Jottings : Slice of life - 67 ( Coleman Barks - his inebriation with Rumi)
Jottings : Slice of life - 67 ( Coleman Barks - his inebriation with Rumi)
I have in front of me three books : “Introduction to Zen Buddhism” by DT Suzuki published in 1934, Idries shah’s “Sufism” published in 1964, and Coleman Barks “The Soul of Rumi” published in 2002. The first two volumes are path breaking books of the last century. Suzuki interpreted the enigmatic and paradoxical mysticism of Zen buddhism to modern western readers in a manner that was scholastic enough, and at the same time easily accessible to serious readers. Idries shah, a Britisher, synthesized the beautiful tradition of Islamic mysticism in the form of Sufism, its dance of dervishes, making it sensible and meaningful to a world which thought of them as nothing more than nervous paroxysms of Mad men. That the depth of Sufism is essentially the same mystical reverberation of ages across traditions, was first realized in the English works of Idries shah. The love poems of Sufi mystics, the clownish stories of Mulla Nasruddin, inebriated verses on love of wine, beautiful interpretations of its intoxication in the symbolic language of psyche’s journey towards divinity - found deep resonance, and if I may say , an awakening of the Western world to an appreciation of Islam in its purest form without the outward manifestations of dogmatic fanaticism. Both Suzuki and Idries shah’s were scholars, and their works were in prose. It was left to the retired English professor at University of Georgia ( Yes UGA, Athens - our own University right here in Atlanta) - whose snow-white beard, chubby face, baritone voice, supple command of English language, and a tremendous feel for Persian Poems and its sensitivity - to translate for us one of the deepest, most profound and extremely lyrical Sufi masters of the 13th century - Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī.
Dr Barks cannot read or understand Persian. And he has never made an attempt to learn the language of the Poet Rumi he so dearly loves, and rendered in free verse his Persian poems with such passion, care and sensitivity. All that he has is a tremendous feel for Rumi’s lyrical and mystical messages. Great poems can do that for us. One needn't have to understand each word, or line. The underlying beauty of its meaning will automatically surface like butter from curdled milk. Its a mysterious process, but true and has happened many times to special people - who have had the grace to put aside intellectual jugglery and listen to the echoes within one’s heart with all humility and patience. In “The essential rumi”, Dr Barks has rendered Rumi without any pretense to poetic rigor or meticulousness. I reproduce below a poem from that book. I have read this poem a thousand times, in many translations of Rumi. But this particular one from Dr Barks never fails to move me. Something deep within stirs whenever I read these words. It penetrates my inner core and touches something so deep I cannot name or think or verbalize about. It is a palpable feel of being thrown back into oneself, stripped away from the encumbrances of outer self. Read it for yourself and you will know what I mean. The Poem is titled “What was told, that” :
What was said to the rose that made it open was said
to me here in my chest.
to me here in my chest.
What was told the cypress that made it strong
and straight, what was
and straight, what was
whispered the jasmine so it is what it is, whatever made
sugarcane sweet, whatever
sugarcane sweet, whatever
was said to the inhabitants of the town of Chigil in
Turkestan that makes them
Turkestan that makes them
so handsome, whatever lets the pomegranate flower blush
like a human face, that is
like a human face, that is
being said to me now. I blush. Whatever put eloquence in
language, that’s happening here.
language, that’s happening here.
The great warehouse doors open; I fill with gratitude,
chewing a piece of sugarcane,
chewing a piece of sugarcane,
in love with the one to whom every that belongs!
Its a mesmerizing piece of translation. Nothing extravagant, just straight from one heart to another. Rumi had this tremendous insight into the ordinary world of things and nature and Man. To him, everything was vibrantly alive and deeply spiritual, not just verbally, but in the very fiber of his being. It is estimated that Rumi wrote more than forty thousand verses during his life time and they are treasured as inimitable pieces of Poetic mysticism in world literature.
In one of his interview Dr Barks says and I paraphrase in my words “ I dont know why i am touched by Rumi. I dont know what takes over me when I interpret him from other Translations. I dont know Persian. It is a very difficult language to learn and master. But with Rumi, Language seems no barrier. Rumi speaks to me in non-verbal way. Something leaps from his insights that dont need any linguistic barricades. They strike at ones heart, and rarely passes through the by lanes of mind..”
I am privileged to be living in the same city as Dr Coleman Barks. I believe he still has his residence in Athens, Georgia. I hope to meet him one of these days. If you have time, I would request my readers to search Youtube for his poetic conclaves. Dr Barks is a bard in the true sense of the word. When his reads Rumi, with accompanying music, it would seem as though time has come to a stand still, and all that floats is the resonating voice of Dr barks, the purity of his words, the beauty of his child like smile, and the flight of one’s inner self into something lighter, less burdensome and definitely liberating.
Here is link for your convenience of Dr Bark reading the Poem on rose. . It could a life transforming four minutes, if you can truly listen...
God bless….
yours in Mortality,
Bala
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