Fifty rubai'yat (poems of Rumi cycle)

 

I never tried to publish the English versions of the rubaiyat, they were a kind if by-product of my work on a Polish translation. However, I sometimes read them at poetry meetings, for example at London's Poetry Café. As it happened, at one of those meetings a publisher was present, Isabel del Rio, owner of "Friends of Alice" publishing house. She liked them enough to suggest that they may be published in a book. Which happened and the book can now be purchased at Amazon.

At one point, long before the book was published, my Persian friend Ziba introduced me to a calligrapher named Morteza. He himself was a dervish, although not of the same order as Maulana Rumi. When I had a proposition to publish my collection of translations, I asked Morteza to illustrate it with his calligraphy. So here it is, the calligraphy in the style called nastaliq, although Morteza sometimes makes modern impression of that.

708.

I glimpsed your face and my sadness is gone;

To your face I am faithful, all others are gone.

I asked my heart about its desire,

But it didn’t have any, all my desires were gone.

708

دیدم رخت از غم سر موییم نماند

جز بندگی ی روی تو روییم نماند

با دل گفتم که آرزویی در خواه

دل گفت که هیچ آرزویی م نماند

1798.

You want goodness, but goodness is not what you bring,

If you’re creating evil, evil you will meet.

The compassion of God cannot change much here:

If you are sowing barley, you will not reap wheat.

1798

بد می‌کنی و نیک طمع می‌داری

هم بد باشد سزای بدکرداری

با این که خداوند کریم و است و رحیم

گندم ندهد بار چو جو می‌کاری

The book "Fifty Rubai'yat" can be purchased at Amazon

Kuliyat-e Divan-e Shams (poems of Rumi cycle)

 

I was proud of myself not only because I found "Kuliyat-e Divan-e Shams" without help, but also because the author of "Kuliyat" not Rumi, but ostensibly one Jalaluddin Balkhi (and I knew it was the same person).

The book was published in Iran and the Iranians don't like to call him Rumi. The name "Rumi" suggests that he came from Rum, which is a Persian name for Anatolia, then newly conquered by Turks. So this name suggests that he was somehow Turkish (which is what the Turks claim). But of course Rumi wrote in Persian, he is considered one of the greatest poets of that language; how could he be a Turk? However, Rumi was born in Balkh, which now is in Afghanistan but at least it is a Pesrian-speaking town. Let's call him Balkhi, then.

"Kuliyat" in this context means something like "complete", so the whole title would be "Complete Divan-e Shams". It is a collection of ghazals and rubaiyat which are in an alphabetical order and numbered. Alphabetical order, but counting letter from the end of the rhyme (which in most cases is the same word repeated three or four times).

Here I am presenting two rubaiyat with the same rhyme مترس matars, which means "fear not", although I decided to translate it into two different phrases.

Rubaiyat often had an extra word ending each line, often separate from the phrase that each line was, called redif. I am presenting here one rubai with a redif بیا biya (which I translated into a phrase "come to us")

977.

This world is being born, you don’t need to worry.

What comes will go away, you don’t need to worry.

Treat as a precious treasure every breath of life;

Forget the past, about the future you don’t need to worry.

977

از حادثه ی جهان زاینده مترس

وز هرچه رسد چو نیست پاینده مترس

این یکدم عمر را غنیمت می دان

از رفته میندیش وز آینده مترس

984.

Go forward on our path and have no fear,

Make sure you stay on the path and have no fear.

Even if the whole world wants you to die,

Don’t lose faith, stay with us and have no fear.

984

رو در صف بندگان ما باش و مترس

خاک در آسمان ما باش و مترس

گر جمله ی خلق قصد جان تو کنند

دل تنگ مکن از آن ما باش و مترس

15.

You who are as bright as the sun - come to us.

Without you leaves fall down from trees - come to us.

The world without you is covered in dust - come to us.

Meetings of friends are frosty without you - come to us.

15

ای آنکه چو آفتاب فرد است بیا

بیرون تو برگ و باغ زرد است بیا

عالم بی‌تو غبار و گرد است بیا

این مجلس عیش بی‌تو سرد است بیا

Unseen Rain (poems of Rumi cycle)

 Many years ago, when Rumi was not as well known as he is now, I went to a bookshop in London and found a book of poems titled "Unseen Rain". It was translated from Persian into open verse, or rather into bits of prose, as is often done in English in recent years, but nevertheless it made an impression on me. I thought I would like to read these poems in their original language one day. So I started to learn Persian.

Some years later, with some knowledge of Persian already, I went to another bookshop in London, one that only sold books in Arabic and Persian. I went to the Persian section and found there a book titled "Kuliyat-e Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi", a large collection of ghazals and ruba'iyat of Rumi. I was very proud of myself that I could find it without anybody's help. However, my knowledge of Persian was not enough to translate these poems into Polish as I intended.

Still some years later I met somebody who helped me do just that. They were Persian-speaking poets Bashir from Afghanistan and Ziba from Iran. They explained the original so I could understand it and produce a Polish version. We communicated in English and by force some English versions also appeared.

All this exercise proved that I was right - one has to read these poems in their original language to really appreciate them. There is an unearthly rhythm in them, something like Bob Marley's reggae. Some Persian people even say that one can get drunk on Rumi. I tried to produce something approximate in English. I present some of them here. I also present the same poems as they appear in the "Unseen Rain". By no means I claim my versions are better, or anything like that. They are just my versions, that's all. I also present here the original Persian version, just in case any reader knows that language.  

67.

(my version)
I used to boast that I am the lord of myself;
Used to complain that I’m a slave of myself.
This is past, now I do not trust myself.
I understand: I don’t understand myself.

("Unseen Rain" version)

I thought I had self-control
so I regretted times I didn't.
With that considering over, the one thing I know
is I don't know who I am. 

(original)

گه می‌گفتم که من امیرم خود را

گه ناله‌ کنان که من اسیرم خود را

آن رفت و از این پس نپذیرم خود را

بگرفتم این که من نگیرم خود را

The rhyme (AAAA) is  خود را khod ra (of myself)

152

(my version)

A love without a lover – there is no better,

It’s like work without profit – there is no better.

You should stop being clever, forget all your cunning:

This is the real cunning – there is no better.

("Unseen Rain" version)

No better love than love with no object,

no more satysfying work than work with no purpose. 

If you could give up trocks and cleverness,

that would be the cleverest trick!

(original)

از بی‌یاری ظریف تر یاری نیست

وز بی‌کاری لطیف تر کاری نیست

هرکس که ز عیاری و حیله ببرید

والله که چو او زیرک و عیاری نیست

The rhyme here (AABA) is  نیست nist (is not)

681.

(my version)

In the shambles of love the best are being killed,

The bad mannered and disfigured are not being killed.

Don’t be afraid of death if you’re a true lover;

Only walking cadavers are scared of being killed.

("Unseen Rain" version)

In the shambles of love they kill only the best, 

none of the weak or deformed. 

Don't run away from this dying. 

Whoever is not killed for love is carrion.

(original)

در مطبخ عشق جز نکو را نکشند 

روبه صفتان زشت خو را نکشند

 گر عاشق صادقی ز مردن مگریز

 مردار بود هر آن که او را نکشند

The rhyme here (AABA) is  نکشند  nakoshand (they do not kill)