Rumi - Past and Present, East and West: The Life, Teachings, and Poetry of Jalal al-Din Rumi
by Franklin D. Lewis (Author)
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars (30)
The definitive study of the world's bestselling poet
Drawing on a vast array of sources, from writings of the poet himself to the latest scholarly literature, this new anniversary edition of the award-winning work examines the background, the legacy, and the continuing significance of Jalâl al-Din Rumi, today’s bestselling poet in the United States. With new translations of over fifty of Rumi’s poems and including never before seen prose, this landmark study celebrates the astounding appeal of Rumi, still as strong as ever, 800 years after his birth.
===
Foreword
Preface
Contents
Acknowledgments (2003)
Notes on Transliteration
Rumi-mania
Room on the Shelf for Another Rumi?
A Rumi View
A Rumi Background
PART I RUMI'S FATHERS IN SPIRIT
1 BAHA AL-DIN VALAD: THE KING OF CLERICS
The Facts of Life
Baha al-Din Valad's Occupation and Status in Life
The Valad Family Uprooted
From Khorasan to Konya
Konya: The King of Clerics Meets the King of Seljuks
The Spiritual Life of Baha al-Din Valad
The Mythical Baha al-Din
Rumi Takes Over
2 SAYYED BORHAN AL-DIN MOHAQQEQ OF TERMEZ
Borhån's Writings
Borhan's Teachings
The Legend of Borhån al-Din
Rumi in Syria
Borhån Passes the Mantle to Mowlana
3 RUMI ON HIS OWN
Family Life
Rumi's Activity and Status in Konya Before Shams
Rumi the Revivalist
4. SHAMS AL-DIN TABRIZI
Tabriz: The First House of the Sun
The Dawn of Shams
The Westward Course of Shams
Shams in the Zenith of Konya
The Relationship between Shams and Rumi
The Eclipse of Shama
Murder Most Foul?
Rumi in Search of Shams
Some of the Teachings of Shams
PART II RUMI'S CHILDREN AND BRETHREN IN SPIRIT
5 FROM SUN TO SON
The Successors of Shams
The Succession
Sultan Valad: Son and Successor to Rumi
6 THE MYTHOLOGICAL RUMI
Faridun b. Ahmad Sepahsälär
Shama al-Din Ahmad al-Afläki
The Legendary Bahä al-Din
The Nafahat al-ons of Abd al-Rahman Jåmi
The Tazkerat al-shofara of Dowlatshah
PART III THE TEXTS AND THE TEACHINGS
7 TOWARD A BIOGRAPHY OF RUMI
Recapping Rumi's Life
Influential Thinkers in Rumi's Neighborhood
Rumi's Reading
Rumi's Writings
Rumi's Poems and their Transmission
Orisons in Motion: The Practice of Samá
Poetry: Another Way to Preach and Pray
Modern Myths and Misunderstandings
8 THE POEMS
Rumi's Telltale Signature
Metrics
Persian Poetry
Rhyme and Refrain
Fifty Poems
9 THE TEACHINGS
The Question of Form and Content
Reason Versus Spirit
Spiritual Orientation
Inner Meaning
Koran and Prophets, Our Guide
Outward Observances
Saints, Shaykhs and Discipleship
The Spiritual Axis Mundi
Fatalism, Free Will, Divine Decree
Unity of Being
Evolution of Spirit
Die Before You Die
The Importance of Koran
PART IV RUMI AND THE MEVLEVIS IN THE MUSLIM WORLD
10 THE MEVLEVI ORDER
The Shrine in Konya
The Formation of the Order
The Chelebis: The First Generations
The Later History of the Mevlevis
The Diffusion of the Mevleviye and its Relation to Other Orders
The Mevlevi Lodges
Mevlevi Rituals
Republican Repression and Mevlevi Resurgence
11 RUMI IN THE MUSLIM WORLD
Rumi in Literature
History of Commentaries on the Masnavi
Rumi in Modern Muslim Literature and Thought
Rumi as Exponent of Human Liberation in Revolutionary Iran
PART V RUMI IN THE WEST, RUMI AROUND THE WORLD
12 RUMI MOVES INTO WESTERN CONSCIOUSNESS
European Impressions of the Mevlevis
Rumi in Nineteenth-Century Western Thought and Theology
Sufism and Psychology: Rumi as Rorshach
Unchurched Spirituality: Turning to Rumi
Modern Mevlevis
Sufism in the Mainstream
13 A HISTORY OF RUMI SCHOLARSHIP
Editions and Studies of Rumi
Studies of Rumi's Philosophy
Rumi in German Scholarship
Rumi in French Scholarship
Rumi in Rome
The Study of Rumi in Turkey
The Study of Rumi in Arabic
<
The Study of Rumi in Persian
Rumi's Religious Thought
Studies of Rumi's Poetics
Scholarly Enthusiasms: Rumi Testimonials
14 TRANSLATIONS, TRANSPOSITIONS, RENDITIONS, VERSIONS AND INSPIRATIONS
In the Beginning
Parlez-vous Rumi?
Rumi in German
Rumi in the English-Speaking World
Rumi Among the Poets
How Do you Say "Translation" in Another Language?
Aiming for Authenticity
Rumi as Muse
Rumi Around the World
15 RUMI MIRRORED IN MULTIMEDIA
Rumi as Lieder: His Poems Set to Music in the West
Turning, Turning we Come Out Right: Rumi in Ballet, Modern Dance and Opera
The Music of the Mevlevis
The Real, Original Rumi: Renditions of the Poems in Persian
Reciting Rumi
Rumio on Video
The Web of Rumi: Rumi on the Internet
Designer Dervishes: Rumi and the Mevlevis in Painting
EPILOGUE: THE FRUIT OF TRANSLATION
Maps
References: Abbreviations for Frequently Cited Sources
Notes
Index
===
Review
This book is a major contribution to the study of the great Sufi poet, and it should be on the bookshelf of anyone drawn to Rumi.-- "New York Review of Books"
Excellent. A comprehensive overview of the Sufi poet-philosopher and his influence. Highly recommended for all collections.-- "Library Journal"
About the Author
Franklin D. Lewis is Associate Professor in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. He is a specialist in Persian literature and author of Rumi: Past and Present, East and West, also published by Oneworld.
===Franklin Lewis
Follow
Franklin Lewis
Grew up on the California coast, off to college at Berkeley, grad school in Chicago. Since then teaching at Emory and University of Chicago - Persian literature, Arabic literature, Iranian cinema, Islamic civilization, Sufism, Shi`i and Baha'i Studies, Translation History, etc.
I translate fiction and poetry, including Rumi (Rumi: Swallowing the Sun, 2008), modern short stories (In a Voice of Their Own: A Collection of Stories by Iranian Women Written Since the Revolution of 1979, with Farzin Yazdanfar [Mazda Publishers, 1996]), the novella Masumeh of Shiraz by Mohammad Ali Jamalzadeh ( http://www.persian-literature.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/masumeh-1.pdf ), and the novel by the Armenian-Iranian author, Zoya Pirzad, The Things We Left Unsaid (Oneworld, 2012).
My study, Rumi: Past and Present, East and West (Oxford: Oneworld) received the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies publication award (British-Kuwaiti Friendship award) for the best book published in the United Kingdom in the field of Middle Eastern Studies in 2000 (translations have been published in Iran, Turkey, Denmark and in Syria). An updated English edition was published in 2007 to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the poet's birth, along with a collection of literary translations of Rumi's poetry, Rumi: Swallowing the Sun (Oneworld, 2008). You can see my 8-part short introduction to Rumi and his Masnavi on the Guardian's website: ( http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/nov/30/rumi-masnavi-muslim-poetry ). My work on Rumi has appeared in Persian translation in Iran, and also in the journal Iran Nameh ( http://fis-iran.org/fa/irannameh/volxxiv/rumi-quest ) including a special issue of the journal dedicated to the poet featuring major scholars ( http://fis-iran.org/fa/irannameh/volxxv/1-2rumi ).
I've also written articles about classical Persian literature and sufism in the Encyclopaedia Iranica, Encyclopedia of the Modern Muslim World, Encyclopedia of the Qur'ān, and the Encyclopedia of Religion and in various book chapters and volumes. I worked together with Heshmat Moayyad to translate and annotate a hagiographical account of a popular Sufi saint of 12th century Khorasan, The Colossal Elephant and His Spiritual Feats: Shaykh Ahmad-e Jām (Mazda, 2004). And with Sunil Sharma, I edited The Necklace of the Pleiades: Studies in Persian Literature and Culture (Amsterdam: Leiden University Press, 2010). I edited a special issue of the journal of Iranian Studies (vol. 48, #3 2015) on Ferdowsi and his Shahnameh as World Literature ( http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cist20/48/3#.VW_oy0YYGvk )
Read less about this author
===
From other countries
Moonlight
5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece on RUMI
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 March 2015
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Franklin, You have done a great job which nobody could do it. You must be reading thousands of pages before producing this scholarly, masterly and intellectual masterpiece. I am writing an article on RUMI for urdu speakers and your reference will be on the top.....Thank you again
Report
Rhett Diessner
5.0 out of 5 stars Psychology, Hermeneutics and Rumi
Reviewed in the United States on 19 September 2000
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Rumi's works are valuable as social science in their reference to psychological development (the journey of soul). In order to understand Rumi, one must take a classical hermeneutical stance to uncover his intended meanings. This can only be done well if one understands Rumi himself. Franklin Lewis' text is now the greatest aid in so doing: there is no other extant text that gives such a thorough and accurate portrait of Rumi. It offers in-depth description and analysis of his antecedents, as well as the 13th century contemporary influences on his own psychological development. Other than Rumi's works themselves, no other book has been written that allows such insight into who he really was. Professor Lewis has written a work that is an invaluable aid in hermeneutically understanding Rumi, and in providing a richness of context through which one can better decode Rumi's own meaning-making.
Report
Spiral
5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 November 2010
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Franklin Lewis's book is the definitive summation of scholarly work on Rumi- it is essential if you are studying the man.
Report
Iraj S
5.0 out of 5 stars Most detailed and scholarly biography of Rumi in English.
Reviewed in the United States on 13 November 2019
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
A unique and most detailed biography of Rumi in English. A lot of material is repeated throughout the book and the text could be tightened for better reading. Something to consider for a 2nd edition.
Report
Aspasaia
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb!
Reviewed in the United States on 20 May 2019
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
If you're interested in learning about the historic Rumi, this is the best book I've found! It's a lengthy, well-written scholarly work by a multilingual author who seems to have read everything by, or written about, Rumi.
Report
Pouria
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful resource
Reviewed in the United States on 30 August 2016
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
I find this book to be an extremely valuable and reliable resource. I use it and highly recommend it to everyone including my students in the In The Footprints of Rumi [...] course that I teach both live and online. This work is a labor of LOVE!
Report
Howard
5.0 out of 5 stars I had never loved a book from the first sentence of the introduction
Reviewed in the United States on 28 March 2017
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Before starting this book, I had never loved a book from the first sentence of the introduction. An extraordinary clear and important Rumi book.
Report
Güzin Nazan Sünaz
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on 12 October 2015
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Very detailed and easy to read and understand . This is a must have book!
Report
Mozella G. Mitchell
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on 22 September 2016
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Very informative, enlightening, engaging.
Report
Kathi Jordan
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on 30 April 2015
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Great book for my class on Rumi.
Report
Enrique
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on 23 November 2014
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
It is a treasure to have it!
Report
To see more, search or filte
===
==
