The Masnavi (Mesnevi)

...brushed aside and, through the clever use of Oriental forms and expressions, given us only the shell without unlocking the kernel. On the other hand, even among true scholars, only a few have been granted—and few have felt the need—to reproduce the beauty of the literatures accessible to them in a generally understandable and artistic form.

In the present work, Georg Rosen set himself this task. He wished to make the greatest and most significant product of Persian mysticism accessible and understandable to the educated German reading public, while reproducing the poetic form as closely as possible. This is a work that is held in almost equal esteem to the Quran and, even today, seven hundred years later, more or less dominates the intellectual world of Islam from the Adriatic Sea to the Bay of Bengal, and from Turkestan to Yemen. That Georg Rosen's Masnavi translation original: "Mesnevi-Übersezung"; the Masnavi-i Ma'navi is Rumi's magnum opus of spiritual couplets. fulfilled this task only to a limited extent was likely due less to the work itself than to external circumstances. The presumably small edition of 1849 was soon out of print, and for a new edition, the publisher likely lacked initiative and the author lacked encouragement, especially since newer and larger tasks occupied him completely. Thus, the book became a rarity in scholarly libraries and has almost fallen into oblivion. Indeed, even some researchers specializing in the mysticism of Jalal al-Din original: "Dschelāl ed dīn"; referring to Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi (1207–1273). seem not to know of it. 1

1. In the latest (1910), and otherwise excellent work published on the Masnavi: The Masnavi by Jalalu 'D Din Rumi, book II, the author C. E. Wilson says: "In 1881 Sir James Redhouse translated the First Book of this poem, but with the exception of that poem and of Mr. Whinfield’s abstract, nothing of importance in any European language has been attempted up to the present to further the knowledge of a work so valuable to..." The author points out that Wilson was unaware of Rosen's earlier German translation when he claimed no other important European translations existed besides Redhouse and Whinfield.