Description
"Say Nothing" is a lush and graceful volume of the poetry of Jalal al-Din Rumi by collaborators Iraj Anvar, a Persian-born scholar, singer, and reciter of Rumi, and Anne Twitty, winner of a PEN Prize for Poetry in Translation."Say Nothing" offers readers both quatrains and the longer ghazals, alternating forms that reflect the dramatic range of Rumi's inspired spontaneity. We hear the rich and varied tones of a mature voice speaking to us of the importance of silence, the staggering impact of revelation and the consequent bewilderment, and as always, the Path of Love that leads to Awakening. Though there are many poems of ecstatic flight and equally ecstatic mourning-perhaps what Rumi is best known for-we also find less familiar moments of terse, humorous commentary, challenging dialogues, and confrontational questioning. Inaugurates a proposed series from Morning Light that will provide readers with the first reliable and satisfying Persian English edition of Rumi's lyric poetry in nearly a century.
Hardcover, September 2008
ISBN: 9781596750272
Review
These translations are wonderful-amazingly natural throughout, with everyday words that capture in English the everyday Persian so typical of Rumi. That simple and direct expression of emotion is marvelously and uniquely captured here. --James Morris, noted Sufi scholar and Professor of Theology at Boston College
At last, a worthy successor to Nicholson's bilingual selection of the nineteenth century, one which presents Rumi's ghazals beautifully in contemporary English and with indispensable background information. A must-have for Rumi lovers, and a special gift for those who know some Persian.
--Professor Jawid Mojaddedi, prize-winning translator of Rumi's Masnavi for Oxford World's Classics Series
Excerpt
Chehre-ye zadrd-e ma ra bin...
Look at my sallow face, but say nothing.
Look at this infinite pain, and for God's sake, say nothing.
Look at this bleeding heart, eyes like the River Jeyhun.
No matter what you see, pass by. Don't ask, say nothing.
Yesterday you appeared at the door of the heart's house.
Your image knocked and said: Come, open the door, say nothing.
I put my hand to my mouth and said: Woe to my broken heart.
He said: I'm yours, don't bite your hand, say nothing.
Since you are my surna, don't sing without my lips.
Until I play you like a harp, not a word about music. Say nothing.
I said: How long will you drag my soul around the world?
He said: Wherever I drag you, come quickly. Say nothing.
I said: While I say nothing, do you want me
to burn? Are you saying: Come in and say nothing?
He smiled like a rose and said: Come in and see.
This fire is jasmine, green leaves and roses. Say nothing.
The fire became roses and spoke. It told me:
Except for our beloved's love and kindness, say nothing.
