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Zirrar talks to translator, vocalist, poet, and educator Haleh Liza Gafori about her book GOLD, a new translation of Jalal al-Din Rumi’s poetry. They discuss the Persian ghazal, a poetic form consisting of couplets, and explore why Rumi’s appeal, eight centuries after his death, has been so enduring. Haleh also describes her translating process, and the inspiration behind her work.
WHAT WE TALK ABOUT IN THIS EPISODE
- Why translate Rumi? Why call the book ‘Gold’?
- The ghazal form – and how it differs from other forms of poetry
- Existing translations of Rumi; difference in approaches and interpretations; importance of having numerous translations
- Errors in translation
- Coleman Barks
- Haleh’s process and approach in translating Rumi
- Importance of understanding spiritual / Sufi terms when translating
- Accessibility of Rumi’s poetry in Persian, even with eight centuries between us and him
- Rumi’s life; how he ‘removed the shackles’ – i.e. worldly attachments and concerns of the ego; the influence of Shams. How this ‘de-chaining’ was reflected in his poetry
- Reason and rationality vs. Love
- Intricacies of translation; balance between a beautiful translation and capturing the intended meaning
- How Haleh chose which poems to translate
- Compassion, love, and other lessons Rumi teaches in his poetry; Rumi as a guide for the reader
- Celebrating joy
PEOPLE / THINGS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
- GOLD RUMI – Launch Party – a night of poetry and music
- Jawid Mojaddedi
- Coleman Barks
- Reynold A. Nicholson
- Ghazi and the Garden – the Poetry of Iqbal, translated by Zirrar
FURTHER READING / LISTENING
- The Erasure of Islam from the Poetry of Rumi by Rozina Ali
- Reading Rumi: The Erasure of Islam from Rumi by Zirrar
- Podcast episode: Which Rumi are you Reading?
Haleh Liza Gafori is a translator, vocalist, poet, and educator born in New York City of Persian descent. She grew up hearing recitations of Persian poetry and has maintained and deepened her connection through singing and translating the poetry of various Persian poets for well over a decade. Her book, GOLD, features her translations of poems by Rumi, the 13th century sage and mystic. GOLD is published by New York Review Books/NYRB Classics, distributed by Penguin Random House.
ABOUT GOLD
A vibrant selection of poems by the great Persian mystic with groundbreaking translations by an American poet of Persian descent.
Rumi’s poems were meant to induce a sense of ecstatic illumination and liberation in his audience, bringing its members to a condition of serenity, compassion, and oneness with the divine. They remain masterpieces of world literature to which readers in many languages continually return for inspiration and succor, as wellas aesthetic delight. This new translation by Haleh Liza Gafori preserves the intelligence and the drama of the poems, which are as full of individual character as they are of visionary wisdom.
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