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Guruzilla's /var/log/knowledge-junkie ["the chatter of a missionary sysadmin"] 2003-09-02 11:11 PM Review: Mystical Poems of Rumi 1 Previous Entry :: Next Entry |
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{ Now playing: Dire Straits, "Romeo And Juliet", "Where Do You Think You're Going", "Walk Of Life", "Private Investigations", "Telegraph Road - Live (Remix)", "Money For Nothing", "Brothers In Arms" Recent movies: Reptilian*; Return of Mothra I & II**; Recent books: Judges; I Timothy; Schlatter, The Theology of the Apostles; John R. E. Bliese, The Greening of Conservative America; Shusaku Endo, Silence; Norton selections from Spenser, The Faerie Queene; excerpts from The Mystical Poetry of Rumi (trans. Arberry); Brust, The Lord of Castle Black; } I won't actually be reviewing Rumi, since I have at least that little modesty remaining to me. Not only is Rumi practically a saint to Afghans, this particular volume is considered part of the UNESCO Collection of Representative Works. Big international culture mumbo-jumbo. Frankly, the opinion of masses of ignored Afghans matters more to me. So. Rumi. Big stuff. Mystical. Also, hyper-popular. Probably the only Muslim writer other than Mohammed known to 98% of the country, and he's practically the whole category in bookstores for "Islam/Sufism/Rumi". And translation is a heck of a thing. And that moderates my guilt for what I'm going to say: I wasn't really moved by a lot of the poetry in this Rumi collection. The verses on the back cover actually reflect the dilemma in Rumi's best style:
Here is the startling simile -- a twist of words, names hooked to notions and things -- and the injunction, an urgent, passionate plea for the listener, or a straightaway truth exposed, the critical elements in Rumi's poetry. This, this torrent, or even just a rivulet, of words, makes me want to know the original. Badly. It was back when I was thinking of going to Afghanistan and studying up on it that I met Rumi, on homage pages in many of my Web sources about Afghanistan's people. And I feel like I'm letting them down; as when you don't love a book or song pressed into your hands by those you love. Just exactly that feeling. I wanted to like these poems more, but... well. And I can't really blame A. J. Arberry, now can I? Certainly not when Rumi warned us about the bread of Egypt. Happily, though, even in English the fish still twitches. This first selection has some 200 poems in it, in a little over 160 pages (plus intro, notes, and index). Though I might not have found 200 new poems to fall in love with, there are many jewels, though sometimes just a handful of lines captivate. So, buy? Not necessarily. But, find some Rumi and get to know him. I know I have an unworthy palate -- but you may not, and a rich reward awaits those who can catch the spark from Rumi's words. Jalal al-Din Rumi, Mystical Poems of Rumi 1. Trans. A. J. Arberry. U. of Chicago, 1968. ISBN 0-226-73151-0 |
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