Customer Reviews

Mystical Poems of Rumi

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This 2009 edition of Rumi's mystical poems includes the text from both vol 1 and 2 of the earlier editions of Arberry's brilliant translations. Professor Lewis's new foreword is fascinating, there is an "autobiographical sketch" by Arberry; both the notes and, in some cases, the translations have been corrected and made consistent. The history of all the work many scholars have put into the book is explained on page iv, if you want to search inside and read the details. A volume to treasure: this is the edition to get!

I read a passage and try to grasp its significance and find myself at a loss. There is great value in the passages, but the meanings are cloudy to me. It seems very symbolic at points and then ethereal at others. I would recommend this to a person on a spiritual quest that has a very poetic mindset and is capable of reading deeply into things that may at first seem mundane.

I can't say I'm too happy with this book for several reasons. In the begining of the book, somewhere before poems, there is a publisher comment saying something in the line that this is one of the few books that made justice to what Rumi was saying, and others are new age type of renderings, and then he went naming some of those "new age" authors. That is in my oppinion very low thing to do.
Translation itself is quite intelectual and it seems to me that the translator made something simple into something complex just for the sake of having that intelectual tone. Translator is also using words which are not used much today. I personally am not native speaker but I have enough experience with english to determine which words are not used much, so this can make the reading a bit difficult as well.
Other then that, the book is satisfactory. I am still searching for some good translation of Rumi's poems.

"My verse resembles the bread of Egypt--night passes over it, and you cannot eat it any more."

That line above, featured in the book's description, I would have tried to enhance, broke more open, played with those words in hopes of creating part of a great song, mined more gold out of the angel, and perhaps made the line truly literal, more giving as it should be, closer to the truth; in short have a greater ability to feed the common palate. Attempting something like this with my brush:

My verse resembles a rare bread in Egypt,
nights can pass, but still it is fresh.

Birds could come and tear it apart, and
carry my remains into the sky.

Wonderful, pieces will then fall all over
earth,

and the living sprouts will take root in
any heart that holds me close.


O the little, insignificant drama and bucking heads of some scholars with the artist. Rumi, what should any say to you, my dear -- and those who bring your name to us -- but thanks.


Daniel Ladinsky
best selling Penguin author of poetry