Most of the sources of the Masnavi are not widely available in English, if at all, and so references have been provided in the notes only for citations of the Qur’an. Verse numbering varies in the most widely available translations of the Qur’an, some of which do not in fact number individual verses, but since this variation is very slight (a maximum of a few verses) the reader should still be able to find the relevant passages without difficulty. The notes also identify those passages in the translation which represent the sayings and deeds of the Prophet Mohammad (hadith) when this is not already self-evident in the text (e.g. by ‘the Prophet said’). It should be pointed out that citations in the original Masnavi are very often variants of the original sources, including the Qur’an, rather than exact renderings, owing to the constraints of the metre that is used. The same applies in this verse translation.
This translation corresponds exactly to the text of the third volume of the edition prepared by Mohammad Estelami (six volumes and index, 2nd edition, Tehran, 1990). This is by far the best critical edition that has been prepared, since it offers a complete apparatus criticus, indicating the variant readings in all the early manuscripts more comprehensively and transparently than any other edition. Although R. A. Nicholson’s edition of the Persian text is more widely available owing to the fact that it is published in Europe, its shortcomings for today are widely recognized and outweigh the advantage of having his exactly corresponding prose translation and commentary to refer to.
As far as possible, the English equivalents of technical terms have been provided, in preference to giving the original in transliteration and relying on explanatory notes. Where it is provided, the transliteration of names and terms has been simplified to such a degree that no diacritics are used. It is designed simply to help the reader use Persian pronunciation, especially where this would affect the metre and rhyme.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
General Background
J. T. P. De Bruijn, Persian Sufi Poetry: An Introduction to the Mystical Use of Classical Poems (Richmond, 1997).
C. W. Ernst, The Shambhala Guide to Sufism (Boston, 1997).
L. Lewisohn, ed., Classical Persian Sufism: From its Origins to Rumi (London, 1993).
J. W. Morris, ‘Situating Islamic Mysticism: Between Written Traditions and Popular Spirituality’, in R. Herrera, ed., Mystics of the Book: Themes, Topics and Typologies (New York, 1993), 293–334.
J. Nurbakhsh, The Path: SufiPractices (London; 2nd rev. edn, New York, 2006).
O. Safi, ‘On the Path of Love towards the Divine: A Journey with Muslim Mystics’, Sufi, 78 (2009–10), 24–7.
Reference
Encyclopaedia Iranica, ed. E. Yarshater (New York, 1985–);
Encyclopaedia of Islam, ed. H. A. R. Gibb et al., 12 vols. (Leiden, 1960–2003).
J. Nurbakhsh, Sufi Symbolism, 16 vols. (London, 1980–2003).
On Rumi
W. C. Chittick, ed., The SufiPath of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi (Albany, NY, 1983).
F. Keshavarz, Reading Mystical Lyric: The Case of Jalal al-Din Rumi (Columbia, SC, 1998).
F. D. Lewis, Rumi, Past and Present, East and West: The Life, Teachings and Poetry of Jalal al-Din Rumi (Oxford, 2000).
J. Mojaddedi, Beyond Dogma: Rumi’s Teachings on Friendship with God and Early SufiTheories (Oxford, 2012).
Rumi, Mystical Poems of Rumi 1 and 2, tr. A. J. Arberry (New York, 1979).
Rumi, Signs of the Unseen: The Discourses of Jalaluddin Rumi, tr. W. M. Thackston, Jr (Boston, 1994).
N. Virani, ‘“I am the nightingale of the Merciful”: Rumi’s use of the Qur’an and Hadith’, Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 22/2 (2002), 100–11.
Editions of the Masnavi
Masnavi, ed. M. Estelami, 2nd edn, 7 vols. (Tehran, 1990). Vols. i–vi each contain the editor’s commentary in the form of endnotes; vol. vii is the Index. Masnavi, ed. T. Sobhani (Tehran, 1994).
Masnavi-ye ma‘navi, ed. A.-K. Sorush, 2 vols. (Tehran, 1996).
The Mathnawi of Jalalu’ddin Rumi, ed. and tr. R. A. Nicholson, E. J. W. Gibb Memorial, NS, 8 vols. (London, 1925–40). Vols. i–iii contain the Persian text; vols. iv–vi contain a full translation in prose; vols. vii–viii contain a commentary on Books One to Six.
Interpretation of the Masnavi
W. C. Chittick, ‘Rumi and wahdat al-wujud’, in A. Banani, R. Hovannisian, and G. Sabagh, eds., Poetry and Mysticism in Islam: The Heritage of Rumi (Cambridge, 1994), 70–111.
H. Dabashi, ‘Rumi and the Problems of Theodicy: Moral Imagination and Narrative Discourse in a Story of the Masnavi’, in A. Banani, R. Hovannisian, and G. Sabagh, eds., Poetry and Mysticism in Islam: The Heritage of Rumi (Cambridge, 1994), 112–35.
R. Davis, ‘Narrative and Doctrine in the First Story of Rumi’s Mathnawi’, in G. R. Hawting, J. A. Mojaddedi, and A. Samely, eds., Studies in Islamic and Middle Eastern Texts and Traditions in Memory of Norman Calder (Oxford, 2000), 93–104.
A. Karamustafa, ‘Speaker, Voice and Audience in the Koran and the Mathnawi’, Sufi, 79 (2010), 36–45.
M. Mills, ‘Folk Tradition in the Masnavi and the Masnavi in Folk Tradition’, in A. Banani, R. Hovannisian, and G. Sabagh, eds., Poetry and Mysticism in Islam: The Heritage of Rumi (Cambridge, 1994), 136–77.
J. Mojaddedi, ‘Rumi’, in A. Rippin, ed., The Blackwell Companion to the Qur’an (Oxford, 2006), 362–72.
J. R. Perry, ‘Monty Python and the Mathnavi: The Parrot in Indian, Persian and English Humor’, Iranian Studies, 36/1 (2003), 63–73.
J. Renard, All the King’s Falcons: Rumi on Prophets and Revelation (Albany, NY, 1994).
S. Safavi and S. Weightman, Rumi’s Mystical Design: Reading the Mathnawi, Book One (Albany, NY, 2009).
O. Safi, ‘Did the Two Oceans Meet? Historical Connections and Disconnections between Ibn ‘Arabi and Rumi’, Journal of Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society, 26 (1999), 55–88.
Further Reading in Oxford World’s Classics
The Masnavi, Book One, tr. and ed. Jawid Mojaddedi.
The Masnavi, Book Two, tr. and ed. Jawid Mojaddedi.
The Qur’an, tr. M. A. S. Abdel Haleem.
A CHRONOLOGY OF RUMI
1207
Rumi’s birth in Balkh, north-eastern Persia
c. 1216
Rumi’s family emigrate from Persia to Anatolia
1219
Alaoddin Kay Qobad ascends Seljuk throne in Anatolia
1220
Death of Faridoddin ‘Attar
1221
The Mongol army conquers Balkh
c. 1222
Rumi’s family settle temporarily in Karaman, Anatolia
1224
Rumi marries Gowhar Khatun
1226
Birth of Soltan Valad, Rumi’s son and eventual successor
c. 1229
Rumi’s family relocate to Konya, Anatolia
1231
Death of Baha Valad, Rumi’s father
1232
Borhanoddin Termezi arrives in Konya
c. 1233
Rumi begins his studies in Syria
1235
Death of ebn al-Farez in Egypt
1237
Rumi returns to Konya as leader of Baha Valad’s school Ghiyasoddin Kay Khosrow II ascends Seljuk throne in Anatolia
1240
Death of ebn ‘Arabi in Damascus
1243
The Mongols extend their empire to Anatolia
1244
Rumi meets Shams-e Tabriz in Konya for the first time
1246
Shams leaves Konya
1247
Shams returns to Konya
c. 1247
Shams disappears Salahoddin the Goldsmith begins tenure as Rumi’s deputy
1258
Death of Salahoddin
Hosamoddin Chalabi begins tenure as Rumi’s deputy
The Mongols conquer Baghdad, the Abbasid capital
; 1260
The Mongols are defeated in Syria by the Mamluks
c. 1262
The Masnavi is started
c. 1264
The Masnavi is resumed after a pause on account of the death of Hosamoddin’s wife
1273
(17 December) Death of Rumi in Konya
THE MASNAVI
BOOK THREE
Prose Introduction
Pieces of wisdom are the armies of God by which He strengthens the spirits of seekers, and keeps their knowledge away from the tarnish of ignorance, their justice from the tarnish of tyranny, their generosity from the tarnish of self-display, and their intelligence from the tarnish of stupidity. He makes accessible to them the understanding of the afterlife that had been too challenging for them, while also making easy for them the acts of obedience and self-exertion that had proven too hard before. This wisdom is also part of the evidences and proofs of the Prophets, informing about God’s secrets and His sovereignty specially for mystics, and how He causes the luminous pearl-like heavens of His compassion to revolve above the vaporous global sphere, the same way that the intellect controls earthly forms and their external and internal senses. The revolving of those spiritual heavens controls the vaporous heavens, the radiant meteors, the illumined lamps, the nurturing winds, the expanses of land, and the constantly flowing waters. May God benefit His servants with them and increase their understanding.
Each reader can understand only according to the capacity of his mind, the pietist can only perform devotions according to the strength of his self-exertion, the mufti can give rulings only according to his ability to reason them out, the alms-giver can give alms only according to the limit of his means, the donor can give only from what he possesses, and the recipient of his generosity can only acquire what he can know about. However, he who seeks water in the desert will not be prevented from seeking it by his knowledge of what is contained in the seas, and he will be determined in his search for this Water of Life, so as not to be cut off from it by preoccupation with daily life, nor to be hindered by illness, need, or the interference of desires between him and the goal to which he is hurrying. Knowledge will not be attained by the one who prefers lust, nor the one who relies on gentle treatment, nor the one who turns back from his search, nor the one who fears for himself, nor the one who is anxious about his own welfare, unless he takes refuge with God and prioritizes his spiritual affairs over his worldly ones, then takes from the treasure of wisdom such magnificent wealth that neither depreciates nor becomes inherited like worldly inheritance, and also acquires the glorious lights, the noble jewels, and the precious domains, giving thanks for His grace, magnifying His power, and glorifying His strength; and unless he seeks refuge in God from the baseness of affluence and the ignorance of overvaluing the little that he sees in himself while undervaluing the great amount he obtains from others, causing him to become proud of things that God has not even permitted for him. Rather, the seeker who possesses knowledge must learn what he does not know and teach others what he has learnt, be compassionate to those of weak intelligence, avoid becoming proud due to the folly of the stupid, or becoming harsh towards the dull-witted: ‘You used to be that way before yourself, but then God was generous to you.’*
God is exalted far above the sayings of the blasphemers, the worship of associate gods by polytheists, the accusation of defect by those who are themselves deficient, the human comparisons of the anthropomorphists, the evil suppositions of the intellectuals, and the estimations of those who follow illusions. Praise belongs to Him and glory for the composition of the divine and holy Masnavi. He is the One who enables success, the Sender of Grace, and to Him belongs Power and Bestowal to His mystic servants especially, despite a group who ‘desire to extinguish the Light of God with their mouths—God will make His light complete its course even if the infidels hate it.’* ‘We have sent down the reminder and We are its guards.’* ‘Whoever alters it after he has heard it will bear the guilt for this. God is Hearing, Knowing.’* Praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds, and blessings on our chief Mohammad, his family, and his pure and good companions altogether, through Your Grace, O Most Gracious One!
Exordium
O Light of Truth, Hosamoddin, bring please
Book Three—the Prophet would do things in threes.*
Open the box of secrets it contains;
For more excuses no time now remains.
Your power arrives from God’s power, its true source,
Not from mere veins which pulse with lust’s full force;
This lamp, the sun, itself burns radiantly—
A cotton wick and oil aren’t necessary;
And heaven’s vault has stayed up for so long
Without ropes or tall pillars which stand strong;
5
And Gabriel’s power came not from food, but seeing
The Master and Creator of all being—
The power of God’s Abdals, His true elite,
Derives from Him, not from the food they eat.
Even their bodies have been made with light,
So they surpass the angels in God’s sight.
You’ve gained God’s attributes, so you’re prepared—
Walk through the flames like Abraham once dared!
Fire will become ‘coolness and comfort too’*—
Such elements will serve as slaves to you.
10
The natural elements are in each creature,
But still your constitution is superior:
Your constitution’s from beyond this sphere—
It came to manifest His oneness here.
People’s capacity to understand
Is limited and it will not expand.
O Light of Truth, your piercing sight alone
Can give the power to understand to stone;
Mount Sinai through that great epiphany
Drank much more than its own capacity:
15
The mountain split apart due to one glance;
Just like a camel it began to dance!*
Many kind men would give you meat tomorrow
But only God gives throats with which to swallow;
One for your neck, one for your spirit too:
He gives a throat to every part of you.
He’ll give when you reflect His majesty,
Once empty of deceit and vanity;
You then won’t tell to every passer-by
His secrets, thus leave sugar for a fly.
20
God’s secrets only reach those who possess
A hundred tongues but stay mute nonetheless.
God’s grace bestows a throat to earth’s soil, so
It swallows water and help plants to grow;
And He gives creatures lips and throats, so they
Consume plants and develop in this way.
Each animal that eats plants grows in size
And serves as food for humans when it dies.
Once it returns to earth, it will consume
The human corpse that’s left beneath its tomb.
25
I’ve seen mere atoms open-mouthed, my friend;
Describing their food takes too long to end.
Provisions are first nourished by His grace,
And He feeds nourishers in the first place.
The Lord provides our sustenance below—
Without their own food how could wheat fields grow?
The whole of this can never be expressed;
This sample represents for you the rest.
Most things eat then are eaten by another;
Eternal ones are fortunate, my brother.
30
This world is transient, as are those inside;
The other world and its souls will abide.
Lovers of this world have become divided,
Lovers of that world permanently united.
Noble ones for themselves desire to pour
Water of
Life which lasts for ever more.
The good deeds which endure come from these few
Because they’re flawless and they lack fear too;
Though they be thousands, they’re just one inside,
Unlike mere fancies, which get multiplied.
35
Throats are with swallowers and what they’ve eaten,
As brains are with the conquerors and the beaten.
He gave a throat to Truth’s rod, it’s well known—
It swallowed all the other rods then thrown;*
But it did not increase in size at all,
Since it did not eat like an animal.
He also gave a throat to certitude,
So it could make doubts vanish just like food.
Spiritual things have throats too, which seems odd,
But the provider of such throats is God;
40
There’s nothing in creation that’s without
A throat through which to feed, so have no doubt!
But when the soul’s throat disregards its body,
Its sustenance then comes straight from God’s glory.
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