Rumi Made Easy

August 28, 2005

REVIEWS: Rumi made easy

Sufism has been a tradition well entrenched in Eastern societies. With their own peculiar logic and their own modes and methods of dissemination, the sufis have been able to influence zillions of lives through the course of history. The humility and the hatred of bigotry that has been the characteristics of all true sufis brought them closer to the common man as opposed to the elites of their times. A glittering icon among such men of high nobility was Jalaluddin Rumi who had kings as his followers and disciples, but never allowed vanity to get the better of him.

Simple, sincere and selfless, Rumi was respected because he respected others; even his enemies. Such has been his stature and influence on contemporary thought that he has won admiration from scholars of both Eastern and Western hues. Professor E.G. Browne, for instance, called him “the most eminent poet whom Persia has produced”; and Iqbal paid his homage thus: “The world of today needs a Rumi to create an attitude of hope, and to kindle the fire of enthusiasm for life.” Professor Reynold Alleyne Nicholson, the man behind the three volumes under discussion today, found in Rumi “the greatest mystical poet of any age”.

Naturally, there were, and are, good reasons behind such a universal appeal. The 13th century existence of Rumi (1207-1273) was marked by the savagery of the Crusades on the one hand and the barbarianism of the Mongol warriors on the other. The Islamic world was, indeed, faced with a crisis of monumental proportions.

While it was on the verge of explosion on account of such external threats, the strife and factionalism within the Islamic world was enough to cause an implosion of an equal intensity, if not more. The decrepitude to which Muslim society had fallen can be imagined by the fact that when the Mongols approached the city of Rayy, they found it divided between two factions, the Shafiites and the Hanafites. The former at once entered into secret negotiations, undertaking to deliver the city at night on the condition that the Mongols would then massacre the members of the other sect. The Mongols, never reluctant to shed blood, gladly accepted the offer and, after getting entry into the city, slaughtered both the Hanafites and the Shafiites.

Caught between the wild Mongols in the East and the crusading knights in the West, Islam in the early part of the 13th century seemed for ever lost. But the picture in the last part of the same century was starkly different, with the last crusader having been driven into the sea, and the Khans, many of whom had been flirting with Christianity, finally having recognized Islam as the state religion. Rumi’s contribution to this revival was, indeed, great. His Sufi intellect provided the much needed stabilizing factor to that society. And once the society was at peace with itself, the revival was only a matter of time.

It is this aspect of Rumi’s work that transcended boundaries of religion and faith, attracting to his Mathnawi Ma’anvi people from all over. Reynold Nicholson was one of the most learned Europeans to succumb to the charm and genius of Rumi.

One of the leading Orientalists and Islamicists of his time, Nicholson sparked the interest of many other scholars and amateurs with his monumental work on the Mathnawi, producing eight volumes between 1925 and 1940, including three in which he compiled the original Persian text after elaborate consultation with authentic manuscripts rather than published accounts. The two decades he spent over the project were not wasted, however, and even today his compilation is considered the most credible text of the Mathnawi in Persian.

Processed photo-mechanically, the reprinted version carries Nicholson’s entire work on Rumi in three impressive volumes; one carrying the translation, the other one with his commentary, and the last one featuring the Persian text.

Writing in the Introduction to the first volume, Nicholson has made a pertinent point about the need for a translator to be faithful to the original. “I have on the whole adhered to the principle that translation is one thing, interpretation another, and that correct interpretation depends on correct translation, just as the most fertile source of misinterpretation is inability or neglect to translate correctly,” he writes.

Having done that successfully, as has been testified time and again by scholars over the last six decades, Nicholson has done a great service to the broader spectrum of Rumiology. It is often said about the Mathnawi that it is “easier than easy to the ignorant, but harder than hard to the wise”. Nicholson’s treatise makes the Mathnawi easy even for the wise!

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The Mathnawi of Jalaluddin Rumi
Vol-I (Translation into English)
ISBN 969-35-1604-4
535pp. Rs2,500
Vol-II (Commentary & Indices)
ISBN 969-35-1622-2
880pp. Rs1,250
Vol-III (Complete Persian Text)
ISBN 969-35-1629-X
1,610pp. Rs2,500
Translated, edited and compiled by Reynold A. Nicholson. Reprinted and available with Sang-e-Meel Publications, Lahore. 25, Shahrah-e-Pakistan (Lower Mall). PO Box 997, Lahore
Tel: 042-7220100; 7228143
Fax: 042-7245101.
Email:smp@sang-e-meel.com

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