Mentorship can take unexpected forms, such as the mutual one between Jalalludin Rumi and Shams of Tabriz. Mentorship: When Good Advice becomes Solace by James Cowan In our modern, bustling life, it is often important to pause and think about the role that mentors can play as a way of understanding what to do next. Often, we think of such people as being of a professional class such as a psychologist or a business superior, when in fact they do not have to be so. A mentor can be someone who has a deep understanding of the inner life and is willing to share his or her knowledge. In the new book, Warriors of Love, the idea of the mentor is explored between Jalalludin Rumi and his friend Shams of Tabriz in the thirteenth century. These men met in Konya, Turkey, and formed a deep bond. Each became to the other his mentor. Their mentorship, however, was not simply that of good advice about what to do in unusual or trying circumstances. Rather, their friendship was founded upon an understanding of their individual needs, and how they might enact a more balanced attitude towards the relationship between their inner and outer lives. Rumi was a scholar and a poet. Shams, on the other hand, was an itinerant philosopher, a gadfly who called no place his home.  Together they would perform a sobhet, or meditation, which sometimes lasted many months. While remaining isolated in a room, they were able to plumb the depths of their spirituality, their hal, and so release it into the world. As mentors, they completed one another. Their spiritual lives were enhanced by the stark contrast in their personalities. The scholar and the vagabond, the poet, and the wild man – somehow they found a way to smooth the rough...

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