مسعود از امریکا

Rumi's Poem translated by Coleman Barks ("Only Breath")

by yolanda on Tue Feb 23, 2010 10:19 PM PST

 *******************

Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu,
Buddhist, sufi, or zen. Not any religion 
   
or cultural system. I am not from the East
or the West, not out of the ocean or up 
  
from the ground, not natural or ethereal, not 
composed of elements at all. I do not exist, 
  
am not an entity in this world or the next,
did not descend from Adam or Eve or any 
   
origin story. My place is placeless, a trace
of the traceless. Neither body or soul. 
  
I belong to the beloved, have seen the two
worlds as one and that one call to and know, 
   
first, last, outer, inner, only that
breath breathing human being. 
 

Rumi's Poem translated by Reynold A. Nicholson

by yolanda on Tue Feb 23, 2010 09:06 PM PST

 *********************

What is to be done, O Moslems? for I do not recognize myself.
I am neither Christian, nor Jew, nor Gabr [Magian], nor Moslem.
I am not of the East, nor of the West, nor of the land, nor of the sea;
I am not of Nature's mint, nor of the circling heavens.
I am not of earth, nor of water, nor of air, nor of fire;
I am not of the empyrean, nor of the dust, nor of existence, nor of entity.
I am not of India, nor of China, nor of Bulghar, nor of Saqsin;
I am not of the kingdom of 'Iraqain, nor of the country of Khurasan.
I am not of this world, nor of the next, nor of Paradise, nor of Hell;
I am not of Adam, nor of Eve, nor of Eden and Rizwan.
My place is the Placeless, my trace is the Traceless;
'Tis neither body nor soul, for I belong to the soul of the Beloved.
I have put duality away, I have seen that the two worlds are one;
One I seek, One I know, One I see, One I call.

He is the first, He is the lest, He is the outward, He is the inward;
I know none other except "Ya Hu" [Yahweh] and "Ya man Hu" ["O He who is"].
I am intoxicated with Love's cup, the two worlds have passed out of my ken;
I have no business save carouse and revelry.
If once in my life I spent a moment without you,
From that time and from that hour I repent of my life.
If once in this world I win a moment with you,
I will trample on both worlds, I will dance in triumph for ever.
O Shamsi Tabriz, I am so drunken in this world,
That except of drunkenness and revelry I have no tale to tell.

Rumi's Poem translated by Shahriar Shahriari

by yolanda on Tue Feb 23, 2010 08:59 PM PST

 ***************

Why think thus O men of piety
I have returned to sobriety
I am neither a Moslem nor a Hindu
I am not Christian, Zoroastrian, nor Jew

I am neither of the West nor the East
Not of the ocean, nor an earthly beast
I am neither a natural wonder
Nor from the stars yonder

Neither flesh of dust, nor wind inspire
Nor water in veins, nor made of fire
I am neither an earthly carpet, nor gems terrestrial
Nor am I confined to Creation, nor the Throne Celestial

Not of ancient promises, nor of future prophecy
Not of hellish anguish, nor of paradisic ecstasy
Neither the progeny of Adam, nor Eve
Nor of the world of heavenly make-believe

My place is the no-place
My image is without face
Neither of body nor the soul
I am of the Divine Whole.

I eliminated duality with joyous laughter
Saw the unity of here and the hereafter
Unity is what I sing, unity is what I speak
Unity is what I know, unity is what I seek

Intoxicated from the chalice of Love
I have lost both worlds below and above
Sole destiny that comes to me
Licentious mendicity

In my whole life, even if once
Forgot His name even per chance
For that hour spent, for such moment
I’d give my life, and thus repent

Beloved Master, Shams-e Tabrizi
In this world with Love I’m so drunk
The path of Love isn’t easy
I am shipwrecked and must be sunk.

.....

by مسعود از امریکا on Tue Feb 23, 2010 01:07 PM PST

Yolanda, After you post the three (3) translations, we should stop the blog - This way, when people come from YouTube to this blog, they won't have to scroll up and down looking for the translations :)

As I said, one translation per comment, use their full names in the 'Subject' section of the comments, as I showed it below (ie. Coleman Barks' Translation, etc. etc. ), and make it nice :) ..... Massoud

 

 

.......

by yolanda on Tue Feb 23, 2010 12:40 PM PST

Hi! Massoud,

    I will do that when I get Nicholson's version......It may take a while.....I will go to Barns and Noble to see if they have the book and bring my laptop to copy the poem.....after I post the 3 versions, should we end this blog or keep on going?

thanks,

 

.....

by مسعود از امریکا on Tue Feb 23, 2010 12:23 PM PST

Yolanda, I have a suggestion:

Once you get all the three (3) translations, Coleman Barks', Shariar's, and Nicholson's, post each one separately above my comment: One translation per comment - If you put all three into one comment, that tends to confuse people!

Also, use their full names, and instead of puting '.....' in the  subject section of your comment, put: Coleman Barks' Translation, etc etc.

As you know, there is a link from the video to this blog: So those who watch it on YouTube, when they come here, they can see the original on top, and the three (3) translations in the comment section :) ..... Massoud

 

 

,,,,,

by مسعود از امریکا on Tue Feb 23, 2010 11:38 AM PST

Yolanda, Rumi's Divan-e Shams is so voluminous that it is very difficult to find things unless one knows how to use it :) The poems there essentially go by numbers - I do have a hard copy, and it is at least 1,000 pages long!

Regarding Nicholson's translation, I am also interested to see how he did it - From what I understand, he did it back in 1920's :)

 

 

......

by yolanda on Tue Feb 23, 2010 11:03 AM PST

Hi Massoud,

    I watched the video this morning. It has 123 hits on you-tube! Yeah! Last night, I found Shahriar Shahriari's website and signed up their e-mail mailing list.

 //www.rumionfire.com/

 I noticed that this guy translated a lot of stuff and posted them on web for free viewing, but I can't find anything written by him on Amazon. It is shocking! He is way better than C. Barks even though he is not as famous as Barks. 

  I wish there was a better system to catalog Rumi's poems. Apparently many of his poems have no titles, it is hard to find the specific poems. When we do comparative analysis, we want to make sure we can find the original version and start from there.

 I am also curious about Nicholson's version of "Only Breath". If I can find the book in bookstore, I will copy down the translation and post it here.

thanks, 

.....

by مسعود از امریکا on Mon Feb 22, 2010 03:53 PM PST

Yolanda, I checked YouTube after reading your comment, and did a search :) This Deklameh in this blog was the only result that showed for the Original Farsi (Persian) Recitation :) There were tons of English ones - Again, this is the only one; Amazing :) !!  ..... Massoud

 

 

.....

by yolanda on Mon Feb 22, 2010 01:35 PM PST

Hi! Massoud,

I am glad that the Farsi version of "Only Breath" video can be found on you-tube. This morning before I came to work, I checked the video, it was not accessible thru title searching and it had 54 hits at that time. I hope the video has more hits now. Last night I sent the link of this video to a friend of mine in Tehran.....I asked her to look for the Farsi version of the poem 2 days ago. This lady writes articles for Payvand. A couple of days ago, she attended a Rumi Puppet opera performed by a group of people including the son of Ostaad Shajarian. The author of the article, Syma, is my friend.

//www.payvand.com/news/10/feb/1118.html

The good thing is that You-tube is not blocked in Iran (IC is blocked in Iran), so people everywhere including Iranians in Iran should be able to have access to this great poem. 

It is amazing that Rumi left tomes of poems, it will keep me busy for a long time. I will definitely look for the Finglish version of "Only Breath".

Thanks,

P.S. This is a great blog! It is ground-breaking that you were able to match the Farsi poem with English translation. It is a victory for you!

.....

by مسعود از امریکا on Mon Feb 22, 2010 11:59 AM PST

Yolanda, I love that Finnglish site for quatrains :) Like you said, it's great for those who are beginning to learn Farsi!

See if you can find the Finnglish version of this poem (Only Breath) - Then when you are listening to the Recitation, you would be able to actually follow it word by word ..... Massoud

 

 

......

by yolanda on Mon Feb 22, 2010 10:48 AM PST

Hi! Massoud,

    Thank you for all the answers and clarifications! Here is a website with Rumi's quatrains and odes:

//www.rumi.net/rumi_poems_main.htm

I think the translator did an OK job. I posted some of her translated poems already.

Here is a great site with Rumi's quatrains. They have Finglish translation of each quatrain. It is good for people learning Farsi:

//www.khamush.com/persian/

I have to say that my favorite translator is Shahriar Shahriari, he has an amazing ability to make the poems rhyme. My 2nd favorite translator is Franak Moshiri, she did a fabulous job with F. Moshiri's poems. I am not crazy about C. Barks. I don't plan to buy his book(s).

Hi! R2-D2,

      Wow! you are very modest!

please take care! 

Please No!!

by R2-D2 on Sun Feb 21, 2010 08:04 PM PST

Hi Yolanda,

I don't think that's going to happen .. To do a Deklame', one has to have a talent and gift for it :) I am much more content in just finding other people's good works :)

Take Care .....

 

 

.....

by مسعود از امریکا on Sun Feb 21, 2010 08:32 PM PST

Yolanda, I e-mailed my friend, and asked him whether he wanted to include an English translation in the description of the video - He said that it would contaminate the Persian Recitation because there is no 'Standard' English Translation!

The Masnavi is a Poetic form - click on the link, and it will explain it :)

'My Beloved' could mean God, Shams, or a number of other things - It's somewhat vague, and mostly leaves it to one's imagination :)

You are right: Coleman Bark doesn't speak Farsi!

Feel free to post more poems, and videos - including the link to the quatrains ..... Massoud

 

 

.....

by yolanda on Sun Feb 21, 2010 07:38 PM PST

Hi! Massoud,

    1) Your video is great! It looks like it is the only Farsi version of "Only Breath" on You-tube. I am glad that you posted the entire poem in the description section. I have a suggestion: Do you think it is a good idea to add the English translation in the description section, so Non-Farsi speakers can still learn the meaning of the poem when they play the video on you-tube?

    2) What does "Mathnawi " mean?

     3) In Rumi's poems, Does "My Beloved" always mean God?

    4) This is your best blog 'cause you have solved a big mystery by finding the original Farsi poem of "Only Breath".....it is unbelievable the translator does not know where the original poem can be found.

    5) It is great to layout the original Farsi poem with the translated versions. This way we know which one is good, which one is bad, and which is sub-standard! I like a translated poem, which is faithful to the original form, still keeps the rhymes and sounds natural. It is why Shahriar's version is better!

    6) I found a great webiste with Rumi's quatrains, they are all love related. I posted several of them here.

    Thank you

Hi! R2-D2,

    Thank you for stopping by. Maybe one of these days you should make a poem recitation video and post on IC!

please take care

 

    

......

by yolanda on Sun Feb 21, 2010 04:48 PM PST

*************

************* 

A Poem by Rum

My head is bursting
with the joy of the unknown.
My heart is expanding a thousand fold.
Every cell,
taking wings,
flies about the world.
All seek separately
the many faces of my love.

A Poem by Rumi

You think you are alive
because you breathe air?
Shame on you,
that you are alive in such a limited way.
Don't be without Love,
so you won't feel dead.
Die in Love
and stay alive forever.

Mathnawi VI: 255-260

Wealth has no permanence: it comes in the morning,
and at night it is scattered to the winds.
Physical beauty too has no importance,
for a rosy face is made pale by the scratch of a single thorn.
Noble birth also is of small account,
for many become fools of money and horses.
Many a nobleman's son has disgraced his father by his wicked deeds.
Don't court a person full of talent either,
even if he seems exquisite in that respect:
take warning from the example of Iblis.
Iblis had knowledge, but since his love was not pure,
he saw in Adam nothing but a figure of clay.

A Poem by Rumi

Come, come, whoever you are.

Wonderer, worshipper, lover of leaving.

It doesn't matter.

Ours is not a caravan of despair.

Come, even if you have broken your vow

a thousand times

Come, yet again, come, come.

A Poem by Rumi

Love rests on no foundation.
It is an endless ocean,
with no beginning or end.
Imagine,
a suspended ocean,
riding on a cushion of ancient secrets.
All souls have drowned in it,
and now dwell there.
One drop of that ocean is hope,
and the rest is fear

A Poem By Rumi

Love is best when mixed with anguish.
In our town,
we won't call you a Lover
if you escape the pain.
Look for Love in this way,
welcome it to your soul,
and watch your spirit fly away in ecstasy.

Beautiful Poem By A Great Master

by R2-D2 on Sun Feb 21, 2010 04:16 PM PST

Sounds much better in Farsi than the translation :)

P.S. Yolanda, you did a good job finding both translations, but just listen to the Deklame' (Recitation)

 

 

.....

by مسعود از امریکا on Sun Feb 21, 2010 12:34 PM PST

Yolanda,

Thank you for the translations and videos. Rumi's version is only 18 verses. The extra verse at the top (in bold)  is just a title that is identical to the first verse :)

Shahriar's translation has kept in good stead with Rumi's poem. Every two verses of Shahriar's is equivalent to one verse of Rumi's. For literary puposes, he has done it like this.  If you add up the lines for Shahriar's, it is thirty six, which is double Rumi's 18!

To be honest with you, Coleman Barks has put together an essence of Rumi's poem, not its proper translation - It's like his interpretation of it, and not its proper translation :) ..... Massoud

Feel free to add other poems, videos, and questions

 

 

.......

by yolanda on Sun Feb 21, 2010 08:55 AM PST

 Hi Massoud,

    I like Shahriar's version of translation more than Coleman Barks' 'cause the former rhymes very well and it is absolutely beautiful. I hope it is faithful to the original poem. Thank you for recording the poem in Farsi. It sounds great!  The Farsi poem has total 19 verses, but Coleman Barks' version has less than 19 verses and Shahriar's version has more than 19 verses. What is going on ?

*******************************

ONLY  BREATH
Translated by Coleman Barks

  
 Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu,
 Buddhist, sufi, or zen. Not any religion
   
 or cultural system. I am not from the East
 or the West, not out of the ocean or up
  
 from the ground, not natural or ethereal, not 
 composed of elements at all. I do not exist,
  
 am not an entity in this world or the next,
 did not descend from Adam or Eve or any 
   
 origin story. My place is placeless, a trace
 of the traceless. Neither body or soul.
  
 I belong to the beloved, have seen the two
 worlds as one and that one call to and know,
   
 first, last, outer, inner, only that
 breath breathing human being.
 

******************************* 

The Jesus of your spirit is inside you now.
Ask that one for help, but don't ask for body-things...

Don't ask Moses for provisions
that you can get from Pharaoh.

Don't worry so much about livelihood.
Your livelihood will turn out as it should.
Be constantly occupied instead
with listening to God.

        Rumi, Mathnawi II:450-454

Divan-e Shams #116

 by Rumi

Why think thus O men of piety
I have returned to sobriety
I am neither a Moslem nor a Hindu
I am not Christian, Zoroastrian, nor Jew

I am neither of the West nor the East
Not of the ocean, nor an earthly beast
I am neither a natural wonder
Nor from the stars yonder

Neither flesh of dust, nor wind inspire
Nor water in veins, nor made of fire
I am neither an earthly carpet, nor gems terrestrial
Nor am I confined to Creation, nor the Throne Celestial

Not of ancient promises, nor of future prophecy
Not of hellish anguish, nor of paradisic ecstasy
Neither the progeny of Adam, nor Eve
Nor of the world of heavenly make-believe

My place is the no-place
My image is without face
Neither of body nor the soul
I am of the Divine Whole.

I eliminated duality with joyous laughter
Saw the unity of here and the hereafter
Unity is what I sing, unity is what I speak
Unity is what I know, unity is what I seek

Intoxicated from the chalice of Love
I have lost both worlds below and above
Sole destiny that comes to me
Licentious mendicity

In my whole life, even if once
Forgot His name even per chance
For that hour spent, for such moment
I’d give my life, and thus repent

Beloved Master, Shams-e Tabrizi
In this world with Love I’m so drunk
The path of Love isn’t easy
I am shipwrecked and must be sunk.

translated  by Shahriar Shahriari
by Vancouver, Canada
March 25, 1998