Described in the Qur'an (which gives a more detailed account than is found in Genesis) as 'the most beautiful of stories', the romance of Yusuf and Zulaikha is a theme to which eastern poets have constantly returned. Undoubtedly in Jami's deeply moving, thought-provoking and highly entertaining version it finds its finest expression. Jami explores the intimate and many levelled relationship between love and beauty and portrays erotic and divine love, not as an implacable dichotomy, but as an allegorical continuum. This entirely new prose translation combines a faithful reflection of the spirit of the original with the compulsive readability of a novel.
The present digital edition is based, with some minor amendments, on the 1980 Octagon Press edition.
My sincere thanks go to Idries Shah - specifically for introducing me to Jami's epic love-story - and in general for shedding so much light on Sufi thinking, both in its traditional and its current manifestations. If this new translation comes nearer than its western predecessors to rendering some of the kernel as opposed to the mere husk of the original, then the credit belongs to the clarifying and revitalising influence of Shah's works.
A taster from Jami's prologue:
'For this is a theme which has yet to be brought to completion: apart from its title nothing remains of this tale. In this tavern, where so many a sweet tale is sung, I cannot hear so much as an echo of this melody. My fellows have drunk their fill and gone, leaving nothing behind but their empty jars; I see no ripe one at this feast of the raw, who holds a cup of this wine in his hand. They have left us neither jug, nor cup, nor cupbearer: nothing but sorrow now remains.
But take heart, Jami: have done with diffidence! Whether it be lees or clearest wine, bring forth your drink!'
