Man the Macrocosm (by Jalālu'l-Dīn Rūmī)
Man the Macrocosm
by Jalālu'l-Dīn Rūmī
From the pure star-bright souls replenishment is ever coming to the stars of heaven.
Outwardly we are ruled by these stars, but our inward nature has become the ruler of the skies.
Therefore, while in form thou art the microcosm, in reality thou art the macrocosm.
Externally the branch is the origin of the fruit;
intrinsically the branch came into existence for the sake of the fruit.
Had there been no hope of the fruit, would the gardener have planted the tree?
Therefore in reality the tree is born of the fruit, though it appears to be produced by the tree.
Hence Mohammed said, "Adam and all the prophets march behind me under my banner."
Hence that Master of every lore uttered the mystic saying, "We are the hindmost and the foremost:"
That is to say, "If seemingly I am born of Adam, yet in truth I am the ancestor of every ancestor.
Since the angels worshipped him for my sake, and he ascended to the Seventh Heaven on my account,
Therefore Father Adam was really born of me: the tree was born of the fruit.
The idea, which is first, comes last into actuality, in particular the idea that is eternal."
[Mathnawī IV, 519]
English translation by Reynold A. Nicholson
Taken from Selected Poems of Rūmī, published by Dover in 2001
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Posted by Jesus Crisis at 4/5/2009 6:39 AM 
Categories: Rumi (Jalālu'l-Dīn), Writing, Persian, 1200s
Tags: Persian Literature Jalalu'l-Din Rumi Jalālu'l-Dīn Rūmī Man the Macrocosm Poetry Mathnawi
Categories: Rumi (Jalālu'l-Dīn), Writing, Persian, 1200s
Tags: Persian Literature Jalalu'l-Din Rumi Jalālu'l-Dīn Rūmī Man the Macrocosm Poetry Mathnawi
REMEMBERED MUSIC from "Persian Poems" by Rumi
T'is said, the pipe and the lute that charm our ears
Drive their melody from rolling spheres;
But faith o'erpassing speculation's bound,
Can see what sweetens every jangled sound.
We who are parts of Adam, heard with him
The song of angels and of seraphim.
Our memory, though dull and sad, remains
Some echo still of those unearthly strains.
O music is the meat of all who love,
Music uplifts the soul to realms above.
The ashes glow, the latent fires increase:
We listen and are filled with joy and peace.
Peace and poetry...;)
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Thank you for sharing that, Elena! I generally enjoy Rumi even more in certain modern translations like the one you've quoted. But Alas, since the only one I'm aware of in the public domain is Nicholson's, I've been limited to using it in the online library.
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Interesting.. I was looking through my Coleman Barks’ books for his translation of this.. I tend to prefer his translations over all… he seems to really understand Rumi in a very intimate way. Haven’t located it yet though. But Rumi wrote an inordinate amount of poetry… and I’m not sure Barks has translated this particular one. But reading it over it reminds me of the Grimm’s fairy tale about Allereirauh… she hides away the macrocosm in a microcosm… the Sun, the moon and the stars which are represented by three dresses of gold, silver and starry sky… and hides them in a nutshell… the whole fairy tale is a very interesting one mythologically. About the growth of the soul.. and there is a similarity in this Rumi poem having t odo with that…. In terms of ideas… anyway.. thought it might be something to share in the context..
If I run across Coleman’s translation of this I’ll come back and post it for comparison..
I always have found it useful to me when its been done with the Tao Te Ching… some interesting interpretation and meaning comes out when you see different translations..
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Typo there sorry the name is Allerleirauh .. I left out the "l"...
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Thank you, Chris! Interesting... I am unacquainted with the Grimm story. Maybe if I can find it in a public domain translation i will add it to the Library. I wonder if it's the same macrocosm story Charles was referring to on Facebook yesterday. Let me go over there and see if he's responded yet.
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I really liked Terry Provost's video poem, by the way. Nice to hear rhyme used hiply and well.
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There are several versions available online...
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Indeed!
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