The Masnavi, Book Three (Oxford World's Classics)

Book 3 as translated by Mojadedi is as magnificent as his first 2 translations. This is a line by line translation of the ENTIRE book 3. NOT EXCERPTS. The rhyming couplets truly capture the melodic verse in the Farsi (Persian). I have read this book side by side in the Farsi and it is truly a masterpiece translation. I am eagerly waiting for book 4 to continue. The translation is easy to understand in plain English with none of Nicholson's mumbo jumbo.

an important work which was first translated by a grate man called r.a. Nicholson.

The prospect of reading The Mathnawi of Jalalu'ddin Rumi in English is exciting. The Luzak version of Nicholson's work was most enjoyable, and it is to be hoped that that, too will sometime be available completely, (right now Amazon only seems to offer books 2, 4 and 6 for some strange reason), as well as the completion of this translator's work. Cannot get enough of Rumi, especially the Mathnawi, even if the translator is not, as was Rumi, a Perfect Master, and thus the rendering is limited by the worldly-minded. Still, it is a rare privilege for us to gain a glimpse into this treasure. And, who knows, perhaps a culture that values such treasure may someday nurture a mind worthy of doing justice to such a translation.

Imagine! The author, unlike Bly, Barks and the like, actually knows Persian! How boringly academic. How utterly un-fradulent. Not everyone will go for the rhymed couplets--Lewis makes a case for blank verse. But like it or not, part of the pleasure of the great Persian poets was the hypnotic quality of their couplets--Mesnevis, to use the technical term. Granted the form is more sophisticated in Persian than English, but this, and Davis' translation of Attar are pretty convincing. I hope Mojaddadi will finish this Herculean task.