The Mystical Poems of Rumi 2: Second Selection, Poems 201-400

by Rumi

Book Overview

Rumi, who wrote and preached in Persia during the thirteenth century, is one of history's most celebrated mystics. His vast body of poetry includes a lengthy epic of religious mysticism, the Mathnavi, and more than three thousand lyrics and odes. A. J. Arberry, who selected four hundred of the lyrics for translation, calls Rumi "one of the world's greatest poets. In profundity of thought, inventiveness of image, and triumphant mastery of...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226731529
• ISBN13: 9780226731520
• Release Date: November 1991
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 2.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Superior Translation

Compared to translators such as Harvey and Barks, Arberry is the superior translator. Perhaps it takes a certain amount and kind of understanding to do a good translating, or perhaps it takes knowledge and literary-language skill, or perhaps it takes all of these. There have always been vast problems choosing with translation to get in Middle Eastern and Far Eastern studies; my experience with Far Eastern studies/translations is that the translator really has to be humble and present with the original poet. In this case, the translator must let Rumi speak, and Arberry does that better than many other common translators.