FRANKLIN Lewis RUMI BOOK REVIEWED

7/27/2019 FRANKLIN Lewis RUMI BOOK REVIEWED

1/4

British Society for Middle Eastern Studies

Rumi: Past and Present East and West-The Life Teachings and Poetry of Jalal Al-Din Rumi byFranklin D. LewisReview by: Nile GreenBritish Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Nov., 2005), pp. 287-289Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30037713 .Accessed: 24/08/2013 21:24

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Taylor & Francis, Ltd. andBritish Society for Middle Eastern Studies are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,

preserve and extend access toBritish Journal of Middle Eastern Studies.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 131.211.208.19 on Sat, 24 Aug 2013 21:24:26 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=taylorfrancishttp://www.jstor.org/stable/30037713?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/30037713?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=taylorfrancis


2/4

REVIEWS:LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

WHEELER M. THACKSTON. INTRODUCTIONO SYRIAC. IBEX Publishers,Bethesda,Maryland,999,ISBN 936347-98-8.Syriac, which is one of the daughtersof the Aramaic 'sub-family'has alwaysbeen associated with the ChristianChurch and is, therefore,considered one ofthe most importantSemitic languages in which mainly liturgicaland historicalbooks have been composed. Hence, students of divinity, theology and religiousstudies as well as Semitic philology and other related areas considerablybenefitfromtheirreading abilityof texts written n this language.Thackston's book is not the first Syriac text-book in English. It had beenpreceded by a number of similar works, such as B. Davidson, Syriac ReadingLessons (No date);T.H. Robinson,Paradigmsand Exercises in Syriac Grammar(1915) and T. Muraoka,ClassicalSyriacforHebraists(1987). Yet its contributionis, generally speaking, n its methodology.The book includesa prefacewhichprovidesa bird'seye view of the historyofthelanguageand iterature,ollowed by anintroductionothephoneticsystemandorthography ndendingwith a comparativechartof the Semitic consonants.Thefollowing twenty lessons are devoted to the Syriac morphological system. Eachunit consists of a discussion of a topic or topics in grammar,clearly set andillustrated,followed by a vocabularyand exercises. There are three appendixeswhich include verbal inflections, states of the noun and verbs with enclicticobjects. The second part includes twelve excerpts taken from the Peshitta andvarious historical works. Syriac - English vocabulary and an Index of thegrammatical erms discussed conclude the book.Although he book is undoubtedlya goodtext-bookforbeginners t suffersfroma numberof seriousshortcomings:a. The book does not offer any discussion ofsyntax and word order. b. Syriac vocalization is not used at all. c. There is noEnglish - Syriac vocabulary.d. It does not provideanswersto all exercises, onlyto the preliminarydrills.The importanceof these pointscannotbe over-emphasized, ince thebeginnerstudent does not have sufficient knowledge of the language and lacks thesensitivity that would enable them to draw the right conclusions concerningsentence structure or to check whether their answers are correct. Also, thetransliteration rovided n all the lessons maybe helpful,butit should not come atthe expenseof the Syriacvocalizationsystem.Moreover,I am not convincedthatthe tables in the Appendixesshouldonly appear n transliteration.The addendaandcorrigenda uggestedforfutureeditionswill no doubt mprovethe book, which shouldstronglybe recommendedafter theirinclusion.RETIREDFROMLEEDS UNIVERSITY AVIHAI SHIVTIEL

FRANKLIND. LEWIS.RUMI:PASTANDPRESENT ASTANDWEST THELIFETEACHINGSAND POETRYOF JALAL AL-DIN RUMI. Oxford, OneworldPublications,000,ISBN 1851682147 (Hardcover).In a recent issue of the Londonbased Persiansatiricalmagazine,AsgharAgha,an Iranianexile playfully reworkedthe famous opening lines of the Masnavi of

287

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/4


4/4

REVIEWS:LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

'early' account of Rumi's life by Faridun Sepahsalar that furnishesa considerablepart of his evidence. Such are the perennial dangersof makingmen out of saints.Specialists on Persian literaturemay find Lewis's briefercritical accountsofRumi's poetry less interesting, though there are still moments of great insight.

Given debates over the compositionalhistoryof Rumi's poems, some discussionof the theory proposedby JulianBaldick of Rumi as moreliterarycraftsman hanrhapsodicbardmay have helped settle an importantquestion.Forhis part,Lewismakes his opinion clear that the sheer volume of Rumi's outputis proof of thespontaneousnatureof the Masnavi' composition, houghgiven thecompositionalfluency of many pre-modern poets this may strike some as quaint. After ananthologycontaining iftyof Lewis's translations romRumi,the author racestheinfluence of Rumiin laterMuslim tradition hatrangesbetween Yunus Emre and'Abd al-KarimSorush.The absenceof the nineteenthcenturyIranian ufi SafiAliShah (d. 1899) is perhapsa surprisingomission here. His selective accountofRumi's tremendous nfluence is, however, generally a well-judged and helpfulpositioning of a poet within his own legacy. Lewis's discussion of thecommentarial raditionon the Masnavisimilarlyhelpsassess theoften overlookedafterlifeandreceptionof classical texts through o the changing nformationorderof nineteenthcenturyprintingandthe subsequentemergenceof nationalisticandotherpoliticalclaims to the poet. In latersections,Lewis presentsreaderswith anuncommonlyengagingaccountof Rumischolarshipn bothEuropeanand orientallanguages. Once again, his descriptions of the work of Iranian and Turkishresearchers s to be applauded n performinga valuablescholarlyservice.Later sections on modemrnWestern Rumi 'translators'and other enthusiastsseems unnecessarilycomprehensive.Among fifty-onepagesof discussionof suchtranslations, ome readersmay find the accountsof recentrenderingsof Rumi intoGreekand Czech less thancompelling.Inthe absenceof a criticaldiscussionof themeaningsof the transformation f Rumiinto 'orientalmystic' andthencapitalistventure,both this and the ensuing twenty-seven page section on the multimediaRumi at times falls into the dangerof becoming a list of Rumi merchandise.However, such questionablesections (andeditorialdecisions) aside, this remainsan indispensable work of innovative and careful scholarship that is able tomaintaina laudablelightness of touch over some six hundredand eighty pages.Rumi:Past andPresent,East and Westdeservesa place on the shelves of anyoneinterestedseriouslyin Islam or Iran.LADY MARGARETHALL, OXFORD NILE GREEN

ABU 'UTHMAN AMR IBN BAHR AL- JAHIZ.Translated rom the Arabicby JIMCOLVILLE.AVARICEANDTHEAVARICIOUSKITABAL-BUKHALA').ondon,The KeganPaul ArabiaLibrary,1999, ISBN 0710306458 (Hardcover).Having readthe originalbook in Arabic,Colville's translation s a readableandan accuratework of Abu Uthman al-JahizAvarice and the Avaricious. ManyArab literaticonsideral- Jahizas masterof the Arabiclanguageand also famous

289

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

Documents

FRANKLIN Lewis RUMI BOOK REVIEWED