The U.s. Best Selling Poet...?

[Rich One]

The U.S. Best Selling Poet ... Is a Persian!

To Whom it may "Interest":

According to the Huffington Post .

http://www.huffingto..._b_8501940.html

Rumi was a Sufi mystic, jurist, Islamic scholar and theologian who composed 25,000 couplets (50,000 lines) in his extensive spiritual epic Mathnawi, a work that some researchers of Islamic history assert is the second most influential text in the Muslim world after the Quran. The six-volume Mathnawi, aimed at teaching its reader how to get closer to the higher truth and the Almighty and ignore the mundane existence, has been translated in English by Arthur John Arberry, E. H. Whinfield, Reynold Nicholson and of course Coleman Barks. Barks’ translation of Rumi’s Mathnawi, which has culminated in 22 volumes throughout 33 years, made Rumi the U.S. best selling poet. Rumi’s sonata is now on the Amazon.com’s list ofbest-selling works of poetry. The list, as the website says, is updated hourly, and since the late 1990s, Rumi’s name has been there.

 

[Rich One]

A sample poem By Rumi... For Happier Couples

Their Secret Was

[font=founders_grotesk_textlight][background=rgb(252, 249, 249)] Jalal al-Din Rumi, 1207 - 1273[/background][/font]


[font=Poets Electra Web'][background=rgb(252, 249, 249)]A married couple used to come see me once in
a while. Among the many I knew who were wed,
they appeared the most happy.
One day I said to them, “What marital advice
could you offer to others that might help them
achieve the grace you found?”
And the young woman blushed and so did her
husband; so I did not press them to answer.
But I knew.
Their secret was this: That once every day, for
an hour, they treated each other as if they were
gods and would, with all their heart, do anything,
anything, their beloved desired.
Sometimes that just meant holding hands and
walking in a forest that renewed their souls.[/background][/font]​

 

[estebandepraga]

I love Rumi
I have a wonderful oil portrait of him in my living room in Prague
And his works are formidable !

 

[Dada]

Wish I could read him in original. Until then (if it ever happens) I know I haven't really read him. It's a little bit like reading Shakespeare in translations, including the "modern English" ones. They're great for reference when struggling with the meaning of something, but they are sure as hell nowhere near the beauty and artistry of the original.

Rumi and Ibn Arabi are the reasons why I've been flirting with the idea of learning Arabic Who knows, maybe one day.

 

[Rich One]

Wish I could read him in original. Until then (if it ever happens) I know I haven't really read him. It's a little bit like reading Shakespeare in translations, including the "modern English" ones. They're great for reference when struggling with the meaning of something, but they are sure as hell nowhere near the beauty and artistry of the original.

Rumi and Ibn Arabi are the reasons why I've been flirting with the idea of learning Arabic Who knows, maybe one day.

Learning Old Farsi would be an difficult task.
Rumi's writings are considered the Persian Quran, written in Farsi

 

[Dada]

Indeed, you're right, it's Farsi Ok, so it's double trouble then. But the beauty of old languages is that you're not expected to speak them fluently, and reading is much easier than understanding fast speech. You can use dictionary, grammar tabs and take whatever time it takes you to understand and digest a sentence...