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The Mesnevī, Book the First cover

The Mesnevī, Book the First

Jalálu’d-Dín Rúmí
Translated by James W. Redhouse
First published 1881434 pages

The first book of Rúmí’s Mesnevī, the great teaching poem of Sufism, in the complete rhymed translation of James W. Redhouse (1881): from the Song of the Reed through the king and the handmaiden, the oilman’s parrot, the lion and the hare, and the many tales that follow. With it comes Redhouse’s selection of anecdotes from Eflākī’s Acts of the Adepts, the earliest stories of Rúmí, his father, Shams of Tabrīz and their circle.

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Public domain worldwide (Redhouse died in 1892; first published 1881).

About this edition

This edition is newly typeset from the complete text. It was compared word by word, by machine alignment, with independent transcriptions of the original printing, and every disagreement was checked against the page images. Nothing is abridged.

Rúmí also appears elsewhere on this site: see The Mystics of Islam for Nicholson’s account of the Sufi path.

Contents

The whole book is free to read online, with no signup.

  1. Translator’s Preface
  2. Selected Anecdotes
  3. Chapter I: Bahā’u-’d-Dīn, Veled, Sultānu-’l-‘Ulemā
  4. Chapter II: Seyyid Burhānu-’d-Dīn, Sirr-Dān
  5. Chapter III: Mevlānā Jelālu-’d-Dīn, Muhammed
  6. Chapter IV: Shemsu-’d-Dīn, Tebrīzī
  7. Chapter V: Sheykh Salāhu-’d-Dīn, Ferīdūn
  8. Chapter VI: Chelebī Husāmu-’d-Dīn, Hasan
  9. Chapter VII: Bahā’u-’d-Din, Sultān Veled
  10. Chapter VIII: Chelebī Emīr ‘Ārif
  11. Chapter IX: Genealogical
  12. The Book of the Mesnevī
  13. Preface
  14. Tale Proem: The Reed-Flute
  15. Tale I: The Prince and the Handmaid
  16. Tale II: The Oilman and the Parrot
  17. Tale III: The Jewish King, Persecutor of the Christians
  18. Tale IV: Another Jewish King, Persecutor of Christians
  19. Tale V: The Lion and the Beasts
  20. Tale VI: The Greater (Spiritual) Warfare
  21. Tale VII: The Merchant and the Parrot
  22. Tale VIII: The Harper
  23. Tale IX: The Poor Scenite Arab and his Wife
  24. Tale X: Patience and Perseverance under a Teacher
  25. Tale XI: The Lion’s Hunt, in Company
  26. Tale XII: Joseph and the Mirror
  27. Tale XIII: The Prophet’s First Amanuensis
  28. Tale XIV: The Chinese and Roman Artists
  29. Tale XV: Zeyd’s Inspiration
  30. Tale XVI: Ali’s Forbearance
  31. Tale XVII: Conclusion

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