The Masnavi, Book Two

by Rumi, Jawid Mojaddedi (Translator)

Overview

'You don't seek guidance from those drunken men, So why insist they mend their rags again? God's lovers stand beyond all faiths, as they Are shown by God Himself a higher way.' Book Two of Rumi's Masnavi is concerned with the challenges facing the seeker of Sufi enlightenment. In particular it focuses on the struggle against the self, and how to choose the right companions in order to progress along the mystical path. By interweaving amusing stories and profound homilies, Rumi instructs his followers in a style that still speaks directly to us. In this volume, stories such as 'Moses and the Shepherd', 'The Foolhardy Man who Trusted a Bear's Good Intentions' and 'Mo'awiya and Satan' are among the most popular in the entire Masnavi. The most influential Sufi poem ever written, the six books of the Masnavi are often called 'the Qur'an in Persian'. Self-contained, as well as continuing the journey along the spiritual path, Book Two is here translated into rhyming couplets in the style of Jawid Mojaddedi's prize-winning translation of Book One. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191607417
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	07/12/2007
Series:	Oxford World's Classics Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Jawid Mojaddedi is Professor of Religion at Rutgers University. Born in Afghanistan, he was a 2014-15 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Translation Fellow and a 2020-21 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow. Dr Mojaddedi's translation of The Masnavi: Book One (OUP, 2004) was awarded the Lois Roth Prize by the American Institute of Iranian Studies. His previous books include Beyond Dogma: Rumi's Teachings on Friendship with God and Early Sufi Theories (OUP, 2012) and The Biographical Tradition in Sufism (2001).

Table of Contents

Introduction     x
Note on the Translation     xxix
Select Bibliography     xxxi
A Chronology of Rumi     xxxiii
Prose Introduction     3
Exordium     3
Identifying the new moon too soon     10
God mercifully ignores some prayers     11
Jesus's companion's foolish request     11
The false servant who would say, 'God give me strength!'     12
Why I interrupted the story     14
A king finds his falcon with a decrepit old crone     22
Shaikh Ahmad Khezruya and his sceptical creditors     25
The ascetic's view of his weeping eyes     29
Blindly expecting a lion to be an ox     32
The Sufis chanted, 'The ass has gone! The ass has gone!'     33
The devilish bankrupt and the dull-witted Kurd     37
The folly of thinking, 'If only...'     45
To murder the mother of all problems     48
A king tests two contrasting slaves     51
Envy of a king's favourite slave     63
A falcon among the owls     67
A thirsty man loves the splash of bricks in water     71
The thorn-bush planted in the middle of the road     73
Zo'l-Nun's disciples visithim at the madhouse     82
Loqman's master's test for him     86
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba     94
The philosopher's rejection of a Qur'anic verse     96
Moses and the shepherd     101
Moses asks God why oppressors seem to win     106
The cure for a man who has swallowed a snake     110
The foolhardy man who trusted a bear's good intentions     113
The beggar's two types of blindness     116
Moses and the worshippers of the golden calf     119
Galen's anxiety over a madman's admiration     122
Why a bird flew with those of a different feather     123
The Prophet visits his sick Companion     125
God asks Moses, 'Why didn't you visit me when I was sick?'     126
The gardener who tricked the Sufi, the Sayyed, and the jurist     126
A master tells Bayazid to circle around him instead of the Kaaba     129
Why Dalqak chose to marry a whore     136
The master who pretended to be mad     137
A blind beggar rebukes the dog who has attacked him     138
The law-enforcer and the drunkard     140
Satan wakes up Mo'aviya so he can join the congregation for the dawn prayer     152
The reluctant Judge      160
The advantage of arriving late for prayer     162
Unhelpful advice about a burglar     164
The hypocrites who built the Mosque of Opposition to the Prophet     165
A man's search for his lost camel     170
The importance of proper discernment     171
The four Indians who spoilt their own prayers by finding fault with each other     177
How Ghuzz Turks make an example out of their victims     179
Self-conceit leads to ingratitude for prophets and saints     179
The physician's diagnosis for an old man     181
Johi's interpretation of a child's lament     183
The boy who was terrified of what a huge man wanted to do to him     185
The archer and the mounted warrior     186
The Bedouin and the philosopher     186
The miracles of Ebrahim-e Adham by the ocean     188
How divine light is bestowed on a mystic     190
False suspicions about a shaikh     194
Sho'ayb and the man who claimed, 'God won't punish my sins!'     197
Aisha complains to the Prophet about his performing the prayer in dirty places     201
The camel and the mouse     202
The miracles of the dervish accused of stealing     204
Some Sufis complain to their master about a fellow Sufi talking too much     206
Self-evident truths     209
John the Baptist bows to Jesus in Mary's womb     211
The folly of literalism     213
The tree which gives eternal life     214
Four men fight because they use different words for 'grapes'     216
The Prophet as arbitrator     218
Ducklings nurtured by a domestic bird     221
Reactions to the miracles of an ascetic in the desert     223
Explanatory Notes     225
Glossary     253