The Masnavi of Rumi, Book One

Jalaloddin Rumi

Alan Williams (tr.)

Hardback, in Persian and English

9781788311458

A New English Translation with Explanatory Notes

For centuries before his love poetry became a literary phenomenon in the West, Rumi's Masnavi had been revered in the Islamic world as its greatest mystical text. Drawing upon a vast array of characters, stories and fables, and deeply versed in spiritual teaching, it takes us on a profound and playful journey of discovery along the path of divine love, toward its ultimate goal of union with the source of all Truth.

In Book 1 of the Masnavi, the first of six volumes, Rumi opens the spiritual path towards higher spiritual understanding. Alan Williams's authoritative new translation is rendered in highly readable blank verse and includes the original Persian text for reference, and with explanatory notes along the way. True to the spirit of Rumi's poem, this new translation establishes the Masnavi as one of the world's great literary achievements for a global readership.

Translated with an introduction, notes and analysis by Alan Williams and including the Persian text edited by Mohammad Este'lami.