Franklin D. Lewis. Rumi: Past and Present, East and West...

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> Book Review by Richard McGregor on
Franklin D. Lewis. _Rumi: Past and Present, East and West: The Life, Teaching and Poetry of Jalal al-Din Rumi_


>
> Franklin D. Lewis. _Rumi: Past and Present, East and West: The Life,
> Teaching and Poetry of Jalal al-Din Rumi_. Oxford and New York:
> Oneworld Publications, 2001. xvii + 686 pp. Tables, maps, notes,
> index. $29.95 (paper), ISBN 1-85168-214-7.
>
> Reviewed for H-Mideast-Medieval by Richard McGregor, Department of
> Religious Studies, Vanderbilt University
>
> A Rumi for All Seasons
>
> This work of almost seven hundred pages represents a heroic effort
> to set before readers, both specialist and non-specialist, the
> current state of our knowledge of the great mystical poet Rumi (d.
> 672/1273).  The timeframe for the study extends from Rumi's
> immediate predecessors of the late twelfth century up to the present
> day.  The approach is literary, but does not neglect the historical
> milieu.  The latter point is especially important in light of the
> modern success of Rumi in the Western world. Far too often Rumi has
> been yanked out of his linguistic and religious milieu by Westerners
> in search of a syncretic "New Age" spirituality. Lewis makes great
> effort to reconstruct this milieu and to situate Rumi fully within
> his Islamic context.  However, this is not to say that Lewis
> minimizes Rumi's modern reception.  He devotes a good number of
> pages to the commentators--Turkish, Farsi, and Arabic speaking--who
> have kept Rumi's poetry alive, and to Rumi's entry into Western
> literary and spiritual consciousness.  The writing is accessible
> and, at times, even playful. The book is divided into five sections.
> The first, "Rumi's Fathers in Spirit," is historical in nature and
> includes chapters on Rumi's father, Baha al-Din Valad (d. 628/1231),
> Borhan al-Din Mohaqqeq, and Shams al-Din Tabrizi, all of whom
> exerted their own influence on Rumi.  The second section, "Rumi's
> Children and Brethren in Spirit," treats the successors of Rumi, in
> particular his son Sultan Valad (712/1312), and discusses the
> biographical/hagiographical tradition associated with Rumi himself,
> with the emphasis on Sepahsalar and al-Aflaki.  Section three takes
> up "Texts and Teachings."  Here Lewis's literary approach shines.
> The recap of a Rumi biography, tied into the interplay between
> reading/recitation and poetry, works well.  Fittingly, Lewis follows
> with a good dose of the real thing, offering his own translation of
> fifty poems, ghazals, and quatrains.  The "Teachings" chapter of
> this section explores the mystical doctrine behind the poetics.  In
> this brief discussion such typically sufi themes as esoteric
> understanding, saints and shaykhs, the _qotb_, and the unity of
> being are taken up.  Section 4 describes the sufi order, known as
> the Mevleviye (in Arabic, Mawlawiyya), beginning with the
> organization around Rumi's shrine in Konya.  A second chapter in
> this section traces the poet's literary inheritance through the
> Muslim world.  Here commentaries on his "Masnavi" from mystics and
> philosophers such as Molla Sadra, Sari 'Abd Allah Efendi, and Molla
> Hadi Sabzevari, among others, are highlighted.  The influence of
> Rumi on modern thinkers such as Shebli No'mani and Muhammad Iqbal is
> also discussed.  Lewis also examines the relevance of the poet to
> the intellectual milieu of revolutionary Iran, as developed by Abdol
> Karim Soroush.
>
> The last section, made up of five chapters, surveys the spread of
> Rumi beyond the studies devoted to him in Turkish, Arabic, and
> Persian, and into the West.  The nineteenth- and twentieth-century
> history of academic treatments in European languages is surveyed and
> a thorough account of Western translations is provided.  Here the
> very popular "translations" by Coleman Barks are discussed.  Barks,
> following the poet Robert Bly, and working largely from the earlier
> scholarly translations of Nicholson and Arberry, (re)produces a Rumi
> who fits well into the contemporary American poetry scene.  The
> final chapter surveys Rumi on the Internet and the modern
> adaptations of his poetry in music, dance, and painting.  Beyond the
> printed text there is also a related website set up through the
> publisher, Oneworld, which presents a number of images (Mevlevi
> tombs, shrines, mosques), notices of recent publications and
> artistic events, links to related websites, and a list of errata.
>
> Lewis is to be commended for his thoroughness; the book will
> certainly function for years to come as the work of reference for
> Islamicists and students of comparative literature and religion.
> The website is promising, but for it to become a hub of serious
> "Rumi studies" more work will need to be done.  No bibliography is
> provided, although the index does note titles under each author's
> name.  Lewis argues that his detailed description of the literature
> makes a separate bibliography unnecessary (p. , but I would
> suggest he put one on the website.  Seeing a full list of Rumi's
> works (particularly the numerous translations) along with the
> secondary literature, all in one place, would be helpful for
> students and newcomers to the field.
>
> Although Lewis's approach is largely descriptive, with few new
> insights presented for specialists in the field, the strength of the
> work is in its comprehensiveness and its scope.  This said, some
> notes on content may be made.  In the introduction, Lewis mistakenly
> signals the presence of Shi'ism among the Egyptian population under
> Fatimid rule (p. 12).  In fact doctrinal Fatimid Shi'ism never moved
> beyond the ruling class in any meaningful way.  Elsewhere in the
> introduction, mention is made of Ghazzali's conversion to the
> spiritual path as if it were an indisputable historical fact (p.
> 23).  The contrast of "Sufism and orthodoxy" here is also
> problematic.  Further along, the explanation of _zavie_ should
> include its early indication as a teaching corner of a mosque (p.
> 27). The discussion of "Teachings" in chapter 9 is rather short.
> Although the book is perhaps already too long, a more detailed
> treatment of doctrine (both philosophical and mystical) would allow
> students more openings for comparison of Rumi with other Muslim
> thinkers.  (This said, Lewis does note that a systematic study of
> this aspect of Rumi has yet to be written [p. 400].)  A case in
> point would be the reference to _'aql-e koll_ or Universal Intellect
> (p. 402), which deserves a footnote situating it in wider
> Neoplatonic thought.  For the same reason, the treatment of "Unity
> of Being" (p. 414) should be tied in with the school of Ibn 'Arabi,
> if only in a footnote.  The use of "Friend" in one translation (p.
> 409) is at odds with "saint" elsewhere in the same subsection.  The
> label of "Shi'ite" applied to Divane Mohammad Chelebi and Yusof-e
> Sinechak seems too hasty (pp. 446-447).  Yes, they do seem to have
> adopted various forms of typically Shi'ite veneration, but it should
> not be assumed that doctrinally they considered themselves Shi'ites.
> The line between Shi'ism and Sunnism, especially in a context
> colored by Hurufism and Malamatism, is often unclear.  Chelebi and
> Sinechak may have held some properly Shi'ite doctrines, but no
> evidence to that effect is provided here.  A final point has to do
> with transliteration.  Lewis notes the difficulty of writing in
> English terms and names from Turkish, Persian, and Arabic (p.  xvi).
> His simplified transliteration system, usually leaning toward
> Persian pronunciation, is welcome; however, in certain instances
> supplying an additional transliteration in standard Arabic would be
> helpful.  Newer students of Islamic studies, when faced with _Omm
> al-ketab_ (p. 11), _zavie_ (p. 27), or _zekr_ (p. 464) might not
> identify them with their Arabic originals _Umm al-kitab_, _zawiya_,
> and _dhikr_.
>
>
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