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One-Handed Basket Weaving: Poems on the Theme of Work
The poetry of the medieval Persian sage Rumi combines lyrical beauty with spiritual profundity, a sense of rapture, and acute awareness of human suffering in ways that speak directly to contemporary audiences.
Trained in Sufismâ a mystic tradition within Islamâ Rumi founded the Sufi order known to us as the Whirling Dervishes, who use dance and music as part of their spiritual devotion. Many of Rumiâ s poems speak of a yearning for ecstatic union with the divine Beloved. But his images bring the sacred and the earthy together in startling ways, describing divine love in vividly human terms.
This volume draws on a wide variety of translationsâ from the early twentieth century to the presentâ of Rumiâ s deeply moving, sensually vibrant poetry.
Trained in Sufismâ a mystic tradition within Islamâ Rumi founded the Sufi order known to us as the Whirling Dervishes, who use dance and music as part of their spiritual devotion. Many of Rumiâ s poems speak of a yearning for ecstatic union with the divine Beloved. But his images bring the sacred and the earthy together in startling ways, describing divine love in vividly human terms.
This volume draws on a wide variety of translationsâ from the early twentieth century to the presentâ of Rumiâ s deeply moving, sensually vibrant poetry.
136 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1992
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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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January 29, 2022There are those who believe that poetry can't be translated, who believe that a poem must be read in its original language to be fully appreciated. I don't know whether or not I agree, but I can think of a number of examples that support this argument - the most egregious example being the Coleman Barks "translations" of Rumi.
Above is a version of a Rumi poem "translated" by Coleman Barks ("translated" in quotes because Barks can neither read nor speak Persian). Below is a literal translation of the same poem.
The poems of Rumi are sacred, and the "translations" of Coleman Barks are profane - as any act of cultural erasure intended to secularize content for an undiserning audience would be considered profane. I urge everyone to seek out better translations, and to read more about these faux-translations here: Persian Poetics
Out beyond ideas
of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field.
I'll meet you there.
Above is a version of a Rumi poem "translated" by Coleman Barks ("translated" in quotes because Barks can neither read nor speak Persian). Below is a literal translation of the same poem.
Beyond kufr and Islam there is a desert plain,
in that middle space our passions reign.
When the gnostic arrives there he'll prostrate himself,
not kufr, not Islam, nor is thereany space in that domain.
The poems of Rumi are sacred, and the "translations" of Coleman Barks are profane - as any act of cultural erasure intended to secularize content for an undiserning audience would be considered profane. I urge everyone to seek out better translations, and to read more about these faux-translations here: Persian Poetics
April 21, 2022
"I’ve said before that every craftsman
searches for what’s not there
to practice his craft.
A builder looks for the rotten hole
where the roof caved in. A water-carrier
picks the empty pot. A carpenter
stops at the house with no door.
Workers rush toward some hint
of emptiness, which they then
start to fill. Their hope, though,
is for emptiness, so don’t think
you must avoid it. It contains
what you need!
Dear soul, if you were not friends
with the vast nothing inside,
why would you always be casting your net
into it, and waiting so patiently?
This invisible ocean has given you such abundance,
but still you call it “death,”
that which provides you sustenance and work.
God has allowed some magical reversal to occur,
so that you see the scorpion pit
as an object of desire,
and all the beautiful expanse around it,
as dangerous and swarming with snakes.
This is how strange your fear of death
and emptiness is, and how perverse
the attachment to what you want."
searches for what’s not there
to practice his craft.
A builder looks for the rotten hole
where the roof caved in. A water-carrier
picks the empty pot. A carpenter
stops at the house with no door.
Workers rush toward some hint
of emptiness, which they then
start to fill. Their hope, though,
is for emptiness, so don’t think
you must avoid it. It contains
what you need!
Dear soul, if you were not friends
with the vast nothing inside,
why would you always be casting your net
into it, and waiting so patiently?
This invisible ocean has given you such abundance,
but still you call it “death,”
that which provides you sustenance and work.
God has allowed some magical reversal to occur,
so that you see the scorpion pit
as an object of desire,
and all the beautiful expanse around it,
as dangerous and swarming with snakes.
This is how strange your fear of death
and emptiness is, and how perverse
the attachment to what you want."
January 11, 2023
“Så som själen är
med sinnena och intellektet,
liknar den en bäck.
När begärets ogräs växer sig tjockt,
kan intelligensen inte flöda,
och ande-varelserna förblir gömda.
Men ibland flödar ditt förnuft
så starkt att det rensar
den igentäppta strömfåran
som genom Guds hand.
Ej längre gråtande och otillfredsställd,
blir ditt väsen lika mäktigt
som din saknad var.
Skrattande och tillfredsställt,
låter det mästerliga flödet
ande-varelser komma fram.
Du tittar neråt,
och där är det klara drömmandet.
Portarna gjorda av ljus
slås upp. Du ser in!” (Att titta ner i bäcken)
Genom sina dikter påminner Rumi läsaren om att det som pågår i vårt inre likväl kommer till uttryck i hur vi för oss i den yttre världen. Han belyser att det är först när man blickar inåt som man på riktigt kan bli mer närvarande i sin egen existens. Det handlar om att man tillåter sig själv att ta sig an och reflektera kring alla de tankar och känslor som rör sig inom en. Att man aldrig begränsar sig själv eller flyr undan de upplevelser och känslor man besitter. Sorg och smärta kommer alltid att vara en oundviklig del av människans liv, men hur man hanterar det hela är essentiellt för ens egen fortsatta väg genom livet. Ingenting kan växa utan att jorden först har plöjts osv. Älskar Rumi 🤍🌼
med sinnena och intellektet,
liknar den en bäck.
När begärets ogräs växer sig tjockt,
kan intelligensen inte flöda,
och ande-varelserna förblir gömda.
Men ibland flödar ditt förnuft
så starkt att det rensar
den igentäppta strömfåran
som genom Guds hand.
Ej längre gråtande och otillfredsställd,
blir ditt väsen lika mäktigt
som din saknad var.
Skrattande och tillfredsställt,
låter det mästerliga flödet
ande-varelser komma fram.
Du tittar neråt,
och där är det klara drömmandet.
Portarna gjorda av ljus
slås upp. Du ser in!” (Att titta ner i bäcken)
Genom sina dikter påminner Rumi läsaren om att det som pågår i vårt inre likväl kommer till uttryck i hur vi för oss i den yttre världen. Han belyser att det är först när man blickar inåt som man på riktigt kan bli mer närvarande i sin egen existens. Det handlar om att man tillåter sig själv att ta sig an och reflektera kring alla de tankar och känslor som rör sig inom en. Att man aldrig begränsar sig själv eller flyr undan de upplevelser och känslor man besitter. Sorg och smärta kommer alltid att vara en oundviklig del av människans liv, men hur man hanterar det hela är essentiellt för ens egen fortsatta väg genom livet. Ingenting kan växa utan att jorden först har plöjts osv. Älskar Rumi 🤍🌼
July 9, 2023
So so beautiful. Rumi depicts work as an act of creation, companionship, friendship, love, and patience. Lovely translations.
March 6, 2008
What am I supposed to say about Rumi. I started a poem once in his honor. It began:
The night is so long.
And yet there is the quiver of the day.
Where are you when you are not?
Well anyway, his stories and poems are fire-full and meaningful. He's a patient story teller and a mystic writer. His similes and parallels all meld.
His writing I believe is in its 800th year, or will be 800 before long. He's entertaining on a one-page read or when you have more time. Coleman Barks translation can't go wrong.
The night is so long.
And yet there is the quiver of the day.
Where are you when you are not?
Well anyway, his stories and poems are fire-full and meaningful. He's a patient story teller and a mystic writer. His similes and parallels all meld.
His writing I believe is in its 800th year, or will be 800 before long. He's entertaining on a one-page read or when you have more time. Coleman Barks translation can't go wrong.
July 21, 2016
So uplifting after a hellish sermon in church.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews