source Chose Love

[sipko den boer]

Dear Community,

This morning my attention was brought to a poem from the book The forbidden Rumi by Ergin/ Johnson. 

It goes like this:

Because of the beloved
my heart is happy,
my soul illuminated.

From the beloved's greenery
hundreds of blessed rivers
are flowing to the rose gardens.

In order to enter into your rose garden,
the soul makes peace with the thorns.

Chose love. Chose love.

Without this beautiful love,
life is nothing but a burden.

I would like to compare this with the original Persian. Not sure if this poem was discussed before on this forum.

kind regards,

Sipko den Boer

[Ibrahim Gamard]

Dear Sipko,

This is a very beautiful ghazal, which I was unable to trace (not enough key English words, which I can often guess the equivalents in Persian). It sounds authentic—but Ergin is unreliable and made, in this book, biased rendItions that he claimed were proof of a "heretical" Rumi (which he imagines).

Ibrahim

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[sipko den boer]

Dear Ibrahim,

Thanks for your response. The poem seems quite short for a ghazal (that could make it easier  to search). 

Probably you would know if it was a ruba'i. Ergin's volumes with translations from Diwan-e Kebir indeed has some serious flaws, but it is still possible to work with.

Not sure about this collaboration with Will Johnson. 

If you were not able to find it, it might continue to be an obscurity.

But I will try and ask a friend. I will let you know if we find something.

Kind regards,

Sipko

[Safa Kamdideh]

Salam Everyone,

This is Rumi's ghazal number 3031 in the Foruzanfar edition, but only verses 1, 2, 6, 8. Here's my quick translation of the entire ghazal:

I'm heartened with the Beloved
just as you have seen
An illuminated soul

just as you have seen

From the field of the Beloved
a hundred souls of saints

among the rose and bushes

just as you have seen

Whomever had a heart
behold how out of your desire
has become heartless and workless
just as you have seen

Each eye that gazed
upon your face, has become
the keeper of secrets

just as you have seen

The face of Mansour

know that was only an excuse
it's hung on the gallows

just as you have seen

All souls are

in hope of your rosegarden

tolerating the thorn

just as you have seen

If love, like a peacock

were to fly and leave, the heart

would be a snake-infested house

just as you have seen

Choose Love, since
without the blissful life of Love
lifetime would be a burden

just as you have seen

In the heart of Lovers
the pride and kingship of the two worlds
is but shame and disgrace

just as you have seen

The Love of the God of
Shams al-Din, who for Tabriz

sacrifices his life

just as you have seen

خوشدلم از یار همچنانک تو دیدی

جان پرانوار همچنانک تو دیدی
از چمن یار صد روان مقدس
در گل و گلزار همچنانک تو دیدی
هر کی دلی داشت زین هوس تو ببینش
بی دل و بی‌کار همچنانک تو دیدی
هر نظری کو بدید روی تو را گشت
خواجه اسرار همچنانک تو دیدی
صورت منصور دانک بود بهانه
برشده بر دار همچنانک تو دیدی
هست بر اومید گلستان تو جان‌ها
ساخته با خار همچنانک تو دیدی
عشق چو طاووس چون پرید شود دل
خانه پرمار همچنانک تو دیدی
عشق گزین عشق بی‌ حیات خوش عشق
عمر بود بار همچنانک تو دیدی
در دل عشاق فخر و ملک دو عالم
ننگ بود عار همچنانک تو دیدی
عشق خداوند شمس دین که به تبریز
جان کند ایثار همچنانک تو دیدی

Maybe Ibrahim can help illuminate the iconography of Peacock and Snake in this ghazal?

Best,

یاحق

[Ibrahim Gamard]

Dear Safa,

Thank you for finding Ghazal 3031 and for your translation. 

Nevit Ergin's translation of the entire Divan from Golpinarli's Turkish translation is now superseded by the complete translation into English directly from Persian made by Jeffrey Osborne. Here is his translation:

I am happy of heart because of the friend, just as you have seen. My soul is filled with lights, just as you have seen. 

There are thousands of sanctified spirits from the friend's meadow amongst the roses of the bower, just as you have seen. 

See the one who has a heart filled with desire.He has lost his heart to love, just as you have seen. 

Whenever eyes see your face, they become masters of secrets, just as you have seen. 

Know that the form of Mansur al-Hallaj upon the gallows was a pretense, just as you have seen. 

Souls have learned to get along with the thorn out of hope for your rosegarden, just as you have seen. 

Love is like a peacock. When it flew away, the heart became a house filled with snakes, just as you have seen. 

Choose love — love! Without the sweet presence of love, life is a burden, just as you have seen. 

Pride is in the hearts of lovers. The dominion of both worlds is a shameful disgrace, just as you have seen. 

It is the love of Shams-i Din that bestows soul in Tabriz, just as you have seen. 

—Rumi's Ghazal 3031, translated by Jeffrey Osbrone, Jalal al-Din Rumi, Divan-i Kabir, Vol. XX, 2020, p. 125

1. because of the friend [yār]. May also be translated, "the beloved."

2. souls [ravān]

3. Mansur al-Hallaj: famous Sufi who was executed

4. peacock and snakes: refers to a legend about how the peacock and the snake were expelled from Paradise because of their pride. As a punishment, the peacock was given ugly feet and the snake lost its. legs. The German Rumi scholar, Annemarie Schimmel quoted this verse in her chapter on birds: "When the peacock appears in the company of serpents, the poet has in mind the legend of Paradise: 'When the peacock flies away, the heart becomes a house filled with serpents, as you have seen.'" The Triumphant Sun, p. 121.

5. Choose love, love ['ishq gozīn, 'ishq]

6. the love of Shams-i Dīn ['ishq-i khodāvand-i shams-i dīn] may also be translated as, "the love of lord Shams-i Dīn." (During his lifetime, Rumi was often called "Khodāvandgār," as was his father before him—see Aflākī and Sepahsālār]

Ibrahim

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[sipko den boer]

Thank you, Safa and Ibrahim, for your help. I also asked a friend. At first it seemed difficult not knowing the authenticity of the poem, but he found it in no time, being a native speaker. Indeed, Johnson only took out a few lines. The line that spoke to me the most is "Choose love. Choose love. Without this beautiful love, life is nothing but a burden. My wife quoted it after I read aloud a Facebook post from a friend who is worried about our times, which seems to be telling us the opposite: "Choose meanness." Thanks a lot dear friends.

Kind regards,

Sipko den Boer

[sipko den boer]

Dear Ibrahim,

As you mentioned in your concordance this poem and probably others from O. Volume XX were not translated by Nevit Ergin. I am slowly replacing the Ergin Volumes with the Osborne volumes. It is interesting to see how explicit Mowlana can be in his metaphors. Probably it's a cultural thing.

Greetings,

Sipko

On Tuesday, July 23, 2024 at 11:19:01 PM UTC+2 Ibrahim wrote: