I have sometimes noted that Rumi's popular image, and the translations of his work, tend to uproot him from his cultural soil and transplant him to today's world with its "politically correct" language and notions. But it is important to remember that this vision was rooted in his historical, geographical, cultural, literary, and spiritual background. The fact that Rumi's poems reach us across cultures, languages, and centuries is a testimony to his universal love and vision. Despite Rumi's popularity, several aspects about him and his poetry are less known or misinterpreted in anthologies and translations of his work. I am delighted to see this phenomenon not only because Rumi, this thirteenth-century Persian poet, is part of my cultural roots but also because he represents one of the greatest mystical minds in human history, and his poetry and thought provide effective spiritual solutions to many of today's problems in our materialistic, divided, and violent world. This is largely thanks to the free-verse English translations of his poems, notably by Coleman Barks, whose 1995 book The Essential Rumi has sold hundred of thousands of copies'a rare achievement for a poetry book. Over the years, I have witnessed with delight the rising popularity of his poetry in the Western world. A major part of my life has been spent abroad'in India, Japan, and the United States'and in all these countries, Rumi has been a spiritual companion to me. Thirty years ago, when I left my homeland, I took a few Persian poetry books with me, and one of them was of course Rumi's. I first learned about Rumi's poetry in my Persian textbooks as a young boy growing up in Iran. "Garden of Secrets: The Real Rumi." Quest 98. 3 (Summer 2010): 106-109.Įach person, of his own imagination, made me his dear friendīut the eye and the ear have no such illumination. Originally printed in the Summer 2010 issue of Quest magazine.Ĭitation: Sorkhabi, Rasoul.
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