Research Catalog

Title

Listen : commentary on the spiritual couplets of Mevlana Rumi / by Kenan Rifai ; translated by Victoria Holbrook.

Author

Rifâî, Kenʼan, 1867-1950

Publication

Louisville, KY : Fons Vitae, 2011.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Holbrook, Victoria Rowe, 1952-

Description

xxii, 536 pages; 22 cm

Summary

An exceptional contribution to the understanding of a key figure in Islamic mysticism, this book offers a 20th century commentary -- by the eminent Sufi and spiritual guide Kenan Rifai—on Jalal ad-Din Rumi’s 13th-century <em>Spiritual Couplets</em>, or <em>Masnavi</em>. Symbolically connecting the long poem to Qur’anic passages, hadiths, and other poems by Sufi masters, this enlightening reference answers the most tortuous of problems and guides one to comprehend the meaning of life. A rigorous translation of Rumi’s original work is also included.

Uniform Title

Mesnevi hatıraları. English

Alternative Title

Mesnevi hatıraları.

Subjects

• Criticism, interpretation, etc
• Mysticism > Islam
• Mas̲navī (Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, Maulana)
• Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, Maulana, 1207-1273 > Criticism and interpretation
• Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, Maulana, 1207-1273 > Mas̲navī

Genre/Form

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Note

• Includes index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

• Machine generated contents note: Spiritual Couplets Beginning -- Story of how a Padishah fell in Love with a Girl and bought her -- Inability of the Physicians to cure the Girl becomes Evident to the Padishah and he turns to the Court of God and dreams of the Friend -- Beseeching the Lord, who is Guardian of Success, for Success in Observation of Right Conduct in every Circumstance, and explicating the Grave Consequences of a Lack of Right Conduct -- Meeting of the Shah with the Divine Physician whose Coming had been announced to him in a Dream -- Padishah brings the Physician to the Patient's Bedside so that he may see her Condition -- Friend asks the Padishah if he may be Alone with the Girl in Order to discover the Cause of her Affliction -- Friend understands what the Illness is and presents the Matter before the Padishah -- Shah sends Messengers to Samarkand to fetch the Goldsmith -- Explaining that the slaying and poisoning of the Goldsmith was according to Divine Suggestion, not Lust of the Soul and Vicious Intent -- Story of the Grocer and the Parrot and how the Parrot Spilled Oil in the Shop -- Story of the Jewish Padishah who killed the Christians out of Fanaticism -- Vizier Instructs the Padishah to Stage a Deception -- Christians Accept the Vizier -- Christians Follow the Vizier -- Story of the Caliph who saw Leyla -- Concerning the Vizier's Envy -- Sharp-Witted among the Christians Realize the Vizier is Deceitful -- How the Shah Secretly sent Messages to the Vizier -- Concerning the Twelve Tribes of the Christians -- Vizier Confounds the Tenets of the Gospel -- Demonstrating that Contradiction is in the Surface Form, not in the Reality of the Way -- Downfall of the Vizier in this Deception -- Vizier Hatches Another Plot to Lead the Tribe Astray -- Vizier Puts Off the Disciples -- Disciples Repeat their Request that the Vizier Break his Retreat -- Vizier Replies that he will not Break his Retreat -- Disciples Object to the Vizier's Seclusion -- Vizier makes the Disciples lose Hope that he will Abandon Seclusion -- Vizier Separately Appoints each one of the Emirs as his Successor -- Vizier Kills Himself in Seclusion -- People of Jesus -- peace be upon him -- ask the Commanders, "Which one of you is the Successor?" -- Explaining "We do not differentiate any one of His messengers from another," for all are Messengers of God the Truth -- Commanders Contend for the Succession -- Honoring of the Words in Praise of Mustafa, Peace be upon Him, Mentioned in the Gospel -- Story of Another Jewish Padishah who Made Efforts to Destroy the Religion of Jesus -- How the Jewish Padishah made a Fire and put an Idol beside it, saying, "Whoever Prostrates Himself to this Idol shall escape the Fire." -- How a Child Raised his Voice in the Midst of the Fire and Urged the People to Come into the Fire -- How a Man spoke the Name of Muhammed, Peace be upon him, derisively, and his Mouth remained twisted -- Jewish Padishah reproaches the Fire -- Story of the Wind which Destroyed the People of Ad during the Time of Hud, upon him be Peace -- How the Jewish Padishah engaged in Mockery and Denial and did not take the Counsel of his own Advisors -- How the Wild Beasts told the Lion to Trust in God and Abandon Effort -- How the Lion Answered the Beasts and Spoke about the Benefit of Effort -- How the Animals Asserted the Superiority of Trust in God over Effort and Acquisition -- How the Lion Asserted the Superiority of Effort and Acquisition over Trust in God and Submission -- How the Animals Asserted the Superiority of Trust in God over Struggle -- Lion again asserts the Superiority of Effort over Trust in God -- Animals again Assert the Superiority of Trust in God over Effort -- How Azrael Glanced at a Man and the Man Fled to the Palace of Solomon, and Exposition of the Superiority of Trust in God over Effort and the Paucity of Benefit in Effort -- Lion Again Asserts the Superiority of Effort over Trust in God and Expounds the Advantages of Effort -- How the Superiority of Effort over Trust in God was established -- How the Animals Objected to the Hare's Delay in Going to the Lion -- Hare's Answer to the Animals -- Animals object to what the Hare said -- Hare answers the Animals -- About the Hare's Knowledge and the Virtue and Advantage of Knowledge -- Animals ask the Hare the Secret of what he is thinking -- How the Hare withheld the Secret from them -- Story of the Hare's Stratagem -- Falseness of the Fly's Shallow Anagogy -- How the Lion Roared at the late Arrival of the Hare -- Also in Exposition of the Hare's Stratagem -- Hare came to the Lion and the Lion was angry with him -- Hare apologizes -- Lion answers the Hare and sets off with Him -- Story of the Hoopoe and Solomon, demonstrating that when Destiny arrives, clear Eyes are sealed -- Crow impugns the Hoopoe's Claim -- Hoopoe responds to the Crow's Attack -- Story of Adam, Peace be upon him, and how Destiny bound his Sight from observing the clear Meaning of the Prohibition and refraining from Anagogy -- Hare Draws Back from the Lion as He approaches the Well -- Lion again asks the Hare why he has lagged behind -- Lion looks into the Well and Sees the Reflection of himself together with the Hare -- Hare brings the Animals the Good News that the Lion has fallen into the Well -- Animals gather round the Hare and speak in Praise of him -- Hare advises the Beasts of Prey to not be overjoyed at this -- Explication of "We have Come from the Lesser Jihad to Return to the Greater Jihad" -- How the Ambassador of Rum came to the Commander of the Faithful Umar, may God be pleased with him, and saw the Miracles of Umar, may God be pleased with him -- Ambassador of Rum finds Umar, may God be pleased with him, sleeping under the Palm-Tree -- Ambassador of Rum greets the Commander of the Faithful, may God be pleased with him -- Roman Ambassador questions the Commander of the Faithful, may God be pleased with him -- How Adam attributed that Fault to himself, saying, "O Lord, we have done wrong," and Iblis attributed his own Sin to God, saying, "Because You have led me astray." -- Explication of "And He is with you wherever you may be." -- How the Roman Ambassador asked Umar, may God be pleased with him, about the Cause of the Trials of the Spirits in these Bodies of Water and Clay -- On the Secret of "Let him who desires to sit with God sit with the Sufis." -- Story of the Merchant who went to India and the Parrot that gave him a Message for the Parrots of India -- Attributes of the Wings of the Birds of divine Intellects -- Merchant sees the Parrots of India in the Wilderness and gives them the Message of that Parrot -- Explication of the Saying of Fariduddin Attar, God sanctify his Spirit, "You are a Man of Soul, O Heedless One, drink Blood in the Dust; for if the Man of Heart drink Poison, it will be Honey -- How the Magicians honored Moses, Peace be upon him, saying: "What is your Command? Shall you cast down your Rod first, or shall we?" -- Merchant tells the Parrot about What he observed of the Parrots of India -- Parrot hears what those Parrots did and dies in the Cage, and the Merchant laments for Him -- Explication of the Saying of Hakim Sanai: "What does it matter whether a Word that keeps you from the Path be of Non-Faith or Faith; what does it matter if a Form that keeps you far from the Friend be ugly or beautiful?" and on the Meaning of the Saying of him upon whom be Peace, "Verily, Saad is jealous, and I am more jealous than Saad, and God is more jealous than I; and out of His Rivalry he has forbidden foul Acts, both Manifest and [ect.] -- Return to the Story of the Merchant -- How the Merchant tossed the Parrot out of the Cage and the Dead Parrot flew away -- How the Parrot bade Farewell to the Merchant and Flew away -- Harm in Being Prominent and Honored by People -- Explication of "Whatever God wills comes to pass" -- Story of the Old Minstrel who in the Time of Umar, may God be pleased with him, was starving one Day and played the Harp for God's Sake -- Explication of the Hadith, "Verily, there are fragrant Breaths of your Lord in the Days of our Time; be attentive to them." -- Story of how Aisha, may God be Pleased with her, asked Muhammed, on whom be Peace, "Since it rained today and you went to the Graveyard, how is it that your Clothes are not wet?" -- Explication of the Verses by Hakim Sana'i: There are skies in the region of spirit Ruling over the worldly firmament In the spirit's way there are lows and highs There are oceans and there are mountains high -- On the Meaning of the Hadith, "Seize upon the Coolness of Spring ..." -- How Siddiqa, may God be Pleased with her, asked Mustafa, God bless him and give him Peace, "What was the Mystery of Today's Rain?" -- Rest of the Story of the Old Minstrel and Explication of its Moral -- How a Voice from the Unseen spoke to Umar, may God be pleased with him, in a dream, saying, "Give such-and-such amount of Gold from the Public Treasury to that Man who is sleeping in the Graveyard." -- How the Hannana Pillar moaned when they made a Pulpit for the Prophet, peace be upon him, because the Community had become great and they said, "We do not see your blessed Face when you preach to us," and how the Messenger and his Companions heard that Moaning, and Mustafa conversed with the Pillar [ect.] -- Manifestation of the Miracle of the Prophet, peace be upon him, in the Pebble in the Hand of Abu Jahl, may he be cursed, and the Testifying of the Pebble to the Truth of Muhammed, blessings and peace upon him -- Rest of the Story of the Minstrel and how the Commander of the Faithful Umar, may God be pleased with him, conveyed to him the Message spoken by the Voice from the Unseen
• Note continued: How Umar, may God be Pleased with him, made him turn his Gaze from the Station of Weeping, which is Existence, to the Station of Absorption in God, which is Non-Existence -- Commentary on the Prayer of those two Angels who proclaimed in every Market every Day: "O God, give all who spend freely the like of what they spend! O God, bring all misers to ruin!" and explanation that he who spends freely is striving on the Path of God and not a Prodigal on the Path of vain [ect.] -- Story of the Caliph who in his own time surpassed Hatim Tayyi in Generosity and had no Peer -- Story of the Poor Bedouin and What passed between him and his Wife dues to their Penury and Poverty -- How needy Murids are deluded by lying Imposters and suppose them to be Shaykhs venerable and arrived and do not know the Difference between the False and the True and what cannot grow and what can -- In Exposition of how it may rarely happen that a Murid binds himself to a False Imposter in sincere Belief that he is someone and in this Belief arrives at a Station never dreamed of by his Shaykh, and Fire and Water do not harm him although they harm his Shaykh, but this is rare -- How the Bedouin bade his Wife to have Patience and told her of the Excellence of Patience and Poverty -- How the Woman counseled her Husband, saying, "Do not speak above your Rank and Station -- Why do you say What you do not do? -- for although what you say is right, you do not have that Degree of Trust in God, and to speak above one's Station and Practice is harmful and will be exceedingly hateful to [ect.] -- How the Man counseled his Wife, saying, "Do not look upon the Poor with Contempt, but regard the Work of God as Perfect, and do not revile Poverty and the Poor in your Fantastical Opinion of your own Indigence -- Exposition of how the Action of a Person proceeds from the Place where he is, and he sees Everyone from the Circle of his own Existence. Blue Glass shows the Sun as blue, red Glass as red. When a Glass transcends Color it becomes white and more Truthful than others and the Leader of them all -- How the Wife attended to her Husband and repented for what she had said -- How the Man made himself amenable to the Woman's Entreaty that he seek means of Livelihood, and took her Opposition to him as a Sign from God -- Exposition of how both Moses and Pharaoh are subject to divine Will, as are Antidote and Poison and Darkness and Light, and how Pharaoh beseeched God in Private not to destroy his good Reputation -- Reason why the Wretched are disappointed in both Worlds: "He has lost the world and the life to come." -- How the Eyes of External Sense saw Salih and his She-Camel to be of low Account and without Kin, for when God wishes to destroy an Army He makes them appear in the Sight of their Adversaries to be of low Account and few in Number although the Adversary be Superior, and "He made you seem few in their eyes so that God might bring to pass a thing that was to be [ect.] -- On the Meaning of "He let the two seas go to meet; between them is a division they do not seek to cross." -- On what it means that the Murid should not presume to do as the Friend does, that Halva does no Harm to the Physician but is harmful to the Sick, and that Frost and Snow do no Harm to the ripe Grape but harm the young Fruit which is on the way, for he has not yet become: "That God may forgive you the wrongs you have committed and those to [ect.] -- Sum of the Story of the Arab and his Mate -- How the Arab set his Heart on his Beloved's Request and Swore, "In this my submission I have no intent of trickery or trial." -- How the Woman chose the Means for her Husband to earn a Livelihood, and how he accepted -- How the Arab carried a Jug of Rainwater out of the Desert to Baghdad as a Gift to the Commander of the Faithful, believing that Water was scarce there too -- How the Wife of the Arab sewed the Jug of Rainwater inside felt Cloth and sealed it, due to the Arab's extreme Conviction that it was precious -- In Exposition of how the bountiful Giver is in love with the Beggar, just as the Beggar is in love with Bounty and in love with the bountiful Giver; if the Beggar is more patient, the bountiful Giver will come to his Door, and if the bountiful Giver is more patient, the Beggar will come to his Door; but the Beggar's Patience is Perfection in the Beggar, while the patience of the Bountiful Giver is in him a [ect.] -- Difference between a Person who is poor in God and thirsting for Him and One who is poor without God and thirsting for what is other than He -- How the Announcers and Gatekeepers came forward to honor the Bedouin and accept his Gift -- In Explication of how a Person in Love with the World is like a Person in Love with a Wall struck by Sunbeams, who makes no Effort or Exertion to understand that Radiance and Splendor proceed not from the Wall but from the Disk of the Sun in the Fourth Heaven; consequently he sets his whole Heart upon the Wall, and when the Sunbeams return to the Sun he is left forever in Despair: "And a barrier is placed between them and what they [ect.] -- How the Arab delivered the Gift, that is, the Jug, to the Slaves of the Caliph -- Story of what passed between the Grammarian and the Boatman -- How the Caliph accepted the Gift and bestowed Presents although He had absolutely no Need of the Water or the Jug -- Concerning the Pir's Qualities and Obedience to him -- Legacy of the Prophet, Peace be upon him, to Ali, may God honor his Face: "All seek nearness to God through some act of obedience. Seek nearness through fellowship with intelligent and elect bondsmen so that you may have precedence over all." -- How the Man from Qazvin tattooed the Figure of a Lion on his Shoulders and regretted it on Account of the Needle Pricks -- How the Wolf and the Fox went to serve the Lion in the Hunt -- How the Lion tested the Wolf and said, "Come forward, O wolf, and distribute the Catch among us." -- Story of the Man who knocked at a Friend's Door and the Friend asked who he was, and he said, "It is I," and the Friend said, "Since you are you, I will not open the door, I know no friend who is `I'" -- Concerning the Assertion of God's Unity -- How the Lion disciplined the Wolf, who showed Disrespect in Distributing the Spoils -- How Noah, peace be upon him, threatened his people, saying: "Do not wrestle with me, for I am a veil; in reality you are wrestling with God within it, O forsaken people!" -- How Padishahs seat gnostic Sufis before themselves, so that with them their Eyes may be Illumined -- How a guest came before Joseph, peace be upon him, and Joseph demanded of him a Gift and Present -- How Joseph asked the Guest for a Gift -- How the Guest said to Joseph, "I have brought you a mirror as a gift, so that whenever you look into it, you will see you own fair face and remember me." -- How the Recorder of Divine Revelation became an Apostate because the Ray of Revelation struck him and he recited the Verse before the Prophet did, peace be upon him, and he said, "So I too am the site of Revelation." -- How Bal'am son of Ba'ur prayed, "Make Moses and his People turn back frustrated from this City they have besieged." -- How Harut and Marut relied on their own Chastity and tried to mix with the People of the World and came to Mischief -- rest of the Story of Harut and Marut and how an exemplary Punishment was inflicted upon them in this world in the Pit of Babylon -- How a deaf Man went to visit his sick Neighbor -- First to bring Analogy to bear upon Revelation was Iblis -- Explaining that one must keep one's State and Intoxication hidden from the Ignorant -- Story of the Contention between the Greeks and the Chinese over the Art of Painting and Picturing -- How the Prophet, peace be upon him, asked Zayd, "How are you today and in what state did you rise?" and Zayd answered him, "This morning I awoke as a believer, O Messenger of God." -- How Zayd answered the Prophet, peace be upon him, saying, "The States of the People are not Hidden from me." -- How Slaves and Fellow Servants threw Suspicion upon Luqman, saying that he had eaten the fresh Fruit they brought -- Remainder of the Story of Zayd and his Answer to the Messenger, peace be upon him -- How the Messenger, peace by upon him, said to Zayd, "Do not speak this mystery more plainly than this and preserve conformance." -- Returning to the Story of Zayd -- Fire that broke out in the City during the time of Umar, may God be pleased with him -- How an enemy Warrior spat in the face of the Commander of the Faithful, Ali, may God honor his person, and how Ali dropped the Sword from his hand -- How that Kafir asked Ali, may God honor his person, "How could you throw aside your Sword when you triumphed over one such as I?" -- How the Commander of the Faithful answered, explaining the Reason why he dropped his Sword in that Case -- How the Messenger, peace be upon him, whispered in the Ear of the Stirrup-Holder of the Commander of the Faithful Ali, "I tell you, Ali will be slain by your Hand." -- How Adam, peace be upon him, marveled at the Error of Iblis and thought himself better -- Returning to the Story of the Commander of the Faithful Ali, may God honor his person, and the Tolerance he showed to his Murderer -- How the Stirrup-Holder of Ali, may God honor his person, came and said, "For God's sake, kill me and deliver me from that fate." -- Explaining that the Messenger, peace be upon him, sought to conquer Mecca and beyond Mecca not out of Love of worldly Dominion -- for he said: "The world is a carcass" -- but on the contrary, at the divine Command
• Note continued: How the Commander of the Faithful Ali, may God honor his person, said to his Companion, "When you spat in my face, my soul was stirred and there remained no Sincerity of Action; that was what prevented me from killing you.".

ISBN

• 9781891785870
• 1891785877

LCCN

• ^^2011934907
• 99955129187

OCLC

• 866765252
• SCSB-10589321

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library