Rumi: We Are Three

by Coleman Barks (Translator)

Paperback Edition

Genres: Poetry, Spirituality, Philosophy

88 pages

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Coleman Barks is an American poet. Despite the fact that he admittedly speaks no Persian, he is world-renowned as a translator of Rumi and other mystic poets of Persia. Barks taught literature at the University of Georgia for three decades. He makes frequent international appearances and is well-known throughout the Middle East. Barks's work has contributed to an extremely strong following of Rumi in the English-speaking world. Due to his work, the ideas of Sufism have crossed many cultural boundaries over the past few decades. Coleman Barks received an honorary doctorate from Tehran University in 2006.

Reviews

[Gudrun Mouw]

According to the cover, Rumi, who lived from 1207 to 1237, is a "Master of ecstatic groundedness." What I have always enjoyed about his poetry is the broad mindedness exhibited by lines such as:

.... "Muslims, Christians, Jews,
Buddhists, Hindus, shamans,
everyone hears the intelligent sound
and moves, with thirst, to meet it."

[Deleana]

Rumi for me isan escape....

[BeckyisBookish]

This was my first time reading Rumi and I really enjoyed this compilation. It was at times very funny and also quite profound. I will definitely be reading more of his works in the future!

[Indran]

I found this book inspiring, thought-provoking and often amusing. However, I wouldn't apply these descriptors to every page equally, and though the book was short, there were a handful of poems which, removed, might have allowed this collection to reach a 5/5 for me. But even then, I'm not sure. In any case, there were some parts I loved. Here are some examples:

Dont go to sleep one night.
What you most want will come to you then
Warmed by a sun inside, you'll see wonders.
[...]
I'm through. Read the rest of this poem in the dark tonight.

-

Gold pours down, many kinds, from all directions,
gold coins, liquid gold ,gold cloth, gold bars
If you think I'm talking about actual gold, you're like those children who pretend that pieces of broken dishes are money [...] This is the other gold that glows in your chest when you love.
The enchanted mosque is in *there*

-

A poet began to sing at a banquet. He sang directly to God [...]
I do not know what You are, or what You want of me. What service, what words,
How You draw me to You. With the moon?
With blood? I do not know
I do not know
I do not know.
I do not know
All he could do was open his lips and let
I do not know
come out.

The chief drunk jumped up and grabbed an iron mace.
"This guy is getting on my nerves, I'll knock him in the head and stop this repeating.
If you dont know, asshole, shut up this nonsense! Say something you DO know, like where you are from.
You'll say, not from Balkh, not from Herat, not Baghdad
not Mosul not Tiraz
Not Not, taking us all over the world.
What did you have for breakfast? Not roast beef, not a glass of wine, not strips of kabob, not break soaked in gravy. Not lentils
Just tell me one positive thing and quit!! Why all this not-not-ing?"
[...]
"There is no way at this time, to make God known except by denying the not-God."

-

Think of how it is to have a conversation with an embryo
You might say, The world outside is vast and intricate.
There are wheatfields and mountain passes, and orchards in bloom.
At night there are millions of galaxies, and in sunlight
the beauty of friends dancing at a wedding."

[Nickie]

Perhaps this wasn't the best first choice when it comes to reading Rumi. I didn't feel any connection. I thought a few lines were speaking to me with humor or a sense of experiencing what he was talking about, as far as I could interpret what he was saying. Is there something better to read by him or is a lot of his writing so very vague? I'll probably try again all the same....just to see.

[Lysergius]

Jalaluddin Rumi is a "Master of ecstatic groundedness" says the blurb and this is Sufi Poetry. Now there is an idea. Unfortunately apart from the intrinsic poetry of the lines, some grasp of the fundamentals of the Sufi way is needed to get the last drop of juice out of these verses...

[Josh Chambers]

i'm not normally much of a poetry reader, but i loved this. the poems feel utterly contemporary - not sure if thats the translation or just rumi. the details sparkle.

[Meghan]

"Because, half of any person is wrong and weak and off the path.
Half!
The other half is dancing and swimming and flying in the Invisible Joy."

[Clinton Smith]

The only thing I would say about this is that I would think some sort of different translation would capture better the feeling of reading these poems. The meaning of the poems aside (some are funny; some are very profound in their capturing of various elements of the Sufi mysticism; the themes that emerge related to the necessity of breaking oneself down, and seeking experiences that do so, in order to attain certain states of being beyond knowledge, ring true in their variations), I found myself trapped in wondering "was this word or phrase the best one to use here?" to express whatever it was trying to express. It's not a super-old translation, and we don't really need quadruple-hyphenated modifiers of a noun to describe something. Overall, the poems just had no music other than very sporadically... I often found myself landing on words and phrases or entire poems where I wished I knew the original Persian. It's interesting as the poems of Barks I have read have their charms, and I can see why he was interested in translating these. Then again, it appears from a cursory online search that Barks worked from earlier English translations rather than Persian, likely mostly imposing his own sensibilities on these... so that would explain a lot... It would be interesting to seek out parallel translations and see how someone else handled some of the material. But most of what I enjoy about the language of poetry was simply missing. And, of course, rest in peace, Coleman Barks. I enjoyed reading some of what must have been his last poems that appeared in The Bitter Southerner.

[mwpm]

There are those who believe that poetry can't be translated, who believe that a poem must be read in its original language to be fully appreciated. I don't know whether or not I agree, but I can think of a number of examples that support this argument - the most egregious example being the Coleman Barks "translations" of Rumi.

Out beyond ideas 
of wrongdoing and rightdoing, 
there is a field. 
I'll meet you there.

Above is a version of a Rumi poem "translated" by Coleman Barks ("translated" in quotes because Barks can neither read nor speak Persian). Below is a literal translation of the same poem.

Beyond kufr and Islam there is a desert plain, 
in that middle space our passions reign. 
When the gnostic arrives there he'll prostrate himself, 
not kufr, not Islam, nor is thereany space in that domain.

The poems of Rumi are sacred, and the "translations" of Coleman Barks are profane - as any act of cultural erasure intended to secularize content for an undiserning audience would be considered profane. I urge everyone to seek out better translations, and to read more about these faux-translations here: Persian Poetics

[Tammy Jorgenson]

Its time to begin again.

[Yareli Garcia]

great collection of rumi

[Elaine]

loved it. short deep spiritual poems on various subjects, most understandable, some too deep for me or i just didn't' get. but very nice selection