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Rumi: Poet and Mystic
Jalalu'l-Din Rumi (1207-73) was the greatest of the Persian mystical poets. In his extensive writings he explored the profound themes that had gradually evolved with the long succession of Sufi thinkers since the ninth century, such as the nature of truth, of beauty, and of our spiritual relationship with God. Professor R. A. Nicholson translated this inspiring collection of mystical poems shortly before his death. It contains delicately rhythmical versions of over a hundred short passages from Rumi's greatest works, together with brief yet illuminating explanatory notes. With this attractive and accessible translation, a wider readership can appreciate the range and depth of Rumi's intellect and imagination, and discover why it is so often said that in Rumi the Persian mystical genius found its supreme expression.
162 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1950
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About the author
Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi
1,170 books15.7k followersSufism inspired writings of Persian poet and mystic Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi; these writings express the longing of the soul for union with the divine.
Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī - also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī, Mevlânâ/Mawlānā (مولانا, "our master"), Mevlevî/Mawlawī (مولوی, "my master") and more popularly simply as Rumi - was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian and Sufi mystic who lived in Konya, a city of Ottoman Empire (Today's Turkey). His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages, and he has been described as the most popular poet and the best-selling poet in the United States.
His poetry has influenced Persian literature, but also Turkish, Ottoman Turkish, Azerbaijani, Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu, as well as the literature of some other Turkic, Iranian, and Indo-Aryan languages including Chagatai, Pashto, and Bengali.
Due to quarrels between different dynasties in Khorāṣān, opposition to the Khwarizmid Shahs who were considered devious by his father, Bahā ud-Dīn Wālad or fear of the impending Mongol cataclysm, his father decided to migrate westwards, eventually settling in the Anatolian city Konya, where he lived most of his life, composed one of the crowning glories of Persian literature, and profoundly affected the culture of the area.
When his father died, Rumi, aged 25, inherited his position as the head of an Islamic school. One of Baha' ud-Din's students, Sayyed Burhan ud-Din Muhaqqiq Termazi, continued to train Rumi in the Shariah as well as the Tariqa, especially that of Rumi's father. For nine years, Rumi practised Sufism as a disciple of Burhan ud-Din until the latter died in 1240 or 1241. Rumi's public life then began: he became an Islamic Jurist, issuing fatwas and giving sermons in the mosques of Konya. He also served as a Molvi (Islamic teacher) and taught his adherents in the madrassa. During this period, Rumi also travelled to Damascus and is said to have spent four years there.
It was his meeting with the dervish Shams-e Tabrizi on 15 November 1244 that completely changed his life. From an accomplished teacher and jurist, Rumi was transformed into an ascetic.
On the night of 5 December 1248, as Rumi and Shams were talking, Shams was called to the back door. He went out, never to be seen again. Rumi's love for, and his bereavement at the death of, Shams found their expression in an outpouring of lyric poems, Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi. He himself went out searching for Shams and journeyed again to Damascus.
Rumi found another companion in Salaḥ ud-Din-e Zarkub, a goldsmith. After Salah ud-Din's death, Rumi's scribe and favourite student, Hussam-e Chalabi, assumed the role of Rumi's companion. Hussam implored Rumi to write more. Rumi spent the next 12 years of his life in Anatolia dictating the six volumes of this masterwork, the Masnavi, to Hussam.
In December 1273, Rumi fell ill and died on the 17th of December in Konya.
Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī - also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī, Mevlânâ/Mawlānā (مولانا, "our master"), Mevlevî/Mawlawī (مولوی, "my master") and more popularly simply as Rumi - was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian and Sufi mystic who lived in Konya, a city of Ottoman Empire (Today's Turkey). His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages, and he has been described as the most popular poet and the best-selling poet in the United States.
His poetry has influenced Persian literature, but also Turkish, Ottoman Turkish, Azerbaijani, Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu, as well as the literature of some other Turkic, Iranian, and Indo-Aryan languages including Chagatai, Pashto, and Bengali.
Due to quarrels between different dynasties in Khorāṣān, opposition to the Khwarizmid Shahs who were considered devious by his father, Bahā ud-Dīn Wālad or fear of the impending Mongol cataclysm, his father decided to migrate westwards, eventually settling in the Anatolian city Konya, where he lived most of his life, composed one of the crowning glories of Persian literature, and profoundly affected the culture of the area.
When his father died, Rumi, aged 25, inherited his position as the head of an Islamic school. One of Baha' ud-Din's students, Sayyed Burhan ud-Din Muhaqqiq Termazi, continued to train Rumi in the Shariah as well as the Tariqa, especially that of Rumi's father. For nine years, Rumi practised Sufism as a disciple of Burhan ud-Din until the latter died in 1240 or 1241. Rumi's public life then began: he became an Islamic Jurist, issuing fatwas and giving sermons in the mosques of Konya. He also served as a Molvi (Islamic teacher) and taught his adherents in the madrassa. During this period, Rumi also travelled to Damascus and is said to have spent four years there.
It was his meeting with the dervish Shams-e Tabrizi on 15 November 1244 that completely changed his life. From an accomplished teacher and jurist, Rumi was transformed into an ascetic.
On the night of 5 December 1248, as Rumi and Shams were talking, Shams was called to the back door. He went out, never to be seen again. Rumi's love for, and his bereavement at the death of, Shams found their expression in an outpouring of lyric poems, Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi. He himself went out searching for Shams and journeyed again to Damascus.
Rumi found another companion in Salaḥ ud-Din-e Zarkub, a goldsmith. After Salah ud-Din's death, Rumi's scribe and favourite student, Hussam-e Chalabi, assumed the role of Rumi's companion. Hussam implored Rumi to write more. Rumi spent the next 12 years of his life in Anatolia dictating the six volumes of this masterwork, the Masnavi, to Hussam.
In December 1273, Rumi fell ill and died on the 17th of December in Konya.
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June 8, 2019
Of the many Rumi books that I own, this is one of my favorite. Sadly, it is out of print, but it is still readily available. Reynold A. Nicholson is one of the foremost Rumi translators, together with Coleman Barks, Kabir Halminski and Daniel Ladinsky. Each bring a different flair and energy to Rumi's original old Persian poems. Nicholson in my opinion brings the most pure and original translation, probably because he was a language scholar. Few may know that Rumi's poems are inspired by the Qur'an and it is very difficult to separate the holy book from his poems. Some contemporary translators like Coleman Barks have taken the Islamic part out the poems and made them spiritual. There are not as many references to the Qur'an. I personally don't have issues with that, as Rumi’s main message was one of universal love. Still, we cannot forget that Rumi was a very religious man and he revered the Qur'an— the beauty and ideas of his poems come from it.
Nicholson was a British professor of Arabic at Cambridge University and one of the greatest Rumi scholars and translators. He died in 1945. This is a beautiful edition of his translations, mostly selections from the Masnavi, Rumi's six volume magnum opus. Here, Rumi penetrates to the very depth of the human soul and unveils its inner workings.
So as much as I love Barks, I encourage Rumi lovers to discover Nicholson. And to consider reading The Masnavi, known as the greatest mystical poem in world literature. It’s not an easy breezy read, but it’s Rumi’s greatest work! Nicholson includes its passages in this elegant and very readable collection.
Nicholson was a British professor of Arabic at Cambridge University and one of the greatest Rumi scholars and translators. He died in 1945. This is a beautiful edition of his translations, mostly selections from the Masnavi, Rumi's six volume magnum opus. Here, Rumi penetrates to the very depth of the human soul and unveils its inner workings.
So as much as I love Barks, I encourage Rumi lovers to discover Nicholson. And to consider reading The Masnavi, known as the greatest mystical poem in world literature. It’s not an easy breezy read, but it’s Rumi’s greatest work! Nicholson includes its passages in this elegant and very readable collection.
June 5, 2017
How can anyone not love Rumi. His chance encounter with his alter-ego Shamsuldin of Tabriz or Shams of Tabiz is one of the classic moments in history of the meeting of 2 truly incredible spiritual / philosophic minds. The legend of how Shams convinces Rumi to jettison all of his books into a fountain is surreal. This book is a collection of some of the poetry of Rumi. Some of it is incredible and here are my favourite parts:
• Love, Love alone can kill what seemed so dead, The frozen snake of passion; Love alone By tearful prayer and fiery longing fed, Reveals a knowledge schools have never known.
• ‘Tis said, the pipe and lute that charm our ears
Derive their melody from rolling spheres
We, who are parts of Adam, heard with him
The songs of angels and of seraphim
Our memory, though dull and sad retains
Some echo still of those unearthly strains
Oh music is the meat of all who love
Music uplifts the soul to realms above
The ashes glow, the latent fires increase
We listen and are fed with joy and peace
• The Prince of mankind said truly
that no one who has passed away from this world
feels sorrow and regret for having died,
but he feels a hundred regrets
for having missed the opportunity,
Saying to himself, "Why did I not
make death my object---
death which is the store-house
of all fortunes and riches,
And why, through seeing double,
did I fasten my lifelong gaze upon those phantoms
that vanished at the fated hour?"
The grief of the dead is not on account of death,
it is because they dwelt on the phenomenal form
of existence and never perceived that all this foam is
moved and fed by the Sea.
• If you rule your wife outwardly, yet inwardly you are ruled by her whom you desire,
This is characteristic of Man: in other animals love is lacking, and that shows their inferiority. [1]
The Prophet said that woman prevails over the wise, while ignorant men prevail over her; for in them the fierceness of the animal is immanent.
Love and tenderness are human qualities, anger and lust are animal qualities. Woman is a ray of God: she is not the earthly beloved. She is creative: you might say she is not created
• “Since wisdom is the true believers stray camel” – Imam Ali
• Of all his talents let the fool beware:
Mad for the bait, he never sees the snare.
Harness to fear of God thy strength and skill,
Else there’s no bane so deadly as free-will.
o A certain man knocked at his friend’s door:
his friend asked: “Who is there?” He answered “I.”
“Begone”, said his friend, “tis too soon!
At my table there is no place for the raw.
How shall the raw be cooked but in the fire of absence?
What else will deliver him from hypocrisy?”
He turned sadly away, and for a whole year
the flames of separation consumed him.
Then he came back and again paced to and fro
beside the house of his friend.
He knocked at the door with trepidation…
“Who is there?” cried the friend.
He answered, “Tis Thou, O Beloved.”
“Now”, said the friend, “since thou art I, come in,
there is no room for two I’s in one house.” – I thought of a Sufi joke after I read this: knock knock – who’s there? – you – (pause …. then come in)
• His least act, every day, is that He despatches three armies:
One army from the loins (of the fathers) towards the mothers, in order that the plant may grow in the womb;
One army from the wombs to the Earth, that the world may be filled with male and female;
One army from the Earth (to what is) beyond death, that every one may behold the beauty of (good) works
• When one sheep has jumped over a stream, the whole flock jump across on each other’s heels.
Drive the sheep, thy senses, to pasture; let them browse in
the verdant meadow of Reality,
That every sense of thine may become an apostle to others
and lead all their senses into that Paradise;
• “love hath five hundred wings, and every wing reaches from above the empyrean to beneath the earth.” –this is incredible …
• What worlds mysterious roll within the vast,
The all-encircling ocean of the Mind!
Cup-like thereon our forms are floating fast.
Only to fill and sink and leave behind
No spray of bubbles from the Sea upcast.
• “love is a boundless, in which the heavens are but a flake of foam”
When a fly is plunged in honey, all the members of its body are
reduced to the same condition, and it does not move. Similarly, the
term istighraq (absorption in God) is applied to one who has no
conscious existence or initiative or movement. Any action that
proceeds from him is not his own. If he is still struggling in the water,
or if he cries out, 'Oh, I am drowning,' he is not said to be in the state
of 'absorption'. This is what is signified by the words Ana'l-Haqq,
'I am God'. People imagine that it is a presumptuous claim, whereas
it is really a presumptuous claim to say Ana'l-'abd, 'I am the servant
of God'; and Ana'l-Haqq, I am God,' is an expression of great
humility. The man who says Ana'l-abd, 'I am the servant of God,'
affirms two existences, his own and God's, but he that says Ana'l-
Haqq, 'I am God,' has made himself non-existent and has given
himself up and says 'I am God,' i.e. 'I am naught, He is all: there is no
being but God's.' This is the extreme of humility and self-abasement.
• Love, Love alone can kill what seemed so dead, The frozen snake of passion; Love alone By tearful prayer and fiery longing fed, Reveals a knowledge schools have never known.
• ‘Tis said, the pipe and lute that charm our ears
Derive their melody from rolling spheres
We, who are parts of Adam, heard with him
The songs of angels and of seraphim
Our memory, though dull and sad retains
Some echo still of those unearthly strains
Oh music is the meat of all who love
Music uplifts the soul to realms above
The ashes glow, the latent fires increase
We listen and are fed with joy and peace
• The Prince of mankind said truly
that no one who has passed away from this world
feels sorrow and regret for having died,
but he feels a hundred regrets
for having missed the opportunity,
Saying to himself, "Why did I not
make death my object---
death which is the store-house
of all fortunes and riches,
And why, through seeing double,
did I fasten my lifelong gaze upon those phantoms
that vanished at the fated hour?"
The grief of the dead is not on account of death,
it is because they dwelt on the phenomenal form
of existence and never perceived that all this foam is
moved and fed by the Sea.
• If you rule your wife outwardly, yet inwardly you are ruled by her whom you desire,
This is characteristic of Man: in other animals love is lacking, and that shows their inferiority. [1]
The Prophet said that woman prevails over the wise, while ignorant men prevail over her; for in them the fierceness of the animal is immanent.
Love and tenderness are human qualities, anger and lust are animal qualities. Woman is a ray of God: she is not the earthly beloved. She is creative: you might say she is not created
• “Since wisdom is the true believers stray camel” – Imam Ali
• Of all his talents let the fool beware:
Mad for the bait, he never sees the snare.
Harness to fear of God thy strength and skill,
Else there’s no bane so deadly as free-will.
o A certain man knocked at his friend’s door:
his friend asked: “Who is there?” He answered “I.”
“Begone”, said his friend, “tis too soon!
At my table there is no place for the raw.
How shall the raw be cooked but in the fire of absence?
What else will deliver him from hypocrisy?”
He turned sadly away, and for a whole year
the flames of separation consumed him.
Then he came back and again paced to and fro
beside the house of his friend.
He knocked at the door with trepidation…
“Who is there?” cried the friend.
He answered, “Tis Thou, O Beloved.”
“Now”, said the friend, “since thou art I, come in,
there is no room for two I’s in one house.” – I thought of a Sufi joke after I read this: knock knock – who’s there? – you – (pause …. then come in)
• His least act, every day, is that He despatches three armies:
One army from the loins (of the fathers) towards the mothers, in order that the plant may grow in the womb;
One army from the wombs to the Earth, that the world may be filled with male and female;
One army from the Earth (to what is) beyond death, that every one may behold the beauty of (good) works
• When one sheep has jumped over a stream, the whole flock jump across on each other’s heels.
Drive the sheep, thy senses, to pasture; let them browse in
the verdant meadow of Reality,
That every sense of thine may become an apostle to others
and lead all their senses into that Paradise;
• “love hath five hundred wings, and every wing reaches from above the empyrean to beneath the earth.” –this is incredible …
• What worlds mysterious roll within the vast,
The all-encircling ocean of the Mind!
Cup-like thereon our forms are floating fast.
Only to fill and sink and leave behind
No spray of bubbles from the Sea upcast.
• “love is a boundless, in which the heavens are but a flake of foam”
When a fly is plunged in honey, all the members of its body are
reduced to the same condition, and it does not move. Similarly, the
term istighraq (absorption in God) is applied to one who has no
conscious existence or initiative or movement. Any action that
proceeds from him is not his own. If he is still struggling in the water,
or if he cries out, 'Oh, I am drowning,' he is not said to be in the state
of 'absorption'. This is what is signified by the words Ana'l-Haqq,
'I am God'. People imagine that it is a presumptuous claim, whereas
it is really a presumptuous claim to say Ana'l-'abd, 'I am the servant
of God'; and Ana'l-Haqq, I am God,' is an expression of great
humility. The man who says Ana'l-abd, 'I am the servant of God,'
affirms two existences, his own and God's, but he that says Ana'l-
Haqq, 'I am God,' has made himself non-existent and has given
himself up and says 'I am God,' i.e. 'I am naught, He is all: there is no
being but God's.' This is the extreme of humility and self-abasement.
August 16, 2017
I was not expecting this to be so religious. (All those reblogged Tumblr posts quoting Rumi did not appropriately manage my expectations). As the least religious non-atheist on the planet, I legit have no idea what 3/4 of these poems are about. I vaguely recognized some names from hearing people talk about the Bible, but as I haven't read any of it outside the context of AP English when we read 20 pages of it, the Torah and the Quran as literature, l couldn't tell you who any of the people are besides Jesus. But I digress...
I eventually skipped over any of the poems that had "Him/He/His" capitalized or had other indications that they were purely religious in nature, not because I fundamentally disagree with anything, but because I don't know who they are about and knowing the names seemed like it was important to understanding the overall message. The handful of poems that weren't about Biblical folks I did enjoy, though, and I could actually see the value in them/understand how people would enjoy the spiritual poems if they had more knowledge than I on the topic.
I would be willing to try more of his works, providing they're less spiritual in nature. If I was rating this book based on my own interest I would give it a 1.5 or 2 at most, but I rounded up since I can tell the quality and meaning is there, it's just so beyond my level of understanding.
I eventually skipped over any of the poems that had "Him/He/His" capitalized or had other indications that they were purely religious in nature, not because I fundamentally disagree with anything, but because I don't know who they are about and knowing the names seemed like it was important to understanding the overall message. The handful of poems that weren't about Biblical folks I did enjoy, though, and I could actually see the value in them/understand how people would enjoy the spiritual poems if they had more knowledge than I on the topic.
I would be willing to try more of his works, providing they're less spiritual in nature. If I was rating this book based on my own interest I would give it a 1.5 or 2 at most, but I rounded up since I can tell the quality and meaning is there, it's just so beyond my level of understanding.
September 15, 2021
Rumi is a major Persian poet, so I wanted to give him a try. And I gave it a good try. This is not the right book to introduce anyone to Rumi.
First, these poems were selected to showcase his mystical theology, not his poetic delights. So that was a poor fit for me right there.
Second, the footnotes are (I guess?) aimed at a student of Islamic mysticism, or possibly of Persian theological literature, and they assume significant background knowledge or a professor on hand. I am well read, and these footnotes left me more confused than the text itself. I read Christian medieval poetry for kicks and giggles, and I actually admire the sheer bafflingness of these footnotes. They don’t address questions like, “this word ‘hierophant,’ what does that mean?” They do share a single item of information with the reader while withholding context. For example: “Azazil was the name of Iblis before his fall.”
Third, each poem has a title of deep portent. I think the translator added these titles, but I’m not sure. Some of them are in Latin and I’m pretty sure that wasn’t Rumi’s work. But WHYYYY.
I did not make it all the way through.
First, these poems were selected to showcase his mystical theology, not his poetic delights. So that was a poor fit for me right there.
Second, the footnotes are (I guess?) aimed at a student of Islamic mysticism, or possibly of Persian theological literature, and they assume significant background knowledge or a professor on hand. I am well read, and these footnotes left me more confused than the text itself. I read Christian medieval poetry for kicks and giggles, and I actually admire the sheer bafflingness of these footnotes. They don’t address questions like, “this word ‘hierophant,’ what does that mean?” They do share a single item of information with the reader while withholding context. For example: “Azazil was the name of Iblis before his fall.”
Third, each poem has a title of deep portent. I think the translator added these titles, but I’m not sure. Some of them are in Latin and I’m pretty sure that wasn’t Rumi’s work. But WHYYYY.
I did not make it all the way through.
February 24, 2015
"Dissolve your whole body into Vision: become seeing,
seeing, seeing!"
Rumi's work is more than poetry or theology, or some combination of the two. I don't really have the words or knowledge to adequately sum up what I felt reading his work. I would say I need to study or think more to understand, but Rumi himself would probably not agree with that method.
seeing, seeing!"
Rumi's work is more than poetry or theology, or some combination of the two. I don't really have the words or knowledge to adequately sum up what I felt reading his work. I would say I need to study or think more to understand, but Rumi himself would probably not agree with that method.
December 27, 2017
Recommendation: Yes. This is a continuation of my previous post on Rumi within the Forty Rules of Love. This selection of translated poems is good for beginners and reflects some of Rumi's essence. I am now in desperate need of a copy of Mathnawi. Anyone can recommend a good version?
December 16, 2023
Maths! My favs are from Maths.
January 30, 2021
Book Review
" Rumi, Poet and Mystic " by R.A Nicholson.
The writer narrates the biography of Jalal-ad-din Rumi by calling him the greatest islamic scholar and poet of Persian Origin. Rumi meets Shams-ad-din Tibriz whom he call his soulmate but Shams left him two times due to the jealousy among Rumi followers for him, Rumi till his death remembers Shams as the most closest person to him.
A famous poem that he has written for Sufis is,
O you who stab the selfless one with sword, you are stabbing yourself with it. Beware !
For the selfless one has passed away and is safe, he dwells in safety forever.
His form has passed away, he has become a mirror : naught is there but the image of another's face.
If you spit at it, you spit at your own face ; and if you strike the mirror , you strike yourself.
And if you see an ugly face in the mirror ' tis you ; and if you see Jesus and mary ' tis you.
He is neither this nor that : he is pure and free from self : he puts your image before you.
P.S : Before reading this book , plz familiarize yourself with some fundamentals of Poetic Language.
" Rumi, Poet and Mystic " by R.A Nicholson.
The writer narrates the biography of Jalal-ad-din Rumi by calling him the greatest islamic scholar and poet of Persian Origin. Rumi meets Shams-ad-din Tibriz whom he call his soulmate but Shams left him two times due to the jealousy among Rumi followers for him, Rumi till his death remembers Shams as the most closest person to him.
A famous poem that he has written for Sufis is,
O you who stab the selfless one with sword, you are stabbing yourself with it. Beware !
For the selfless one has passed away and is safe, he dwells in safety forever.
His form has passed away, he has become a mirror : naught is there but the image of another's face.
If you spit at it, you spit at your own face ; and if you strike the mirror , you strike yourself.
And if you see an ugly face in the mirror ' tis you ; and if you see Jesus and mary ' tis you.
He is neither this nor that : he is pure and free from self : he puts your image before you.
P.S : Before reading this book , plz familiarize yourself with some fundamentals of Poetic Language.
December 29, 2015
A bit too spiritual for my liking.
October 20, 2021
Only if it weren't too religious, then it would have been sublime.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews