Tales from Masnavi
Saturday, 15 November 2008
Professor Abdun Noor
It is said that great and lofty ideas can only be expressed in parables(Oslu).The epic poem Masnavi of Jalal al-Din Rumi is a book of such parables. Masnavi means rhyming couplets. Its original Farsee name is Masnave Manavi, which means spiritual couplets, which have an immense influence on Islamic literature and thought.
It is the greatest masterpiece of Moulana Jalaluddin Rumi who lived in Persia (modern Iran) during 13th century (1207-1273). For the last 800 years, Masnavi has been considered an invaluable treasure of human civilisation, a beacon of light in philosophy and religious literature. As a recognition to this unparallel contribution of Rumi, the UNESCO declared 2007 as the year of Rumi.
Worldwide programmes were chalked out in the same year to commemorate 800th anniversary of Rumi's birth highlighting Rumi's contribution to world literature. In such a backdrop, Isa Shahedi, a well-known Farsee scholar in Bangladesh, has embarked on translating Masnavi from original Farsee into Bangla in order to meet the long-awaited thirst of Bengali readers.
Masnavi is a compendium of Sufi stories, ethical teachings and mystical interpretations. These can only be compared with Al-Gazali's Counsel for Kings or Leo Tolstoy's stories or fables. He began composing its verses when he was between the ages of 54 and 57 (around 1258-1261) and continued until he died in 1273. Moulana's composition of Masnavi has been sparkled with the sudden disappearance of his spiritual guru Shams Tabrizi from Kaunia (modern Turkey). The spiritual change that he felt within himself when he met this great saint Tabrizi, has been expressed by Moulana in the following words:
" Murde bodam jinde shodam,
Girye budam khande shodam;
Dawlate eshk a'mad o man,
Dawlate pa'yande shodam"
['I was dead, I have been awake; I was weeping, I have started to laugh; the great treasure of love has come, that's why I have become an invaluable treasure'](Diwane Shamse Tabrizi, Gazal no. 393).The essence of Masnavi is love. Moulana begins his first couplet asking:
"Beshno aj nai chon heka'yat mi konad;
aj' juda'yi ha' sheka'yat mi konad"
['listen to the sounds of flute, how it pines? It is narrating the pains of estrangement from its root'].
" kaj naysta'n ta` mora` bubride und,
aj nafiram mard-o-jan na'lide und"
['the very day I was cut off from my bamboo grove, men and women started mourning hearing my scream'].
With this metamorphic narration, Rumi teaches us that like the screaming flute or a bird in a cage, man is restless in this mundane world because his soul or ruh (spirit) is ever striving to rejoin with the supreme spirit (i.e., God) from whom it originated. As an explanation to this message, he introduced different anecdotes like the love story between the king and the slave women, shopkeeper and parrot, orthodox Zionist king's atrocities on Christian subjects, and fox and rabbit etc.
Rumi was a poet and mystic, and not a philosopher. Writing not for any prince, but for the love of God and his fellow men, Rumi carefully eschewed artificial ornaments in his work. Masnavi is deeply permeated with Qur'anic meanings and references. Rumi himself called the Masnavi, "The roots of the roots of the (Islamic) religion in regard to unveiling the secrets of establishing connection (with God) and (spiritual) certainty (of the Truth)...and the explanation of the Qur'an"(Masnavi, Book-1, Preface). Sometimes called the Qur'an in Pahlavi tongue, the Masnavi is a composition of 424 parables illuminated by 25,000 couplets.
Masnavi of Rumi ranks among the world's greatest masterpieces of religious literature. .By this time, the work has been translated into English, Turki, Arabic,Urdu and many other languages of the world. Shibli Nomani in his Sawaani Moulana Rumi has made intellectual evaluation of Masnavi. Allama Iqbal, who accompanied the Qur'an along with Masnavi in his death bed, has termed Masnavi as a book of positive thought and work. He also said that after the Qur'an, Masnavi is the book through which one can reach the knowledge and science combining the land and sky.
The translation of this literary treasure into Bangla by Mohammad Isa Shahedi, titled Masnavi Sharif, was published by Khairun Prakashoni of Dhaka in February,2008. Isa Shahedi is a well-known scholar who has been engaged in Farsee-Bangla literary work for more than two decades in Bangladesh. He has edited, Farsee-Bangla-English Dictionary (1998), and compiled a book, titled Life and Works of National Poet Quazi Nazrul Islam in Farsee with translation of his selected poems (1995). Both are published by the Iranian Cultural Centre, Dhaka. He also translated innumerable articles and poems into Farsee.
This rich experience in Farsee-Bangla literary works has given him the necessary courage and strength to venture into such a gigantic work of interpreting Rumi's Masnavi. In this venture, he has depended on two authentic sources: 1) R.A. Nicholson (ed.), Masnavi Manavi in Farsee (1984) from where he has taken the serial numbers of the couplets; and 2) Moulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi's (RA) Urdu translation, titled Kalide Masnavi (1990).
The significant feature of this monumental work is that along with the Bangla pronunciation of Farsee couplets, their translated meaning has also been presented in Bangla maintaining the original rhythmic style. The translated language seems to be very lucid and easily understandable.
However, the unique feature of this translation is that the author has taken a painstaking job in providing the background explanations of the anecdotes and references of the Qur'an and Hadith (as indicated by Rumi) in appropriate places.
Moreover, for the convenience of the Bengali readers, background explanation of the subjects (incidents, anecdotes etc.) and the meanings of important Persian words used in the couplets, have been provided in the footnotes.
For the guidance of the new readers who are not much familiar with Persian language, a simple grammar of Farsee has also been added to the text at the end of the book.
This translation containing 1912 couplets is only a half of the Part-1 of the six volumes work of Rumi.
The twelve size font and clear printing on white offset paper and smart binding give this publication an impressive look. It is hoped that the work would receive wide appreciation from the members of the Rumi Society and millions of Rumi devouts across Bangladesh and beyond. In the hustle and bustle of modern life which is full of stress and frustration, one can get solace by going deep into the various verses of Masnavi and find spiritual solution to many practical problems.
"The Masnavi, like Paradise ", wrote Rumi, "is the best station and the best place for rest (Qur'an, 25:24). The righteous ones eat and drink in it, and the (spiritually) free ones rejoice and delight in it...Because it is the remedy for hearts, the brightening polish for sorrows, the revealer of (the meaning) the Qur'an, the opportunity for (finding spiritual) riches, and the purifying of (bad) natures and dispositions..."(Masnavi, Part-1, Preface).
I hope, the Bengali readers would definitely enjoy it. Spending only Tk.500/- for collecting such an invaluable treasure, would be worthy. I also strongly feel that the translator would be encouraged to translate all the remaining volumes of Masnavi, a gigantic and expensive venture indeed, but worthy of reward here and hereafter.
The reviewer is a Professor in the Department of Public Administration, University of Chittagong. E-mail: abdunnoor50@yahoo.com.
It is said that great and lofty ideas can only be expressed in parables(Oslu).The epic poem Masnavi of Jalal al-Din Rumi is a book of such parables. Masnavi means rhyming couplets. Its original Farsee name is Masnave Manavi, which means spiritual couplets, which have an immense influence on Islamic literature and thought.
It is the greatest masterpiece of Moulana Jalaluddin Rumi who lived in Persia (modern Iran) during 13th century (1207-1273). For the last 800 years, Masnavi has been considered an invaluable treasure of human civilisation, a beacon of light in philosophy and religious literature. As a recognition to this unparallel contribution of Rumi, the UNESCO declared 2007 as the year of Rumi.
Worldwide programmes were chalked out in the same year to commemorate 800th anniversary of Rumi's birth highlighting Rumi's contribution to world literature. In such a backdrop, Isa Shahedi, a well-known Farsee scholar in Bangladesh, has embarked on translating Masnavi from original Farsee into Bangla in order to meet the long-awaited thirst of Bengali readers.
Masnavi is a compendium of Sufi stories, ethical teachings and mystical interpretations. These can only be compared with Al-Gazali's Counsel for Kings or Leo Tolstoy's stories or fables. He began composing its verses when he was between the ages of 54 and 57 (around 1258-1261) and continued until he died in 1273. Moulana's composition of Masnavi has been sparkled with the sudden disappearance of his spiritual guru Shams Tabrizi from Kaunia (modern Turkey). The spiritual change that he felt within himself when he met this great saint Tabrizi, has been expressed by Moulana in the following words:
" Murde bodam jinde shodam,
Girye budam khande shodam;
Dawlate eshk a'mad o man,
Dawlate pa'yande shodam"
['I was dead, I have been awake; I was weeping, I have started to laugh; the great treasure of love has come, that's why I have become an invaluable treasure'](Diwane Shamse Tabrizi, Gazal no. 393).The essence of Masnavi is love. Moulana begins his first couplet asking:
"Beshno aj nai chon heka'yat mi konad;
aj' juda'yi ha' sheka'yat mi konad"
['listen to the sounds of flute, how it pines? It is narrating the pains of estrangement from its root'].
" kaj naysta'n ta` mora` bubride und,
aj nafiram mard-o-jan na'lide und"
['the very day I was cut off from my bamboo grove, men and women started mourning hearing my scream'].
With this metamorphic narration, Rumi teaches us that like the screaming flute or a bird in a cage, man is restless in this mundane world because his soul or ruh (spirit) is ever striving to rejoin with the supreme spirit (i.e., God) from whom it originated. As an explanation to this message, he introduced different anecdotes like the love story between the king and the slave women, shopkeeper and parrot, orthodox Zionist king's atrocities on Christian subjects, and fox and rabbit etc.
Rumi was a poet and mystic, and not a philosopher. Writing not for any prince, but for the love of God and his fellow men, Rumi carefully eschewed artificial ornaments in his work. Masnavi is deeply permeated with Qur'anic meanings and references. Rumi himself called the Masnavi, "The roots of the roots of the (Islamic) religion in regard to unveiling the secrets of establishing connection (with God) and (spiritual) certainty (of the Truth)...and the explanation of the Qur'an"(Masnavi, Book-1, Preface). Sometimes called the Qur'an in Pahlavi tongue, the Masnavi is a composition of 424 parables illuminated by 25,000 couplets.
Masnavi of Rumi ranks among the world's greatest masterpieces of religious literature. .By this time, the work has been translated into English, Turki, Arabic,Urdu and many other languages of the world. Shibli Nomani in his Sawaani Moulana Rumi has made intellectual evaluation of Masnavi. Allama Iqbal, who accompanied the Qur'an along with Masnavi in his death bed, has termed Masnavi as a book of positive thought and work. He also said that after the Qur'an, Masnavi is the book through which one can reach the knowledge and science combining the land and sky.
The translation of this literary treasure into Bangla by Mohammad Isa Shahedi, titled Masnavi Sharif, was published by Khairun Prakashoni of Dhaka in February,2008. Isa Shahedi is a well-known scholar who has been engaged in Farsee-Bangla literary work for more than two decades in Bangladesh. He has edited, Farsee-Bangla-English Dictionary (1998), and compiled a book, titled Life and Works of National Poet Quazi Nazrul Islam in Farsee with translation of his selected poems (1995). Both are published by the Iranian Cultural Centre, Dhaka. He also translated innumerable articles and poems into Farsee.
This rich experience in Farsee-Bangla literary works has given him the necessary courage and strength to venture into such a gigantic work of interpreting Rumi's Masnavi. In this venture, he has depended on two authentic sources: 1) R.A. Nicholson (ed.), Masnavi Manavi in Farsee (1984) from where he has taken the serial numbers of the couplets; and 2) Moulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi's (RA) Urdu translation, titled Kalide Masnavi (1990).
The significant feature of this monumental work is that along with the Bangla pronunciation of Farsee couplets, their translated meaning has also been presented in Bangla maintaining the original rhythmic style. The translated language seems to be very lucid and easily understandable.
However, the unique feature of this translation is that the author has taken a painstaking job in providing the background explanations of the anecdotes and references of the Qur'an and Hadith (as indicated by Rumi) in appropriate places.
Moreover, for the convenience of the Bengali readers, background explanation of the subjects (incidents, anecdotes etc.) and the meanings of important Persian words used in the couplets, have been provided in the footnotes.
For the guidance of the new readers who are not much familiar with Persian language, a simple grammar of Farsee has also been added to the text at the end of the book.
This translation containing 1912 couplets is only a half of the Part-1 of the six volumes work of Rumi.
The twelve size font and clear printing on white offset paper and smart binding give this publication an impressive look. It is hoped that the work would receive wide appreciation from the members of the Rumi Society and millions of Rumi devouts across Bangladesh and beyond. In the hustle and bustle of modern life which is full of stress and frustration, one can get solace by going deep into the various verses of Masnavi and find spiritual solution to many practical problems.
"The Masnavi, like Paradise ", wrote Rumi, "is the best station and the best place for rest (Qur'an, 25:24). The righteous ones eat and drink in it, and the (spiritually) free ones rejoice and delight in it...Because it is the remedy for hearts, the brightening polish for sorrows, the revealer of (the meaning) the Qur'an, the opportunity for (finding spiritual) riches, and the purifying of (bad) natures and dispositions..."(Masnavi, Part-1, Preface).
I hope, the Bengali readers would definitely enjoy it. Spending only Tk.500/- for collecting such an invaluable treasure, would be worthy. I also strongly feel that the translator would be encouraged to translate all the remaining volumes of Masnavi, a gigantic and expensive venture indeed, but worthy of reward here and hereafter.
The reviewer is a Professor in the Department of Public Administration, University of Chittagong. E-mail: abdunnoor50@yahoo.com.