The Masnavi, Book One (Oxford World's Classics)

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OX F O R D WO R L D ’ S C L A S S I C S
JA L A L A L - D I N RU M I
The Masnavi
book one
Translated with an Introduction and Notes by
JAW I D M O JA D D E D I
1

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3
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Editorial material © Jawid Mojaddedi 2004
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First published as an Oxford World’s Classics paperback 2004
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ISBN 0–19–280438–3
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
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This translation is dedicated to the memory of
M R N I K TA B
(d.
12 May 2003)
and
J E R RY C L I N T O N
(d.
7 November 2003)

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AC K N OW L E D G E M E N T S
I
should like to express my gratitude to all those who have helped
to make it possible for me to produce this translation of Rumi’s
Masnavi. The teachings of Dr Javad Nurbakhsh have given me
the essential background knowledge to understand and appreciate
the message of this Persian Su
fi masterpiece. Edmund Herzig, Paul
Luft, and Colin Turner taught me Persian language and literature at
the University of Manchester. The late Norman Calder taught me to
appreciate traditional verse forms and convinced me that the
Masnavi should be translated into iambic pentameters. With
remarkable sensitivity and patience, the late Jerry Clinton taught me
how to translate into verse. I received invaluable encouragement
from J. Christoph Bürgel, Dick Davis, Simin Nabavi, Alireza
Nurbakhsh, and Michael Sivori. Julie Scott Meisami o
ffered many
insightful criticisms and suggestions that have helped to improve
this work signi
ficantly, as well as to increase my own understanding
of the poetry. Andrew Rippin generously took on the lion’s share of
the responsibility for a project in which I collaborated at the same
time as producing this translation and working as a full-time editor
of