rumi - mathnawi - umar and the harpist translated by ibrahim gamard

7/27/2019 RUMI - Mathnawi - Umar and the Harpist Translated by Ibrahim Gamard

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- Masnavi - Umar and the Harpist http://www.khamush.com/mw/mumar.htm

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Umar and the Harpist, Masnavi I: 2199-2222

Translated byIbrahim Gamard

Umar1 (may God be pleased with him)

changed (the harpist's) viewpoint from the

station of weeping, which is being

existent, to the station of being

drowned.2

gardndan ùmar-- raZiyu 'llhu àn-hu-- naZar--r az maqm- gerya ke hast-st ba-maqm-

istighrq

2199 Umar then told him, This weeping

of yours is also (one of) the signs of your

sobriety.3

2199 pas ùmar goft-ash ke n zry- t

hast ham Sr- hoshyry- t

2200 (But) the way of the one (who has)

become annihilated4 is another way

(entirely), because sobriety is another error

[for the mystic].5

2200 rh- fn-gashta rh dgar-ast

z-n-ke hoshyr gonh dgar-ast

Sobriety is due to remembering what ispast-- (but) past and future are a veil

(covering awareness) of God. 6

hast hoshyr ze-yd- m-maZmZ-wo mustaqbalat parda-y khod

Set fire to both (of them). How long will

you be full of knots like the reed,7 because

of these two?.8

tesh andar zan ba-har d t ba-kay

por gereh bsh- az-n har d ch nay?

As long as knots are in the reed, it isn't aconfidant of secrets (and) it isn't the

companion of the lips and outcry (of the

flute player).9

t gereh b nay bow-ad, ham-rz nstham-neshn- n lab-o wz nst

When you are (engaged) in circling [the

Ka'ba], you are wrapped up in yourself in

the circling. (Then) when you come home

[from Mecca], you are also with yourself.10

chn ba-Tawf- khwad ba-Tawf-, murtad-

chn ba-khna mad-, ham b khwad-


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2205 Your learnings are uninformed of

the Giver of knowledge. (And) your

repentance is worse than your sin.11

2205 ay khabar-h-t az khabar-deh b-khabar

tawba-y t az gonh- t batar

You are seeking repentance about a past

situation. (But) say: when will you repentfrom this repentance?12

ay t az Hl- goZashta twba-j

kay kon- tawba az-n tawba be-g?

Sometimes you are making a low tone13

to be your direction (of focus), (and)

sometimes you are kissing (shrill)

cries14of weeping.

ham-ch jn b-gerya-wo b-khanda shod

jn-sh raft-o jn- dgar zenda shod

When Umar15became a mirror (revealing)

secrets,16 the old man's soul became

awake within.17

gh bng- zr-r qibla kon-gh gerya-y zr-r qubla zan-

He became without weeping and without

laughing, just like the soul. His soul18 left,

and another soul19 became alive (within

him).

chn-ke frq y'na-y asrr shod

jn- pr az andarn bdr shod

2210 (In) that moment, (such) a

bewilderment reached his interior that he

went beyond the earth and the sky.20

2210 Hayrat mad darn-ash n zamn

ke bern shod az zamn-o smn

(It was) a seeking and searching beyond

seeking and searching.21 I don't know

(how to describe it). (If) you know, speak!

jost-o jy az wary- jost-o j

man na-m-dn-am, t m-dn- be-g

(It was) a state and an expression beyond

states and expressions.22 He became

drowned in the Beauty of the Lord of

Majesty.23

Hl-o ql az waray- Hl-o ql

gharqa gashta dar jaml- Z 'l-jall

(It was) a drowning in which there could

not be any deliverancefor him, or (in

which) anyone could know (about) him--besides the Ocean.

gharqay na ke khalS bsh-ad-ash

y ba-joz dary kas be-sh'ns-ad-ash


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The partial intellect would not be speaking

about the Universal (Intellect)24 if there

wasn't urgent request after urgent request.

àql- juzw az kull gy nsty

gar taqZ bar taqZ nsty

2215 Since pressing demand after demand

is arriving, the waves of that Ocean arereaching here.

2215 chn taqZ bar taqZ m-ras-ad

mawj- n dary ba-d-n-j m-ras-ad

(And) since the story of the (spiritual) state

of that old man has reached this place, the

old man and his state have drawn (their)

faces in (behind) the curtain.25

chn-ke qiSSa-y Hl- pr n-j rasd

pr-o Hl-ash ry dar parda kashd

The old man has shed speech and speaking

from (his) robe-- (so) half the talk hasremained in my mouth.

pr dman-r ze-goft-o g feshnd

nm- gofta dar dahn- m be-mnd

(But) in order to produce this (kind of) joy

and delight, it is necessary to gamble away

a hundred thousand souls.

az pay- n àysh-o ìshrat skhtan

Sad hazr-n jn be-shy-ad bkhtan

While hunting in the forest of the soul, be

a falcon. Be gambling away (your) life,

just like the sun of (this) world.

dar shekr- bsha-y jn bz bsh

ham-ch khworshd- jahn jn-bz bsh

2220 The lofty sun falls (into the horizon),

scattering (its) life. Every moment it

becomes empty (and) then is made full

(again).

2220 jn-feshn oftd khworshd- boland

har dam tay m-shaw-ad, por m-kon-and

O Sun of (spiritual) Reality! Scatter life,

(and) cause newness to appear in this old

world!

jn-feshn ay ftb- ma`naw

mar jahn- kohna-r be-n'm naw

2222 Soul and spirit are coming into

human existence from the Invisible (world)

like flowing water.26

2222 dar wujd- dam jn-o rawn

m-ras-ad az ghayb chn b- rawn

Mathnawi Meter: XoXX XoXX XoX

Footnotes:


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Masnavi Umar and the Harpist http://www khamush com/mw/mumar htm


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circling (Divine) Reality if you are circling around yourself and you are wearing the (ordinary) garments

of existence? (Anqaravi, Commentary).

11Your repentance is worse than your sin: because self-consciousness is the greatest of all sins.

Hence the elect do not repent of sinful acts as such, but only of ghaflat, i.e. forgetting God even for a

moment. The true penitent is he who has been made immaculate by Divine grace, so that to him the verythought of sin is impossible; he is the lover in whom every attribute of self has been purged away.

(Nicholson, Commentary) Then, with (your) making repentance [= asserting your own self-conscious

will], you are establishing yourself in partnership [shark] with God.... And by this very cause, your

repentance is worse than your sin. (Anqaravi, Commentary)

12When will you repent from this repentance: i.e. when wilt thou turn entirely to God?

(Nicholson, Commentary) Because this kind of repentance is a kind of sin to the verifiers of truth and

those closest (to God), since (involvement with) that which has passed away is for them being inbondage. (Anqaravi, Commentary)

13A low tone: means groaning and moaning.

14You are kissing (shrill) cries: Nicholson translated, thou dost kiss (art in love with) weeping and

wailing. In this verse there are word plays between low tone [zr] and shrill cries [zr]; and

between direction (of focus) [qiblah] and kissing [qublah]. These two states [= moaning and

shrieking] are a barrier to the contemplation of God. So pass beyond this place. (Anqaravi,Commentary)

15Umar: literally, Frq-- a title given to Umar, which means discriminating"between truth and

falsehood.

16A mirror (revealing) secrets: For his sake, (Umar) revealed divine secrets. He revealed plainly the(various) aspects of (Divine) mysteries for that old man. (Anqaravi, Commentary)

17Became awake within: The spirit of the old harpist became awake within his interior and he

obtained a (higher) spiritual rank. (Anqaravi, Commentary)

18His soul: i.e. his animal soul. (Nicholson, Commentary)

19Another soul: i.e. the human spirit (jn-i insan) which God breathed into Adam. (Nicholson,

Commentary) It means, his animal spirit departed and his godly spirit [rH- ilah] became alive. Withthe godly spirit he found eternal life. (Anqaravi, Commentary)


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rumi - mathnawi - umar and the harpist translated by ibrahim gamard

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