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به نام خداوند هستي
بخش
Translations
from Divan-e Shams
Please click on the various
numbers below to go to different poems:
Source
Brief notes on Divan-e Shams
Divan-e Shams is a masterpiece of wisdom and
eloquence. It is often said that Rumi had
attained the level of a "Perfect Master" and as
such, he often dwelled in the spiritual realms
that were rarely visited by others of this
world. He attained heights that were attained by
only a few before him or since.
In Divan-e Shams, he has used many images from
the mundane world. Images such as the wine and
the wine bearer, the pearl and the ocean, the
sun and the moon, the night and day, the
caravan, pilgrimage and many more. However, he
has always expressed spiritual wisdom of the
highest level through this imagery.
While many other
poets have a mystical vision and then try to
express it in a graspable language, Rumi has
never attempted to bring his visions to the
level of the mundane. He has always expected,
nay, demanded the reader to reach higher and
higher in his or her own spiritual
understanding, and then perhaps be able to
appreciate what Rumi was saying.
Perhaps this is why there are many layers to his
poetry… not so much because of his writing, but
because of our understanding. As we transcend in
our understanding, we grasp more and more of
what he conveyed to us.
Yet there is more. While many of the
translations of Rumi’s poetry have tried to
convey the immense wisdom contained therein,
often they overlook the musical and artistic
beauty that they contain. Particularly in
Divan-e Shams, Rumi has created such level of
beauty through the use and mastery of musical
rhythm and rhyme, that the reader not only can
appreciate its wisdom, but also reach levels of
ecstasy and mystical energy that is seldom found
in other poems or any translations of his
poetry.
The mastery of rhyme and rhythm is such that he
often creates a new vocabulary, using the same
old words, yet creating new feelings that are
associated with them. Furthermore, often he has
such mastery of play on words and puns, or at
other times he uses the same word with a
different accent or vowel twice or even thrice
in the same verse, with a different meaning each
time. One cannot help but marvel at the
linguistic mastery he displays.
In any case, the end result is the same… the
experience of artistic beauty, musical genius,
rhythm and ecstatic energy, all in conjunction
with the mental understanding of the wisdom
conveyed. This is as close as one can get to the
mystical experience itself, without actually
being there with Rumi. In other words, His
presence pervades his poetry, and one cannot
help but be touched by such powerful and loving
presence.
In translation from Farsi to English, it is
inevitable that much of the intricacies are
lost. However, the present translations have
attempted to retain some of the rhythm and rhyme
as well as the imagery and the core message of
each poem, though often in feeble ways, only to
attempt to present a glimpse of his mastery.
The translations are far from creating the
ecstasy that Rumi creates and communicates, but
it is hoped that they will point the reader in
the same direction. And perhaps by using his or
her imagination, the reader can have a glimpse
of how Rumi would provide glimpses of ecstasy
and mystical experience. And hopefully this will
pave the way for the reader to connect with
Rumi’s all and ever-pervasive presence, and with
time, be touched by that spirit.
rumi, shams, divane
shams, rumionfire, molavi, molana, divane shams,
divan e shams |
