Corrections of Popular Versions of Poems From Rumi's Divan
The Difference Between Versions and Translations
Examples of Distorted Versions and Translations
From Versions By Coleman Barks
From A Translation and A Version by John Moyne
From Versions By Jonathan Star
From Translations and Versions By Shahram Shiva
From A Version By Deepak Chopra
From Translations By Nevit Ergin
From Versions By Kabir Helminski
The Popularization of Rumi
It is an astonishing fact that, after more than 700 years, Jalaluddin Rumi is the most popular poet in America. This is largely due to American authors, such as the poet Coleman Barks who has rendered literal translations of Rumi into free verse "American spiritual poetry" in a manner which has reached so many different sectors of American society. One finds Rumi quotes following the titles of newsletters, on the bottom lines of e-mails, and in many different kinds of published articles. Many people have memorized their favorite lines -- usually those rendered by Coleman Barks, because his versions communicate far more successfully than literal translations. The reasons for such a response are unclear, but it likely has to do with a certain "spiritual hunger" in America (perhaps due to an absence of a mystical and ecstatic dimension in general American spirituality).
Yet this popularization has had a price, and the price is a frequent distortion of Rumi's words and teachings which permeate such well-selling books. The English "creative versions" rarely sound like Rumi to someone who can read the poems in the original Persian, and they are often shockingly altered-- but few know this, and the vast majority of readers cannot but believe that such versions are faithful renderings into English of Rumi's thoughts and teachings when they are not.
The public has been deceived by the publishers of many of the popular books, who proclaim their authors as "translators" of Rumi-- when, in fact, very few of them can read Persian. Coleman Barks, from the very beginning, called his renderings "versions."1 And he has consistently clarified, in both his books and poetry readings, that he doesn't know Persian and works from the literal translations of others.2 However, subsequent book covers and title pages proclaim, "Translations by Coleman Barks." And he has been (and allows himself to be) promoted as "widely regarded as the world's premier translator of Rumi's writings..."3 Sometimes the title pages within his books give some further information about the translators whose work he depended on: "Translations by Coleman Barks with John Moyne, A. J. Arberry, Reynold Nicholson."4 However, the general reader would tend to recognize Barks as the "translator" and not pay attention to "small print" statements explaining that he used literal translations made by John Abel Moyne (an Iranian formerly named Javaad Mo`een), Arberry and Nicholson (both British scholars at Cambridge University).
Where did the idea come from that poets could "translate" spiritual poetry into English without knowing the original language? According to Professor Franklin Lewis, "The idea that poets can 'translate' without knowing the source language seems to have originated with Ezra Pound and his circle Pound took Ernest Fenellosa's scholarly translations of Li Po's Chinese poems and Japanese Noh plays and worked them into a startlingly new kind of English poem."5
The Difference Between Versions and Translations
It is therefore necessary to clarify the difference between true translations of Rumi's verses (made directly from Persian) and versions (falsely advertised or claimed as "translations").
Accurate translations of Rumi's poetry have been made by such scholars as R. A. Nicholson, A. J. Arberry, Annemarie Schimmel, William Chittick, and Franklin Lewis. Iranian authors who have made popular translations into English from Persian (which are of variable reliability due to unfamiliarity with classical Persian, religious terms and references, and compromises with popularization) are Shahram Shiva and Nader Khalili. Translations from secondary languages into English (of variable reliability) have been made by Nevit Ergin (from translations into Turkish from Persian by Golpinarli). And reliable translations have been made by Simone Fattal (from translations into French from Persian by Eva de Vitray-Meyerovitch) and Muriel Maufroy (from de Vitray-Meyerovitch's French translations).
Among version-makers, the most responsible are Kabir and Camille Helminski (versions of Masnavi and Ghazals, based on translations by Nicholson and Arberry, but only indirectly acknowledged). Others are Coleman Barks (based on translations by John Moyne, the translations of Nicholson, Arberry, and Nevit Ergin); Daniel Liebert (no source translations mentioned, but some are based on those by Nicholson); Andrew Harvey (no source translations mentioned, but some are based on those by de Vitray- Meyerovitch); James Cowan (based on translations by Nicholson, but not acknowledged); Jonathan Star (based on translations by Shahram Shiva); Muriel Maufroy (based on the French translations by de Vitray-Meyerovitch); Deepak Chopra (based on translations by Fereydoun Kia in his first book, no sources listed in his recent book); Azima Melita Kolin (based on translations by Maryam Mafi); Raficq Abdulla (based on translations by Arberry, but not acknowledged); Kabir and Camille Helminski (quatrain versions based on translations by Lida Saedian).
One would think that, in the case of collaboration between a gifted American poet and a competent translator of Persian, that the two would work together in such a way that the poet would render Persian idioms into suitable American ones, soften overly literal translation words into more pleasant-sounding equivalents, etc. and that the Persian translator would review such renderings and be responsible for overall faithfulness to the original by pointing out instances where the English renderings had gone seriously astray from the original text. Unfortunately, this rarely seems to have been the case, and one can only conclude that the version-makers used literal translations with a "free hand" to interpret however they wished (often according to how they imagined they would like Rumi to speak) and that their "creative" renderings were the final ones.
The following critique of version-makers is not intended to utterly "dismiss" their work. After all, it is almost entirely due to their books that Rumi has become so extraordinarily popular-- and they deserve much gratitude for this. Rather, the intent of giving examples of defective interpretations (which include some of their most glaring errors) is to show how badly Rumi's verses have been mangled by well-meaning individuals who tried to make dry, academic, and old-fashioned-sounding literal translations more poetic and attractive. Many readers who are devoted to the versions care little for what has been distorted or left out. Others become shocked to find out how badly the poems have been altered and feel that the "magic" of the versions is completely gone for them. Of these, the ones who remain "lovers of Rumi" are those who become seriously interested in studying accurate translations of Rumi and exploring his teachings at a greater depth. They find that authentic translations provide a vastly more rich, wise, and profound understanding of Rumi's greatness as a mystic than did the versions.
In the sections below, it is highly recommended that the reader read the first footnotes immediately following each selected version This is because the footnote contains explanations about how the versioner made the particular mistaken interpretation. These footnotes are easily accessed online by clicking on the particular footnote number (and if this number is remembered, then it is easy to return to where one has left off in the main text).
The second footnotes (following accurate translations of the particular passages) may be of interest to the general reader who has access to the books mentioned as having alternative translations and versions to a particular quatrain. The listings in this section refer to the original Persian text involved (using ghazal and quatrain numbers from Foruzanfar's authentic 10-volume edition-- not those from the one-volume commercial edition), plus a transliteration of the original Persian words.
Examples of Distorted Versions and Translations
From Versions by Coleman Barks
"Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground."6
[accurate translation: "There are a hundred kinds of prayer,
bowing, and prostration For the one whose prayer-niche is the
beauty of the Beloved."]7
"Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu, Buddhist, sufi, or zen. Not any religion or cultural system."8 [This is not an authentic Rumi poem. This version was based on Nicholson's translation: "What is to be done, O Moslems? for I do not recognise myself. I am neither Christian nor Jew, nor Gabr, nor Moslem."]9
"You say you have no sexual longing any more. You're one with the one you love."10 [accurate translation: "You say, 'With the body, I am far and with the heart, with the Beloved'"].11
"Love puts away the instruments, and takes off the silk robes. Our nakedness together changes me completely"12 [accurate translation: "He put harp and (strings of) silk on (his) lap, (and) kept playing this song: 'I am happy and ecstatic'"].13
"They try to say what you are, spiritual or sexual? They wonder about Solomon and all his wives"14 [accurate translation: "O Love, you are known by the fairies and humans. You are more known than the seal-ring of Solomon"].15
"This night . . . is not a night but a marriage, a couple whispering in bed in unison the same words. Darkness simply lets down a curtain for that"16 [accurate translation: "Tonight . . . is not a 'night,' Rather, it is a wedding (festival) for those who seek God. It is an elegant companion for those who testify to (God's) Unity. Tonight is a lovely veil of happiness for those with beautiful faces"].17
"I know it's tempting to stay and meet those blonde women. I know it's even more sensible to spend the night here with them, but I want to be home. . . . Let's leave grazing to cows and go where we know what everyone really intends, where we can walk around without clothes on"18 [based on Arberry's accurate translation: "Bright-hearted companions, haste, despite all the blond (sic) [= typographical error for "blind ones"] ones, to home, to home! You reasonable, sober, full of sorrow, do not disturb our hearts! To home, to home! .... Make not how and why; friend, leave grazing to cattle, to home, to home: In that house is the concert of the circumcision feast, with the ritually pure, to home, to home! Shams-al-dîn-é Tabrîz has built a home for the naked; to home, to home!"].19
"You must wait until you and I are living together. In the conversation we'll have then. . . be patient. . . then"20 [based on Arberry's mostly accurate rhymed translation: "Wait, then, wait patiently/ Until the time shall be/ We will together dwell,/ Thou hearken, the while I tell."21
"Listen and obey the hushed language./ Go naked"22 [based on Arberry's rhymed translation: "Unto his hushed lament/ Attend thou obedient;/ 'Go not without the veil'--/So runs his whispered tale"]23
"If you don't have a woman that lives with you, why aren't you looking? If you have one, why aren't you satisfied?"24 [based on Arberry's accurate translation: "If you have no beloved, why do you not seek one. And if you have attained the Beloved, why do you not rejoice?]25
"If anyone asks you how the perfect satisfaction of all our sexual wanting will look, lift your face and say, Like this."26
[based on Arberry's accurate translation: "Whoever asks you about the Houris [= the virgins of Paradise], show (your) face (and say) 'Like this'; if any man speaks to you of the moon, get up onto the roof-- 'Like this.'"27
"During the day I was singing with you. At night we slept in the same bed. I wasn't conscious day or night. I thought I knew who I was, But I was you."28 [This is not an authentic Rumi poem. A more accurate translation: "I was praising You during the day, and I didn't know (it). I was sleeping next to You at night, and I didn't know (it). I had held the opinion about myself that I was me. (But) I was entirely You, and I didn't know (it)."]29
"Out beyond the ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, There is a field. I'll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase 'each other' doesn't make any sense."30 [accurate translation: "Beyond Islam and unbelief there is a 'desert plain.' For us, there is a 'passion' in the midst of that expanse. The knower [of God] who reaches there will prostrate [in prayer],/ (For) there is neither Islam nor unbelief, nor any 'where' (in) that place."]31
"My love wanders the rooms, melodious flute notes, plucked wires, full of a wine the Magi drank on the way to Bethlehem.
We are three. The moon comes from its quiet corner, puts a pitcher of water down in the center.
One watches the gathering, and says to any cold onlookers,
'This dance is the joy of existence.'"32 [accurate translation by Arberry: "I saw my sweetheart wandering about the house; he had taken a rebec and was playing a melody. With a plectrum like fire he was playing a sweet melody, drunken and dissolute and charming from the Magian wine. He was invoking the sâqî in the air of Iraq; the wine was his object, the sâqî was his excuse. The moonfaced sâqî, pitcher in his hand, entered from a corner and set it in the middle.... He was beholding his own beauty, and saying to the evil eye, 'Never has there been, nor shall there come in this age, another like me.'"]33
From a Translation and a Version by John Moyne
"We have picked the essence of the Koran throwing away the skin to the dogs.34 We have thrown out our cloak turban theology debate all into the river. With the help of instinct We have hit the bull's eye!"35 [accurate translation of quatrain following an inauthentic Masnavi verse:"My turban and gown, and [even] my head -- all three together -- Were valued at a penny, (or) something less. Have you not heard my name in the world? I am nobody, I am nobody, I am nobody."]36
From Versions by Andrew Harvey
"This miracle, daily as dawn and sundown. Normal as bread, as sleep after love. If I look at him, I see my own image If I look at my own, I see his aflame"37 [accurate translation:How long will I [need to] experience colors and smells from the world of time? It's time for me to meet that one of exquisite character. Looking at him, I'll see my own image. (And) looking at myself, I'll see his image."]38
"Last night I touched your beauty/ Woke an alchemist."39 [accurate translation: "Until the love of my faithful idol seized me, I was copper. It seized me like an alchemical elixir. I searched for him with a thousand hands;/ (But) he stretched out an arm and seized me by the foot."40
"Take in, coquette, this sad-eyed shabby client Embrace, flawless full moon, my boiling darkness"41 [accurate translation: "O seller of amorousness, adapt to the customer./ O Moon of Perfection, adapt to the dark night"]42
"All my mysteries are images of you -- Night, be long! He and I are lost in Love."43 [accurate translation: "The secrets of my heart are all thoughts of (my) beloved. O night, don't pass quickly, for there is work for me (to do)."]44
"What a miracle, You and I, entwined in the same nest; What a miracle, You and I: one Love, one Lover, one Fire, In this world and the next, in an ecstasy without end."45 [This version was based on Nicholson's translation: "This is the greatest wonder, that thou and I, sitting here in the same nook, / Are at this moment both in 'Irâq and Khorâsân, thou and I."46
From Versions by Johnathan Star
"Tonight we go to that place of eternity. This is the wedding night-- a never-ending union of lover and Beloved.
We whisper gentle secrets to each other and the child of the universe takes its first breath."47 [accurate translation: "Tonight is a night for those of endless [good] fortune. It is not a 'night.' Rather, it is a wedding (festival) for those who seek God. It is an elegant companion accompanying those who testify to [God's] Unity. Tonight is a lovely veil for those with beautiful faces."48
"They say you bring the word of God yet all I hear is talk of good and bad-- nothing of love or truth. If someone puts a sign that reads 'PRISON' On the gates of a garden What difference does it make?-- The garden still has flowers, The prison still has bars."49 [accurate translation: "(O) messenger, in order that I should not smile, Don't hide [the good news] from me, for it cannot be hidden. If you write (the word) 'prison' on the gate of a garden, The garden will never be a prison because of that inscription.]50
"All my life I tried to please others, Pleasing myself he is wishing me."51 [accurate translation: ["I have always been in bond to (spiritual) stations. But he wants me to break those bonds."]52
"For those in love, Moslem, Christian, and Jew do not exist. For those in love, faith and infidelity do not exist."53 [accurate translation: Know truly [about] the lover, that he isn't a [common] 'Muslim,' (For) in the sect of Love there isn't 'belief' or 'unbelief.'"54
"Alas, don't tell me-- 'The Sufis are lost.' Don't tell me-- 'The Christians are lost, The infidels are lost.' Alas my brother, you are lost! That is why everyone else seems lost!"55 [accurate translation: "Beware: don't say, 'There aren't any [real] travellers on the Way.' (Or), 'There aren't any who are Jesus-like and traceless.' Since you aren't an intimate of secrets,/You have been thinking that others are not as well."56
"We were bound-- He added another chain. We were suffering-- He added another grief. We were lost in a house of mirrors-- He spun us round and round, And added another mirror."57 [accurate translation: "I was bound, (and) another chain arrived. I was miserably deprived, and another sadness arrived. I was captured in a loop of your hair,/ (And) on my neck another noose arrived."]58
"He is an angel, Though he appears in the form of a man. Even angels cannot fly in his presence-- How then can I win him by assuming a heavenly form? He flies on the wings of God, his food is pure light..."59 [based on Arberry's translation: "He is an angel, though in form he is a man; he is not lustful that I should beguile him with women. Angels start away from the house wherein this form is, so how should I beguile him with such a form and likeness? He does not take a flock of horses, since he flies on wings; his food is light..."]60
FROM TRANSLATIONS AND VERSIONS BY SHAHRAM SHIVA
"When my poetic nature found life through the repetition of God's name, The goddess of poetry entered the house of the mind."61 [a more accurate translation: "When my talent found life from the splendor of thought,/ It brought the bride of poetry into the cell of (spiritual) remembrance."]62"Any spot that I place my head, He is the cushion. In all the six directions and out, He is the deity."63 [accurate translation: "Anywhere I bow (my) head, the object of prostration is He. In the six directions, and beyond them, the object of worship is He."]64
"If you desire your own divinity, come out of yourself Pass over that stream and come toward the Oxus River."65 [a more accurate translation: "If you are search of your (real) self, emerge from yourself. Pass on from the stream and come next to the (great) river."66
"Let truth be told, the only one worthy of worship is Ali."67
"What did Mansoor proclaim? 'I am the Truth.' Who was Mansoor? He was God, he was God."68
"That one who has tasted the wine of union with the supreme soul, In his faith, the Ka'be and an idol temple are one."69
"This is me: sometimes hidden and sometimes revealed, Sometimes a devoted Muslim, sometimes a Hebrew and a Christian. For me to fit inside everyone's heart, I put on a new face every day."70
"In the end, the mountains of imagination were nothing but a house. And this grand life of mine was nothing but an excuse."71 [a more accurate translation: "The two worlds [= this world and the next] of (our) imagination were (in the end) no more than a [temporary] house. And this coming and going of ours [= birth and death] was no more than an excuse."72
"The ancient treasure that the legends are made of, is Love. When I saw that, I tore off my garments. I will not be covered again, until Love is uncovered." [accurate translation: "We saw with certainty that it is love (which is) hidden, / So we became bared because of such as this (which is) hidden."73
"I worship the moon. Tell me of the soft glow of a candle light and the sweetness of my moon."74 [a more accurate translation: "I am the (admiring) slave of a Moon, (so) don't speak of anything other than (my) Moon. Don't speak of anything to me except words about candles and sugar."]75
"See my ashen face, feel my ceaseless pain, and don't say anything to God. See my bleeding heart, my eyes flowing like a roaring river, all that you see, let it pass you by, and don't say anything to God.
flames turned into a talking rose, the heat cradled me in its gentle arms, and generosity of the Beloved, don't say anything to God."76 [a more accurate translation: "Look at my sallow face, and don't say anything to me. See (my) limitless pain, (but) for God's sake don't say anything. See (my) heart full of blood (and) see (my) eyes like a great river. Anything you see, pass (it) by (and) don't say anything (about) how or what.
Everything became a fiery talking rose, and it was saying to me, 'Don't say anything except about the kindness and generosity of our Beloved!'"]77
Last night, I was lying on the rooftop, thinking of you. I saw a special Star, and summoned her to take you a message. I prostrated myself to the Star and asked her to take my prostration to that Sun of Tabriz. So that with his light, he can turn my dark stones into gold."78 [translated accurately by Arberry: "Yesterday I gave a star a message for you; I said to it, 'deliver my compliments to that one fair as the moon.' Prostrating myself, I said, 'convey this prostration to that sun who by his burning glow converts hard rocks to gold.'"]79
FROM VERSIONS BY DEEPAK CHOPRA
"Let lovers be crazy, disgraceful and wild Those who fret about such things Aren't in love"80 [accurate translation: *May the lover be drunk and disreputable the whole year! May he be crazy, frenzied, and love-sick! With sobriety, we suffer anxiety about everything. But when we have become drunk, whatever is to be, may it be!"]81FROM VERSIONS BY JAMES COWAN
"Did the madman reveal his madness? Did he, the Wild One, display his guile?"82 [based on Nicholson's translation: "Wherefore did that madman work madness in a thousand forms, that chosen wild one display a thousand wiles?"]83FROM TRANSLATIONS BY NEVIT ERGIN
"Come again, please, come again, Whoever you are. Religious, infidel, heretic or pagan. Even if you promised a hundred times And a hundred times you broke your promise, This door is not the door Of hopelessness and frustration. This door is open for everybody. Come, come as you are."84 [accurate translation: "Return (in repentance), return! Whatever you are, return! Even if you are an unbeliever or a Magian or an idol worshipper, return! This court of ours is not a court of despair. Even if you have broken your repentance a hundred times, return!"]85"If Adam hadn't descended From the canopy of Heart And gotten stuck in this mud, His holy teaching would be better Than the attributes of God."86 [a more accurate translation, translated directly from Persian: "And if Adam had not come from the (Heavenly) Balcony into (the body made of) water and clay, his holy teaching would be greater than (his teaching to the angels about) the Names (of God)."]87
"Who will talk about Soul and Heart In front of such a Beloved? Who will mention gold and silver In the presence of that silver statue of Beauty?"88 [a more accurate translation, translated directly from Persian: "Will anyone talk about the soul and the heart in the presence of such a beloved? Will anyone mention silver and gold in the presence of such a silvery bosomed one?"]89
"Whoever has money and wealth, that silver statue of beauty is there. Don't keep saying, 'My soul, my world.' That soul will fly away from you."90 [a more accurate translation: "Anywhere that silver-breasted one is, know that silver is (there). Don't call him 'Soul and goal,' since that soul is leaping away from you."91
"I have given up my epithets. I have undressed myself, Become stark naked. The sun is the only Cover for the naked
It is not nice to say 'God is Great,' While one is still in the world of existence. When this head is sacrificed, Then 'God is Great' words Become reality, The real essence of God manifests."92 [a more accurate translation: "I have passed away from my (own) attributes and I have become bare of self. Because the sun becomes the adornment of naked ones. Your (saying) 'God is Great' is not pleasant with your 'head' (still remaining). (But) when this 'head' [of ego] is sacrificed, (then saying) 'God is Great' becomes [sincere]."93
"Your face says, 'I am the light That illuminates every moment.' You hair, 'I am the belly button Which drops musk all the time.'"94 [a more accurate translation: "Every moment your face says, 'I am the night-illuminating candle.' (And) every moment your hair says, 'I am the wafter of musk perfume.'"95
"Give our greetings to Shems of Tebriz. It is good to set a temple to such an East. I am glorified by the glory of his face. I want glory from him."96 [a more accurate translation: "O Tabriz! Send humble greetings from us to Shamsuddin. Humble greetings to (such) a place of sunrise (is) better, since I am seeking light from his face."97
"Go like the devil. Run around the world. Find that fairy. Turn your heart To gold in front of his silvery heart. Become pale, tired, to reach him."98 [a more accurate translation: "Travel the road like a jinn, so that you may see that Fairy. And in (the presence of) that silver-like chest of his, make the work of your heart like gold."]99
What would happen to the eye That sees the beautiful One Who created beauty? See and understand what would happen To your sight, once you looked at God."100 [a more accurate translation: "From seeing a beautiful one who has created beauty-- by God! Take a look at what comes into (your) glance!"]101
From Versions by Kabir Helminski
"It's late and it's raining, my friends; let's go home. Let's leave these ruins we've haunted like owls. Even though these blonde beauties beckon, let's go home. All the reasons offered by the sensible, dull, and sorrowful can't darken our hearts now..."102 [based on Arberry's accurate translation: "As it is late and raining, to home, to home! Welcome, all friends, to home! How long like owls banished about the ruins? To home, to home! Bright-hearted companions, haste, despite all the blond (sic) [= typographical error for "blind ones"] ones, to home, to home! You reasonable, sober, full of sorrow, do not disturb our hearts! To home, to home!"].103
"This human face is a shape tethered in the stall of pain: part god, part angel, part beast... a secret charm, rarely released."104 [a more accurate translation: "This human form which has been put together Is a picture which has been put on the stable [wall] of grief. Sometimes (it is) a demon, sometimes an angel, and sometimes a wild beast. What is this (magic) talisman which has been put together?"]105
"During the day I praised You and I didn't know. At night I laid with You and I didn't know. I had suspected that I was myself, but I was entirely you and I didn't know."106
From Versions by Azima Kolin
"Love is our mother and the way of our Prophet. Yet, it is in our nature to fight with Love. We can't see you, mother, hidden behind dark veils woven by ourselves."107 [accurate translation: "Love is the path and road of our Prophet. We were born from love and love was our mother. O you (who are) our mother, (you are) hidden within our veils, Concealed from our rejecting natures."108
"There are no signposts in the desert, caravans are guided by the stars. In the darkness of despair hope is the only light. But in the garden of your life, my dear, never hope that a weeping willow will give you dates."109 [accurate translation: "Even if there isn't any sign in the valley, There are (still) many hopes in hopelessness. O (my) heart, don't break off [from] hope, for in the garden of the soul You may yield dates even if you are a willow tree."]110
"From all that was familiar, I broke away. Now I am lost, without a place, wandering. With no music like a fool I dance and clap my hands. How am I to live without You? You are everywhere but I can't find You."111 [accurate translation: "You made me without name or trace, like the heart and soul. (And) you made me hand-clapping without hands, like joy. I said, "Where am I going, since my soul is in no place?" You made me without "place" and "going" like the spirit."]112
"There is no wine without You. No use for the rosary without Your hand. From afar You order me to dance. But unless You set the stage and draw open the curtain, my Beloved, how can I dance?"113 [accurate translation: "I don't know (how) to drink wine without your face. (And) I don't know (how) to win a pawn [at chess] without your hand. From far away, you keep ordering me to dance. (But) I don't know (how) to dance without your melody."]114
Notes
1. Coleman Barks and Robert Bly, "Night and Sleep: Rumi," 1981: "Coleman Bark's versions are the result of collaborating with John Moyne. Literal Persian translations by Moyne provide the base for the versions by Barks."
2. Barks, "Open Secret: Versions of Rumi," 1984: "Versions Done From The Translations of Arberry and Nicholson," section title on p. 39.
3. Barks, "The Illuminated Rumi," 1997, book jacket description.
4. Barks, "The Essential Rumi," 1995, title page.
5. Franklin D. Lewis, "Rumi-- Past and Present, East and West: The Life, Teaching and Poetry of Jalâl al-Din Rumi," p. 594. Ezra Pound lived from 1875-1972 and wrote influential works beginning about 1920.
6. version by Coleman Barks (based on a literal translation by John Moyne), "Open Secret," 1984, p. 7 (b); reprinted in "The Essential Rumi," 1995, p. 36 (b). Comment: The poem involves a mystical interpretation of the Islamic ritual prayer. The sufis pray, not just five times a day, but pray to God, the Source of Love and Beauty, in hundreds of ways throughout the day. The original Persian does not mention "kissing" or "the ground." It can be seen that Barks' often-quoted words, "Let the beauty we love be what we do," are his words and are not Rumi's words at all-- which in this line depict a spiritual devotion toward the beauty of the Beloved. For a complete translation, explanation of terms, and transliteration of this quatrain, see "There Are A Hundred Kinds of Prayer" in the "Quatrains" section of this website. Here is Barks' full version:
"Today, like every other day, we wake up empty and frightened. Don't open the door to the study and begin reading. Take down the dulcimer. [Later changed to "a musical instrument"] Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground."
7. from Rumi's Quatrain no. 81, translated by Ibrahim Gamard and Ravan Farhadi, "The Quatrains of Rumi," an unpublished manuscript. This quatrain has also been translated into English by Reza Saberi, "A Thousand Years of Persian Rubáiyát," p. 229 (c). [Sad gôna namâz-ast-o rukû`-ast-o sujûd ân-râ ke jamâl-é dôst bâsh-ad miHrâb]
8. version by Barks (based on Nicholson), "The Essential Rumi," p. 32. Comment: Barks' addition of the words "Hindu, Buddhist, sufi, or zen" is especially absurd. There is no evidence Rumi knew much more about Judaism or Christianity than what is said in the Qur'an-- not to speak of other religions. Although this is not a Rumi poem, it is a genuine sufi poem. It is best interpreted, not as a repudiation of practicing Islam (such as the daily prayers), but as a mystical state of consciousness in which thoughts cease and the Divine Reality is so apparent that mental concepts and beliefs do not seem important: neither the dualism of the Gabr (Zoroastrian), the monotheism which accepts Jesus and Muhammad as prophets (Islam), the monotheism which does not accept Jesus and Muhammad (Judaism), nor the monotheism which accepts Jesus but not Muhammad (Christianity).
9. not an authentic Rumi ghazal (not in the earliest manuscripts), from Nicholson's "Selected Poems from the Dîvâni Shamsi Tabrîz," 1898, no. XXXI, p. 125. Nicholson admitted that the Persian text for this quatrain did not occur in any of the editions or manuscripts that he used (p. 281). Perhaps he was misled by the final line ("O Shamsi Tabriz, I am so drunken") which was composed by someone to make it seem like an authentic Rumi poem. [che tadbîr ay musalmân-ân ke man khwad-râ na-mê-dân-am na tarsâ na yahûd-am man na gabr-am na musalmân-am]
10. version by Barks (based on Moyne), "Open Secret," 1984, p. 19 (c). Comment: The error here is in interpreting, "I am far from the body" to mean "I'm out of touch with my bodily desires"-- the opposite of Rumi's meaning of being spiritually focused on love of God and not being focussed on the body and physical concerns, such as hunger, comfort, etc.
11. from Rumi's Quatrain no. 1185, translated by Gamard & Farhadi. [gôy-î ke: "ba-tan dûr-o ba-del bâ yâr-am" zenhâr, ma-pendâr, ke man del-dâr-am]
12. version by Barks (based on Moyne), "Unseen Rain," 1986, p. 58 (b). Comment: The mistaken interpretation may have, in part, resulted from misreading "song" [parda] to mean its other meaning of veils or covering-- and doing something to remove such covering. An over-sexualized interpretation. 13. from Rumi's Quatrain no. 1223 translated by Gamard & Farhadi. [bar bar be-nehâd barbaT-o abrêsham în parda hamê zad, ke khwos-o bê khwêsh-am]
14. version by Barks (based on Moyne), "Open Secret," 1984, p. 11 (b) (re-printed in "The Essential Rumi," 1995, p. 37 (c). Comment: Rumi's verse is addressed to Love, which is universally known by invisible beings (fairies) as well as visible ones (humans). The second reference is to a famous ring worn by Solomon, which he used to wield power over the jinn (genies). The sexualized reference to Solomon and his wives is the versioner's fantasy, since only Solomon's ring is mentioned in the original.
15. from Rumi's Quatrain no. 719, translated by Gamard & Farhadi. This quatrain has also been made into a version by Jonathan Star, (based on Shiva) "A Garden Beyond Paradise," p. 58 (a), and Kabir & Camille Helminski (based on Saedian), "The Pocket Rumi Reader," p. 7 (c).. [ay `ishq, to-râ parî-wo insân dân-and ma`rûf-tar az mohr-é sulaymân dân-and]
16. version by Barks (based on Moyne), "Unseen Rain," 1986, p. 17 (a). Comment: The error is in interpreting the words "wedding" and "night" in a sexualized way. However, Rumi's meaning has to do with those who seek God. The veil, or curtain, is not to give lovers privacy on their wedding night, but to veil mystics who are in an ecstatic state of affirming Divine Unity.
17. from Rumi's Quatrain no. 287, translated by Gamard & Farhadi. This quatrain has also been made into a version by Jonathan Star, (based on Shiva) "A Garden Beyond Paradise," p. 80 (a) and by Shahram Shiva, "Hush: Don't Say Anything To God," p. 29. [emshab, shab-é ân dawlat-é bê-pâyân-ast shab nêst, `arûsiy-é khodâ-jôy-ân-ast ân joft-é laTîf, bâ yakî-gôy-ân-ast emshab nutuq-é khwosh nekô-rôy-ân-ast]
18. version by Barks (based on Arberry), " "Open Secret," 1984, p. 55. Comment: Another over-sexualized interpretation by an author who, especially in his earlier versions, is eager to portray Rumi as a "modern sexually liberated" man-- such as presenting Rumi here as confessing (apparently to some friends) about his adulterous temptations. However, although Rumi was an ecstatic mystic, he remained a pious Muslim inclined toward asceticism. Adultery, participating in orgies, and full nudity (except in the presence of one's spouse) are all forbidden in Islam.
19. from Rumi's Ghazal no. 2345, translated by Arberry, "Mystical Poems of Rumi: Second Selection,"1979 pp. 76-77. [ayâ aSHâb-é rôshan-del, shetâb-îd ba-kôrî-yé jumla kôr-ân, khâna-khâna
ayâ ay `âqil-é hoshyâr-é por-gham del-é mâ-râ ma-shôrân, khâna-khâna
ma-kon chûn-o che-râ, be-g'Zâr yârâ charâ-râ bâ-shotôr-ân, khâna-khâna
dar-ân khâna samâ`-é khutna-sûr-ast wa-lêkin bâ tuhûr-ân, khâna-khâna
banâ kard-ast shamsu 'd-dîn-é tabrîz barây-é jam`-é `ûr-ân, khâna-khâna]
20. version by Barks (based on Arberry), "Birdsong," 1993, p. 14 (b) (re-printed in "The Essential Rumi," 1995, p. 244 (b). Comment: The author interpreted Arberry's rendering ("We will together dwell") in a sexualized manner (sex outside marriage is strictly forbidden in Islam; Rumi was married and had a family, etc.). The original meaning is: "so that the time and condition may change and bring us together."
21. from Rumi's Quatrain no. 1101, translated Arberry, "The Rubâ'îyât of Jalâl al-Dîn Rûmî: Select translations into English Verse," 1949, p. 116 (b). [bal antaZiru 'z-zamân wa 'l-Hâlu yaHûl an yajma`a bayna-nâ fa-tuSfî wa aqûl]
Here is a more accurate translation of these Arabic verses (translated by Gamard and Farhadi): ["However, I am waiting (for) the time and the condition to change,/ So that it may bring us together (and) so you may listen and I may talk.
22. version by Barks (based on Arberry), "Say I Am You: Rumi," 1994, p. 16 (c). Comment: An over-sexualized interpretation, for a metaphor ("Don't go outside the veil/curtain") which means "Don't reveal the secret."
23. from Rumi's Quatrain no. 870, translated by Arberry, "The Rubâ'îyât of Jalâl al-Dîn Rûmî," p. 67 (b). This quatrain was made into another version by Barks (based on Moyne), "Unseen Rain," p. 37 (a), reprinted in "The Essential Rumi," p. 99. [dar parda che goft? gar ba-d-ô geraw-îd ya`nî ke ze-parda hêch bêrûn ma-raw-îd]
Here is a more accurate translation (by Gamard and Farhadi): ["What was said in (behind) the curtain/veil? 'If you pledge (yourselves) to Him'-- which means that you should never go out from the curtain/veil."] (This means, "Do not reveal the secret.") It may also be translated, "What was said in the melody?. . . . that you should never diverge from the melody."
24. version by Barks (based on Arberry), "Open Secret," p. 71. Comment: Here, the versioner has debased the spiritual meaning of Rumi's words ("having a beloved") to what sounds like having a woman to cohabitate with outside of marriage.
25. from Rumi's Ghazal no. 3061, translated by Arberry, "Mystical Poems of Rumi: Second Selection," pp. 142-43. [agar tô yâr na-dâr-î che-râ Talab na-kon-î? wa-gar ba-yâr rasîd-î che-râ Tarab na-kon-î?]
26. version by Barks, "Like This: Rumi," 1990, p. 23 (re-printed in "The Essential Rumi," p. 135). Comment: An over-sexualized response, related to the so-called "virgins of Paradise"-- which are symbols of Heavenly spiritual bliss (mentioned in the Qur'an). Here, the versioner portrays Rumi as depicting a post-orgasmic facial expression.
27. from Rumi's Ghazal no. 1826, translated by Arberry, "Mystical Poems of Rumi: Second Selection," p. 21. [har key ze-Hûr pors-ad-at rokh be-n'mâ ke ham-chon-în har key ze-mâh gôy-ad-at bâm bar â ke ham-chon-în]
28. version by Barks (based on Moyne), "Open Secret," 1984, p. 18 (a). Comment: Another over-sexualized interpretation of verses which refer to praise of God and nearness to Him, or praise of the human beloved and the nearness of his invisible presence to the lover.
29. This is not an authentic Rumi quatrain (not in the earliest manuscripts), from the "pseudo-Foruzanfar" edition, no. 1242, translated here by Ibrahim Gamard. Versions of it have also been made by Jonathan Star (based on Shiva), "A Garden Beyond Paradise," p. 88 (a) and Kabir & Camille Helminski (based on Saedian), p. 16 (b). It has been translated by Shahram Shiva, "Hush: Don't Say Anything to God," p. 68 and Mostafa Vaziri, "Beyond Sufism and Sainthood," p. 43. [rôz-at be-setûd-am-o na-mê-dânast-am shab bâ tô ghonûd-am-o na-mê-dânast-am Zan borda bod-am ba-khwod ke man man bûd-am man jumla tô bûd-am-o na-mê-dânast-am]
30. version by Barks (based on Moyne), "Open Secret, p. 8 (b), re-printed in "The Essential Rumi," p. 36. Comment: This poem is not about going "beyond good and evil." Rather, it is about the mystic's going beyond the limitations of the mind and its beliefs (in favor of this, against that) and going directly to Divine Realities. It is not a rejection of Islam. Rather, it means, "Go beyond your beliefs about whether the 'sun' exists or not: just look at it directly."
Here is Barks' explanation of his reasons for altering the meaning: "For example, Barks says he rewrote a Rumi line that originally read in English, 'out beyond what is holy in Islam and what is not permitted in Islam' to 'out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right- doing.' 'I took the Islam out of it,' Barks says in a phone interview from his home in Athens, Ga. 'Yeah, the fundamentalists or people who think there is one particular revelation scold me for this.'" ["Poet follows his own muse in translating Sufi mystic/His Rumi books are surprising best-sellers" Jonathan Curiel, Chronicle Staff Writer, San Francisco Chronicle, April 4, 2002 (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi- bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/04/04/DD240893.DTL]
31. Rumi's Quatrain no. 395. This quatrain has also been translated by Arberry, "The Rubâ'íyât of Jalâl al-Dín Rúmí," p. 41 (a) and Nevit Ergin (based on Golpinarli), "Crazy As We Are," p. 21 (b). [az kufr-o ze-islâm berûn, SaHrâyê-st mâ-râ ba-meyân-é ân faZâ, sawdâyê-st `ârif chô ba-d-ân rasîd sar-râ be-neh-ad nay kufr-o na islâm, na ân-jâ jâyê-st]
32. version by Barks (based on Arberry), "Rumi: We Are Three: New Rumi Translations by Coleman Barks," p. 16, re-printed in "The Essential Rumi," pp. 130-31. Comment: Barks couldn't resist adding to "Magian wine" a reference to the town of Bethlehem (a Christian scriptural reference unfamiliar to Muslims). Barks apparently derived his, "We are three" (the title of his book) from the line which mentions the sâqî (the wine-server), the wine, and the "air of Iraq" (a Persian melody). However, the word "three" does not occur in the original, and there is no suggestion of the three nouns being a unity. Barks' last line ("This dance is the joy of existence") is entirely his own words, not Rumi's.
33. from Rumi's Ghazal no. 2395, translated by Arberry, "Mystical Poems of Rumi: Second Selection," pp. 80-81. [dîd-am negâr-é khwad-râ mê-gasht gerd-é khâna bar dâshta rabâbê mê-zad yakê tarâna
bâ zakhma-yé chô âtesh mê-zad tarâna-yé khwash mast-o kharâb-o del-kash az bâda-yé shabâna
dar parda-yé `irâqê mê-zad ba-nâm-é sâqî maqSûd bâda bûd-ash sâqî bod-ash bahâna
sâqî-yé mâh-rôyê, dar dast-é ô sabûyê az gôsha-yé dar-âm-ad, be-nehâd dar meyâna
mê-dîd Husn-é khwad-râ, mê-goft chashm-é bad-râ nay bûd-o nay be-y-ây-ad, chûn man dar-în zamâna]
34. translated by John Moyne, "Rumi and the Sufi Tradition," 1998, p. 70. This is a reasonably accurate translation of a verse added to Rumi's Masnavi (as were many hundreds over the centuries), not in the earliest manuscripts, and not characteristic of his thought and teaching. [mâ ze-qur'ân maghz-râ bar-dâsht-êm pôst-ash ba-nazd-é kharr-ân be-g'Zâsht-êm]
35. version by John Moyne, "Rumi and the Sufi Tradition," p. 70. Comment: Moyne combined this quatrain with an inauthentic "Masnavi verse" (misleadingly-- as if both were a single poem of Rumi's, neither of which he identified) in a very biased manner, which portrays Rumi as scornful toward Islam (which must be Moyne's viewpoint, since it is not Rumi's).
36. from Rumi's Quatrain no. 1284, translated by Gamard and Farhadi. This quatrain has also been translated by Shahram Shiva,"Rending the Veil," p. 169. Versions of it have been made by Coleman Barks (based on Moyne), "Unseen Rain," p. 73 (b), Jonathan Star (based on Shiva), "A Garden Beyond Paradise," p. 51 (b), and Kabir & Camille Helminski (based on Saedian), p. 14 (b).
[dastâr-am-o jubba-wo sar-am, har se ba-ham qîmat kard-and, ba-yak deram chêzê kam na-sh'nîd-ast-î tô nâm-é man dar `alâm man hêch kas-am, hêch kas-am, hêch kas-am]
37. version by Harvey, "Speaking Flame: Rumi," 1989, p. 89 (re- printed in "The Way of Passion," 1994, p. 271). Comment: The first half of the poem versioned here may have been from an inferior edition of Rumi's quatrains, or else fabricated. In any case, "normal... as sleep after love is over-sexualized and does not sound at all like Rumi.
38. from Rumi's Ghazal no. 1256, translated by Gamard & Farhadi. This quatrain has also been translated by Nevit Ergin (based on Golpinarli), "Crazy As We Are," p. 15 (b). [tâ kay ze-zamâna rang-o bô-râ bîn-am waqt-ast ke ân laTîf-khô-râ bîn-am dar way negar-am, khayâl-é khwod-râ bîn-am dar khwod negar-am, khayâl-é ô-râ bîn-am]
39. version by Harvey, "Speaking Flame: Rumi," 1989, p. 71. Comment: a possibly sexual interpretation (the word "beauty" does not appear in the original) which presents the lover as the active one and emerging as a "master of Alchemy." In contrast, Rumi's words depict the lover as being seized and transformed by the alchemy-like love of the beloved.
40. Rumi's Quatrain no. 411, translated by Gamard and Farhadi. This quatrain was also translated by Arberry, "The Rubâ'íyât of Jalâl al-Dín Rúmí," p. 43 (b) and by Shahram Shiva, "Rending the Veil," p. 45. A version of it was made by Jonathan Star (based on Shiva), "A Garden Beyond Paradise," p. 20 (a). [tâ mehr-é negâr-é bâ-wafây-am be-gereft mes bûd-am, ô chô kîmîyây-am be-gereft ô-râ ba-hazâr dast jôyân gasht-am ô dast-é darâz kard-o pây-am be-gereft]
41. version by Harvey, "Speaking Flame: Rumi," 1989, p. 21. Comment: "Embrace... my boiling darkness" is a depiction of sexual passion, but the original just means the flirtatious beloved should adapt to the customer and the dark night.
42. Rumi's Quatrain no. 944, translated by Gamard and Farhadi. [ay `ishwa-forôsh, bâ kharîdâr be-sâz ay mâh-é tamâm, bâ shab-é târ be-sâz]
43. version by Harvey (probably based on de Vitray-Meyerovitch's translation), "Love's Fire," 1988, p. 57 (re-printed in "The Way of Passion," p. 96. Comment: the interpretation sounds sexualized, whereas the original meaning has to do with the lover staying awake all night, busy with thoughts of the beloved.
44. Rumi's Quatrain no. 204, translated by Gamard and Farhadi. A version of this quatrain was done by Coleman Barks (based on Moyne) in "Unseen Rain," p. 18 (a). [asrâr-é del-am jumla khayâl-é yâr-ast ay shab, ma-goZar zûd, ke mâ-râ kâr-ast]
45. version by Harvey (based on Nicholson), "Light Upon Light: Inspirations From Rumi," 1996, p. 243. This was modified from his first version of this in "The Way of Passion," p. 33: "What a miracle, you and I, entwined in the same nest/ While am here in Konya, and you are in Khorassan/ What a miracle, you and I, one love, one lover, one Fire/ In this world and the next in an ecstasy without end." Comment: For someone vaunted as being an Oxford- educated scholar, this is a very dishonest interpretation. In these famous lines, Rumi depicts himself and his spiritual teacher Shams-i Tabriz as being physically apart yet united in soul. Harvey portrays them as physically "entwined" together in a fiery ecstasy (he likes to exaggerate "Rumi's passion" by adding words such as "fire," "fiery," "boiling," etc.). Here, Harvey manusfactures "evidence" for his baseless (public, not published) assertions that there was a homoerotic relationship between this famous spiritual disciple and his famous spiritual master (who was age 62 when they first met, according to tradition). (For the best clarifying informaiton available on this misunderstanding, see Franklin Lewis, "Rumi-- Past and Present, East and West," pp. 320-24.)
46. Rumi's Ghazal no. 2214, Nicholson's 1898 translation, "Selected Poems from the Dîvâni Shamsi Tabrîz," p. 153. [în `ajab-tar ke man-o tô ba-yakî konj în-jâ ham dar în dam ba-`irâq-êm-o khorâsân man-o tô]
47. Jonathan Star (based on a literal translation by Shahram Shiva), "A Garden Beyond Paradise," 1992, p. 80. Comment: The original poem depicts the joy of the "wedding celebration" of those who seek God and declare His Divine Unity. In contrast, the second two thirds of the version are made-up by the versioner.
48. from Rumi's Quatrain no. 287, translated by Gamard & Farhadi. Versions of this quatrain have been been made by Coleman Barks (based on Moyne), "Unseen Rain," p. 17 (a) and Shahram Shiva, "Hush: Don't Tell God," p. 28. [emshab, shab-é ân dawlat-é bê-pâyân-ast shab nêst, `arûsiy-é khodâ-jôy-ân-ast ân joft-é laTîf, bâ yakî-gôy-ân-ast emshab nutuq-é khwosh nekô-rôy-ân-ast]
49. Jonathan Star (based on a literal translation by Shahram Shiva), "A Garden Beyond Paradise," 1992, p. 57 (b). Comment: The first half of the version deliberately expresses anti-religious sentiments, yet has no relation to the original meaning in Persian.
50. from Rumi's Quatrain no. 803, translated by Gamard & Farhadi. This quatrain was also translated by Arberry, "The Rubâ'íyât of Jalâl al-Dín Rúmí," p. 114 (a). [qâSid pay-é ân-ke banda khandân na-shaw-ad penhân ma-kon az banda, ke penhân na-shaw-ad gar bar dar-é bâghê, be-newîs-î zandân bâgh az pay-é ân nebeshta zandân na-shaw-ad]
51. Jonathan Star (based on a literal translation by Shahram Shiva), "A Garden Beyond Paradise," 1992, p. 55 (a). Comment: The original meaning has to do with the tendency of the spiritual seeker to become attached to "spiritual stations" [maqâmât], or levels of spiritual attainment-- which can be a barrier to seeking God directly. The version debases this meaning to a kind of "pop psychology" level.
52. from Rumi's Quatrain no. 1163, translated by Gamard & Farhadi. This quatrain has also been translated by Arberry, "The Rubâ'íyât of Jalâl al-Dín Rúmí," p. 116 (b) and by Reza Saberi, "A Thousand Years of Persian Rubáiyát," p. 260 (b). Versions of it have been made by Coleman Barks (based on Moyne), "Unseen Rain," p. 63b and by Kabir & Camille Helminski (based on Saedian), "The Pocket Rumi Reader," p. 13 (a). [dar band-é maqâmât hamê bûd-am man w-ân band-shekastan arzô mê-kon-ad-am]
53. Jonathan Star (based on a literal translation by Shahram Shiva), "A Garden Beyond Paradise," 1992, p. 51 (a). Comment: The original has to do with how the mystic lover transcends the categories of the mind. The version adds the words "Christian" and "Jew" which are not in the text (perhaps to "echo" the inauthentic "Rumi" line, "I am neither Christian, nor Jew, nor Gabr, nor Moslem").
54. from Rumi's Quatrain no. 768, translated by Gamard & Farhadi. Versions of this quatrain have been made by Shahram Shiva, "Hush: Don't Tell God," p. 17 and by Azima Kolin (based on Mafi), "Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved," p. 71. [`âshiq to yaqîn dân, ke musulmân na-bûd dar maZhab-é `ishq, kufr-o îmân na-bûd]
55. Jonathan Star (based on a literal translation by Shahram Shiva), "A Garden Beyond Paradise," 1992, p. 29 (a). Comment: This is a gross misinterpretation of the original poem, rendered in a popularized format with a "zinger" ending, apparently intended to please a live audience with "Rumi's wit."
56. from Rumi's Quatrain no. 745, translated by Gamard & Farhadi. This quatrain has also been translated by Arberry, "Discourses of Rumi," p. 120, by Wheeler Thackston, "Signs of the Unseen: The Discourses of Jalaluddin Rumi," p. 114, and by Shahram Shiva, "Rending the Veil," p. 93. [zenhâr, ma-gô ke rah-rawân nêz na-y-and `îsà-Sifat-ân-o bê-neshân nêz na-y-and z-în gôna ke tô maHram-é asrâr na-î pendâshta-î ke dêgar-ân nêz na-y-and]
57. Jonathan Star (based on Shiva), "A Garden Beyond Paradise," p. 65 (b). Comment: Shahram Shiva translated an accurate translation of this three years later ("Rending the Veil," p. 105). Nevertheless, Star reprinted his same "creatively interpreted" version (slightly revised), two years after that in, "In the Arms of the Beloved," 1997, p. 96. Obviously, "house of mirrors" is anachronistic (and the word "mirror" does not occur in the original).
58. from Rumi's Quatrain no. 626, translated by Gamard and Farhadi. This quatrain was also translated by Shahram Shiva, "Rending the Veil," p. 105. Another version of it was made by Coleman Barks (based upon Moyne), "Unseen Rain," p. 43 (b). [mâ basta bod-ém, band-é dêgar âmad bê-del shoda-wo nezhand-é dêgar âmad dar Halqa-yé zolf-é tô gereftâr bod-êm dar gardan-é mâ kamand-é dêgar âmad]
59. Jonathan Star (based on Shiva), "A Garden Beyond Paradise," p. 122. Comment: "He flies on the wings of God" is an especially absurd rendering (of Arberry's, "he flies on wings"). Star skipped over Arberry's line indicative of Shams-i Tabriz's Muslim piety (and heterosexuality: "He is not lustful that I should beguile him with women."). Andrew Harvey used Star's version (which he slightly modified), in "The Way of Passion," pp. 77-78.
60. from Rumi's Ghazal no. 1634, translated by Arberry, "Mystical Poems of Rumi: Second Selection," p. 2. [ô fereshta-ast agar-che ke ba-Sûrat-é bashar-ast shahwatî nêst ke ô-râ ba-zan-ân be-farêb-am
khâna k-în naqsh dar-ô hast fereshta be-ram-ad pas kay-ash man ba-chon-în naqsh-o neshân be-farêb-am
galla-yé asb na-gîr-ad chô be-par mê-parr-ad khwor-é ô nûr bow-ad chûn-ash ba-nân be-farêb-am]
61. Shahram Shiva, "Rending the Veil: Literal and Poetic Translations of Rumi," 1995, p. 116.
62. from Rumi's Quatrain no. 914, translated by Gamard & Farhadi. Comment: In Shiva's literal translation of this quatrain, he rendered the second line as "it brought\ the bride (goddess) of \ poetry\ in the \ house of\ the mind." However, it is absurd to interpret Rumi's words, "the bride of poetry" in such an un-Islamic manner. Although born in Iran, Shiva (who studied Hindu yoga for many years) shows an appalling lack of knowledge about basic aspects of Islam. A version of this quatrain was made by Jonathan Star, (based on Shiva) "In the Arms of the Beloved," p. 38. [Tab`-am chô Hayât yâft az jalwa-yé fikr âward `arûs-é naZm dar Hujra-yé Zikr]
63. Shahram Shiva, "Rending the Veil," p. 36. Comment: The error here is mistranslating "the object of prostration is He" [masjûd] as "He is the cushion." This absurd translation is apparently based on lack of knowledge of this and other basic Arabic/Islamic words relating to "prostration" [sajda], "prostration carpet" [sajâdah] and "place of prostration" [masjid = masgid = the French word, "mosque"].
64. from Rumi's Quatrain no. 319, translated by Gamard & Farhadi. This quatrain has been translated by Arberry, "The Rubâ'íyât of Jalâl al-Dín Rúmí," p. 182 (b). Versions of it have been made by Jonathan Star (based on Shiva), "In the Arms of the Beloved," p. 78 and by Azima Kolin (based on Mafi), "Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved," p. 53. [bar har jâyê ke sar neh-am, masjûd ô-st dar shash jahat-o berûn-é shash, ma`bûd ô-st.]
65. Shahram Shiva, "Rending the Veil," 1995, p. 10. Comment: Aside from this not being an authentic Rumi poem, the idea of desiring "your own divinity" is alien to Islam and Islamic mysticism (sufism). This is clearly Shiva's personal interpretation (perhaps a result of his studying Hindu yoga for many years), since his literal translation is accurate: 'if\ in the\ desire of\ yourself you are \ of\ yourself\ come out."
66. This is not an authentic Rumi quatrain (it is not in the earliest manuscripts), from the "pseudo-Foruzanfar" edition, no. 62. This quatrain has been translated by Reza Saberi, "A Thousand Years of Persian Rubáiyát," p. 228 (b). Versions of it have been made by Coleman Barks (based on Moyne), "Unseen Rain," p. 9 (a) and by Azima Kolin (based on Mafi), "Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved," p. 18. [gar dar Talab-é khwodî ze khwod bêrûn â jô-râ be-goZâr-o jânib-é jayHûn â]
67. Shahram Shiva, "Rending the Veil," 1995, p. 32. This is not an authentic Rumi quatrain (it is not in the earliest manuscripts). It is from the "pseudo-Foruzanfar" edition, no. 304. Comment: The Shi'ite extremism of this poem (heretical even to orthodox Shi'ite belief because it suggests incarnation of the Divine in human form) is alien to Rumi's thought and belief-- he was a Sunnite Muslim), [man fâsh be-goft-amy ke ma`bûd `alî-st]
68. Shahram Shiva, "Rending the Veil," 1995, p. 13. This is not an authentic Rumi quatrain (it is not in the earliest manuscripts). It is from the "pseudo-Foruzanfar" edition, no. 72. Comment: Again, this assertion of the "Divine identity" of Mansûr Hallâj (executed for allegedly proclaiming, "I am the Truth/God) is uncharacteristic of Rumi's views. [manSûr ko-jâ goft? 'anâ 'l-Haqq mê-goft manSûr ko-jâ bûd? khodâ bûd khodâ]
69. Shahram Shiva, "Rending the Veil," 1995, p. 33. This is not an authentic Rumi quatrain (it is not in the earliest manuscripts). It is from the "pseudo-Foruzanfar" edition, no 306. Comment: Denigrating the Ka'ba (the cube-shaped temple in Mecca, Arabia) is not characteristic of Rumi's thought. This quatrain has also been translated by Reza Saberi, "A Thousand Years of Persian Rubáiyát," p. 241 (c) and by Mostafa Vaziri, "Beyond Sufism and Sainthood," p. 104. A version of it was made by Jonathan Star (based on Shiva), "In the Arms of the Beloved," p. 177. [dar maZhab-é ô ka`ba-wo bot-khâna yakî-st] [dar maZhab-é ô ka`ba-wo bot-khâna yakî-st]
70. Shahram Shiva, "Rending the Veil," p. 178. This is not an authentic Rumi quatrain (it is not in the earliest manuscripts). It is from the "pseudo-Foruzanfar" edition, no 1325. Comment: This is a fairly accurate translation (but it would be more accurate to translated "a Muslim and sometimes a Jew..."). It is not characteristic of Rumi's thought to declare that he is he is (mystically) a Jew and a Christian, as well as a Muslim, or manifests (like an "avatar") to Christians in a Christian form and to Jews in a Jewish form. [mâ'êm ke gah nehân-o gah paydâ'êm gah mû'min-o gah yahûd-o gah tarsâ'êm tâ în del-é mâ qâlib-é har del gard-ad har rôz ba-Sûratê berûn mê-y-ây-êm]
71. Shahram Shiva, "Rending the Veil," p. 85. This is not an authentic Rumi quatrain (it is not in the earliest manuscripts). It is from the "pseudo-Foruzanfar" edition, no 704. Comment: The error here resulted from not knowing that "kwn" is an Arabic word-- "kawn" meaning, literally, "existence." The Perso-Arabic form, "dô kawn" translates as the "two existences" (a translation into Persian of the Arabic dual noun, "kawnayn"), and means "this world and the next" (= the present life and the Hereafter). It is used a number of times by Rumi in his Dîvân and Masnavi. The Arabic word "kwn" looks the same as the Persian word "kûn" (anus, buttock). So, to avoid reading it that way, Shiva must have thought it was a typographical error for "kûh," or "mountain." Thus, his literal translation was "two\ mountains of\ imagination," which he rendered in final form as, "the mountains of imagination." A version of this quatrain was made by Jonathan Star (based on Shiva), "In the Arms of the Beloved," p. 93. [dô kawn-é kheyâl khâna-yé bêsh na-bûd w-âmad-shod-é mâ bahâna-yé bêsh na-bûd]
72. Shahram Shiva, "Hush: Don't Say Anything to God," 2000, p. 58. Comment: in this version, Shiva deliberately interprets the second half of the quatrain as some kind of "nude protest." However, public nudity is strictly forbidden in Islam, and when sufis are depicted as "rending their robes" in ecstasy, this refers to ripping the upper part of the shirt or tearing the outer cloak to pieces. There is no demand, protest, or ultimatum in the original poem-- and "becoming bared" has a symbolic meaning (and not a literal meaning of nudism).
73. from Rumi's Quatrain no. 1612, translated by Gamard & Farhadi. [dîd-ém ke `ishq-ast yaqîn, pôshîda gasht-êm barahna az chon-în pôshida]
74. Shiva, "Hush," p. 71. Comment: The error here is mistranslating "slave of a Moon" (= devoted admirer and lover of the beloved) as "worshipper of the moon." The latter interpretation is contrary to Islam and Islamic mysticism (sufism).
75. from Rumi's Ghazal no. 2219, translated here by Ibrahim Gamard. [man ghulâm-é qamar-am, ghayr-é qamar hêch ma-gô pêsh-é man joz sokhan-é sham`-o shakar hêch ma-go]
76. Shiva, "Hush: Don't Say Anything to God," pp. 86-87. Comment: It is absurd to portray Rumi as blasphemously advocating the keeping something secret from God (and thus denying that God is All-Present, All-Knowing, All-Hearing, etc.). The original clearly states, "for the sake of God, don't say..." [bahr-é khodâ hêch ma-gô], not "Don't tell God"-- which became the title of Shiva's book. The word "God" does not appear in the latter verses-- only the words, "Don't say..."
77. from Rumi's Ghazal no. 2217, translated here by Ibrahim Gamard. [chehra-yé zard-é ma-râ bîn-o ma-râ hêch ma-gô dard-é bê-Had be-negar, bahr-é khodâ hêch ma-gô
del por-é khûn be-negar, chashm chô jayHûn be-negar har che bîn-î be-goZar, chûn-o che-râ hêch ma-gô
hama âtesh-é gol-gôyâ shod-o bâ mâ mê-goft: "joz ze-luTf-o karam-é del-bar-é mâ hêch ma-gô]
78. Shiva, "Hush," p. 111. Comment: To portray Rumi as prostrating in worship to a star is absurdly contrary to Islam and Islamic mysticism (sufism). However, the reference here is a prostration [sajda] of bowing to a king or a "spiritual king," meaning a sufi master-- not of worship. The request is that the humble bowing be sent by the star to Rumi's spiritual master (Shams, which literally means "sun"), and is not a prostration to the star.
79. from Rumi's Ghazal no. 143, translated by Arberry, "Mystical Poems of Rumi," 1968, p. 19. [dûsh man payghâm kard-am sôy-é tô istâra-râ goft-am-ash: "khidmat rasân az man tô ân mah-pâra-râ
sajda kard-am goft-am: "în sajda ba-d-ân khworshêd bar k-ô ba-tâb-ash zar kon-ad mar sang-hây-é khâra-râ]
80. Deepak Chopra, "The Soul in Love" 2001, pp. 42. Comment: He adds the word "wild," and gives a different meaning to the second half of the quatrain. When compared to six other published translations and versions of this quatrain, his most resembles that of Barks and Moyne ("Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absentminded. Someone sober will worry about events going badly. Let the lover be."-- "Unseen Rain," p. 7, reprinted in "The Essential Rumi," p. 46). Thus, it appears that this is a version based upon another version, and if so, he may have interpreted Barks' interpretation ("Let the lover be") to mean, "Leave the lover alone if you aren't a lover."
81. Rumi's Quatrain no. 5, translated by Gamard and Farhadi. [`âshiq hama sâl mast-o roswâ bâdâ dêwâna-wo shôrîda-wo shaydâ bâdâ bâ hoshyârî ghuSSa-yé har chêz khwor-êm chûn mast shod-êm har che bâdâ bâdâ].
82. James Cowan, "Where Two Oceans Meet," 1992, p. 38. Comment: There is a pun here between "wild one" [shayd] and "wiles" [shayd]. Cowan evidently became so enthusiastic about his idea that "wild one" was "title" for Shams, that he inserted "Wild One" in ten other places where it does not occur in the Persian text a second time, p. 38, pp. 43, 47, 50, 51, 53, 63, 64, 87, 98).
83. from Rumi's Ghazal no. 213, translated by Nicholson, "Selected Poems from the Dîvâni Shamsi Tabrîz," p. 3. [haZâr gôna junûn az che kard ân majnûn hazâr shayd bar ñward ân gozîn shaydâ]
84. Nevit Ergin (translated from Golpinarli's Turkish translation), "Crazy As We Are," 1992, p. 1. Comment: This is one of the most frequently quoted poems attributed to Rumi, but is not authenticated as his (and it is also not in the earliest manuscripts of the quatrains attributed to him). It is found in the same form in the quatrains of Bâbâ Afzaluddîn Kâshânî (died 1274-- Rumi died 1273) and is related to a similar quatrain attributed to Abu Sa`îd ibn Abi 'l-Khayr, died 1048 (see "Nobody, Son of Nobody: Poems of Shaikh Abu-Saeed Abil-Kheir," renditions by Vraje Abramian, 2001, p. 4, c). It is one among the most frequently quoted poems by Turkish Mevlevis (the "Whirling Dervishes") themselves (who have long assumed it to be a Rumi poem), from a Turkish translation of the original Persian.
85. this is not an authentic Rumi quatrain, and is not in the earliest manuscripts. It was composed before his time. Translated here by Gamard and Farhadi. [bâz â, bâz â har ân-che hast-î bâz â gar kâfir-o gabr-o bot-parast-î bâz â în darga-yé mâ darga-yê nawmêdî nêst Sad bâr agar tawba-shekast-î bâz â]
86. Nevit Ergin (translated from Golpinarli's Turkish translation), "Divan-i Kebir: Meter 1," p. 379. Comment: This is a reference to the Qur'anic account of how God taught Adam the "names", which even the angels did not know (2:31-33)-- interpreted by sufis as meaning that Adam had special knowledge of the Divine Names, or Attributes of God. The meaning here is that Adam's knowledge of Divine Realities would have been greater if he had not been confined in a physical body. Ergin's translation sounds strange, for how can the teaching of a human being be "better than the attributes of God?"
87. from Rumi's Ghazal no. 2447, translated here from Persian by Ibrahim Gamard. [w-ar âdam az aywân-é del dar n-âmady dar âb-o gel tadrîs bâ taqdîs-é ô bâlâ-tar âz asmâ-sty]
88. Nevit Ergin (translated from Golpinarli's Turkish translation), "Divan-i Kebir: Meter 1," 1995, p. 375. Comment: While verbal references to "beautiful idols" in Persian poetry have been commonplace for centuries (and understood by all Persian readers as purely metaphorical) the idea of silver statues of human beings is repugnant to Muslims and the Islamic faith. Portraying Rumi as mentioning such statues (even as a metaphor of the beloved) is unfortunate. In the Persian text the word "bar" (chest, breast, bosom) clearly occurs, modified by the word "silvery." Perhaps this word was not translated adequately into the intermediate Turkish translation. In one case, Rumi used this metaphor in the Masnavi (IV: 2470) to symbolize beautiful and pure spiritual qualities within the heart and soul: "So that your heart may become a mirror full of images, (and so that) within it (there may be) an attractive silver-breasted beauty [malîHê sîmbar] (in) every part."
89. from Rumi's Ghazal no. 2435, translated here from Persian by Ibrahim Gamard [az jân-o del gôy-ad kasê pêsh-é chon-ân jânâna'ê? az sîm-o zar gôy-ad kasê pêsh-é chon-ân sîmîn-barê]
90. Nevit Ergin (translated from Golpinarli's Turkish translation), "Divan-i Kebir: Meter 2," 1995, p. 40. Comment: Here is another example of wrongly portraying his beloved as like a silver "statue."
91. from Rumi's Ghazal no. 438, translated here by Ibrahim Gamard. [har jâ ke sîm-bar bod mê-dân-ke sîm bar bod jân-o jahân ma-gôy-ash k-ân jân ze-tô jahân-ast]
92. Nevit Ergin (translated from Golpinarli's Turkish translation), "Divan-i Kebir: Meter 2," 1995, pp. 64-65. Comment: "Rumi's words clearly have to do with becoming "bare of self" [az khwad barahna gasht-am]. There is no public nudity in Islam or Islamic mysticism (sufism). To interpret, "The real essence of God manifests" is absurd (since the Divine Essence is "veiled" by the Divine Attributes)-- and there is no idea of this in the original text.
93. from Rumi's Ghazal no. 845, translated here by Ibrahim Gamard [z-awSâf-é khwad goZasht-am w-az khwad barahna gasht-am zî-râ barahnag-ân-râ khworshêd zîwar âmad
allâhu akbar-é tô, khwash nêst bâ sar-é tô în sar chô gasht qurbân allâhu akbar âmad]
94. Nevit Ergin (translated from Golpinarli's Turkish translation), "Divan-i Kebir: Meter 2," p. 108. Comment: The reference here is to the gland on the underside of the musk ox from which musk perfume is derived. The metaphor involves the sweet enchanting scent of the beloved's hair.
95. from Rumi's Ghazal no. 1697, translated here by Ibrahim Gamard. [har laHZa rô-at gôy-ad: 'man sham`-é shab-forûz-am' har laHZa mô-at gôy-ad: man nâf-é moshk-bêz-am]
96. Nevit Ergin (translated from Golpinarli's Turkish translation), "Divan-i Kebir: Meter 2," p. 113. Comment: The rendering, "I am glorified by... his face. I want glory from him" sounds as if Shams- i Tabriz is worshiped as Divine or else it sounds egotistical. At any rate, viewing one's spiritual teacher as a Divine incarnation is an inappropriate interpretation of Islamic sufi poetry. There is a word-play here because "Shamsuddin" means the "Sun of the Religion."
97. from Rumi's Ghazal no. 1694, translated here by Ibrahim Gamard. [tabrîz! shams-é dîn-râ az mâ rasân tô khidmat khidmat ba-mashriqê beh k-az rô-ash mustanîr-am]
98. Nevit Ergin (translated from Golpinarli's Turkish translation), "Divan-i Kebir: Meter 2," p. 147. Comment: Portraying Rumi as advising anyone to imitate a devil is unfortunate. The word "dêw/dîv" refers to a jinn. In Islam, jinn are viewed as (mostly) mischievous, or outright evil. In the Qur'an, some are mentioned as being sincere believers in the One True God. Here "that Fairy" is a metaphor for the attractiveness of the spiritual beloved and master (Shams).
99. from Rumi's Ghazal no. 2042, translated here by Ibrahim Gamard. [chûn dêw rah be-paymâ tâ bîn-î ân parî-râ w-andar bar-é chô sîm-ash tô kâr-é del chô zar kon]
100. Nevit Ergin (translated from Golpinarli's Turkish translation), "Divan-i Kebir: Meter 2," p. 52. Comment: Somehow (presumably the intermediate translation into Turkish was a major factor), the meaning of these lines ended up as misinterpreted. There is no "looking at God" in the original Persian verse.
101. from Rumi's Ghazal no. 852, translated here by Ibrahim Gamard. [az dîdan-é jamâlê k-ô Husn-âfrîn-ad b-allâh yakê naZar kon k-andar naZar che ây-ad?]
102. Kabir Helminski, "Love Is A Stranger," 1993, p. 24. Revised in "The Knowing Heart," 1999, p. 229: to, "Even though these beauties beckon, let's go home" (from, "Even though these blonde beauties beckon, let's go home"). Corrected in "The Pocket Rumi Reader, " 2001, p. 30: to, "Even though the blind ones beckon us, let's go home." Comment: He made the same mistake as Barks ("I know it's tempting to stay and meet those blonde women"). It is to Helminski's credit that he eventually corrected the error.
103. from Rumi's Ghazal no. 2345, translated by Arberry, "Mystical Poems of Rumi: Second Selection," p. 76. [chô bê-ghâ-hast-o bârân, khâna-khâna Salây-é jumla yâr-ân, khâna-khâna
chô jaghd-ân chand în maHrûm bûdan ba-gerd-â-gerd-é wêrân? khâna-khâna
ayâ aSHâb-é rôshan-del, shetâb-îd ba-kôrî-yé jumla kôr-ân, khâna-khâna
ayâ ay `âqil-é hoshyâr-é por-gham del-é mâ-râ ma-shôrân, khâna-khâna]
104. Kabir Helminski, "The Knowing Heart," p. 7. Comment: This poem refers to the classical view of human natureas resembling a combination of the qualities of angels, devils, and beasts. The error was interpreting the word "dêw/dîv" (Persian for devil or evil jinn) incorrectly with a positive meaning of "divine." To say that a human being is "part god" is pagan and alien to Islam and Islamic mysticism (sufism).
105. Rumi's Quatrain no. 664, translated by Gamard and Farhadi. Versions of this quatrain have been made by Coleman Barks (based on Moyne), "Open Secret," p. 11 (c) and by Muriel Maufroy, "Breathing Truth," p. 221. [în Sûrat-é âdamî ke dar ham bast-and naqshê-st ke dar Tawîla-yégham bast-and gah dêw-o gahê fereshta-wo gah waHshê în khwad cha Talism-ast ke bar-ham bast-and]
106. Helminski (based on Saedian), "the Pocket Rumi Reader," 2001, p. 16. This is not an authentic Rumi quatrain (it is not in the earliest manuscripts), from the "pseudo-Foruzanfar" edition, no. 1242. Comment: It is an accurate translation (compared to Barks' version above: "During the day I was singing with you. At night we slept in the same bed"). [rôz-at be-setûd-am -o na-mê-dân-ast-am shab bâ tô ghanûnd-am-o na-mê-dân-ast-am]
107. Azima Melita Kolin (based on a literal translation by Maryam Mafi), "Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved," 1999, p. 23. Comment: The first line of the version diminishes Rumi's important theme of how love is the way of the Prophet Muhammad, by first emphasizing that "Love is our mother" (which is in the second line of the original quatrain). There is no "fighting with Love" in the original. In addition, the version eliminates Rumi's teaching that our unbelieving/rejecting [kâfir] natures prevents us from seeing God's Love.
108. Rumi's Quatrain no. 49, translated by Gamard and Farhadi. This quatrain has been translated by Arberry, "The Rubâ'íyât of Jalâl al-Dín Rúmí," p. 101 (a), Reza Saberi, "A Thousand Years of Persian Rubáiyát," p. 227 (c), and Nevit Ergin (based on Golpinarli), "Crazy As We Are," p. 44 (a). Versions of it have been made by Coleman Barks (based on Arberry); "Birdsong," p. 48 (a); Coleman Barks (based on Moyne), "Unseen Rain," p. 8 (a); Azima Kolin (based on Mafi), "Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved," p. 23; Kabir & Camille Helminski (based on Saedian), p. 4 (a). [`ishq-ast Tarîq-o râh-é payghambar-é mâ mâ zâda-yé `ishq-o `ishq shod mâdar-é mâ ay mâdar-é mâ nehofta dar châdar-é mâ penhân shod as Tabî`at-é kâfar-é mâ]
109. Kolin (based on Mafi), "Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved," p. 117. Comment: The word "caravans" does not appear in the original. The last line was mistakenly rendered in such a way to deny hope, whereas the original encourages spiritual hope.
110. Rumi's Quatrain no. 1699, translated by Gamard and Farhadi. [gar hêch neshâna nêst andar wâdî besyâr omêd-hâ-st dar nawmêdî ay del ma-bor ommêd, ke rawZa-yé jân khormâ deh-î, ar nêz derakht-é bêd-î]
111. Kolin (based on Mafi), "Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved," p. 89. Comment: It can be seen that the last lines of the version divert significantly from the original meaning (which emphasizes the sufi theme of "passing away from self" and not the theme of being unable to find God).
112. Rumi's Quatrain no. 1712, translated by Gamard and Farhadi. [bê-nâm-o neshân chûn del-o jân-am kard-î bê-kaf chô Tarab, dast-zanân-am kard-i goft-am ba-ko-jâ raw-am, ke jân-râ jâ nêst bê-jâ-wo rawân, ham-chô rawân-am kard-î]
113. Kolin (based on Mafi), "Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved," p. 62. Comment: The mistake here was misreading the word "mohr" as "bead" (one of its meanings) and then as "prayer-beads" or a "rosary" when it means a chesspiece, pawn, or playing piece. In the version, the words about setting a stage and opening a curtain are added by the versioner. The word "ragS" here is a technical word in sufism, referring to "dancing" movements during "samaa`" or spontaneous movements inspired by listening to mystical music and mystical poetry.
114. Rumi's Quatrain no. 1441, translated by Gamard Farhadi. [man bê-rokh-é tô, bâda na-dân-am khwardan bê dast-é to, man mohra na-dân-am bardan az dûr ma-râ raqS hamê-farmây-î bêparda-yé tô raqS na-dân-am kardan]
