The Masnavi (Mesnevi)

...f it.

It must, however, be deeply regretted that a work of such solid scientific thoroughness and a German translation of such perfect poetic form, belonging to such a significant literary monument, should be allowed to perish.

The publishing house of Georg Müller Georg Müller (1877–1917) was a prominent publisher in Munich known for high-quality editions of world literature. in Munich and Leipzig has now set itself the noble task of making the spirit of the Orient accessible through quality translations, not only to specialized scholars but to the entirety of educated Germany. They have invited me to lend a hand in a new edition of my father's Masnavi translation. original: "Mesnevi-Übersetzung"; referring to the Masnavi-i Ma'navi, the masterpiece of spiritual couplets by the Persian poet Rumi. When I took on this task, I initially believed that I would have to subject the work to a thorough revision. However, upon closer examination of the literature published since then, I find that essentially no new perspectives for explaining the text have come to light. The two sources from which Georg Rosen Georg Rosen (1820–1891) was a German diplomat and orientalist who served in the Ottoman Empire. had drawn—the Eastern commentators and the Sufism original: "Sufismus"; the mystical branch of Islam focused on the inner, spiritual dimension of the faith. still living in the East—have more or less been the sources for his successors as well. The only difference is that in the Constantinople Modern-day Istanbul. of the 1840s, this latter source flowed even more directly for him. Furthermore, no historically verified information of significance regarding the poet's life has since come to light. Thus, I have ultimately left the work in its original form, save for a few minor details. I do not doubt that it will find a friendly reception as a scientifically reliable explanation and, at the same time, an artistic rendering of the thoughts of the "greatest mystic of the Orient original: "Morgenlandes"; literally 'the land of the morning', a common 19th-century term for the East or Asia. and simultaneously the greatest pantheistic Pantheism is the philosophical view that the universe and God are identical, or that God is present in all things. poet of all time." 2

students not only of Sufism, but also of philosophy generally, including the modern development, theosophy. 2. Ethé, New Persian Literature, in Geyer and Kuhn’s Compendium of Iranian Philology. original: "Ethé, Neupersische Literatur, in Geyer und Kuhns Grundriß der iranischen Philologie"; refers to the work of Hermann Ethé, a foundational scholar of Persian studies.