the accessibility of this Sufi mystic—by re-translating the translations from AJ Arberry and Reynold A Nicholson—is something worthwhile to note.