Thread: The Orientalizing of Moulana Rumi

Many of you may be familiar with the 'Rumi quotes' that circulate the internet. What if I told you the vast majority of them are fake and they are part of a project to secularize Rumi? This isn't a whatsapp conspiracy.

Take this quote, commonly attributed to Moulana Rumi:
Brad Pitt even got it tattooed, right by his pit:
Ivanka Trump, the daughter of the most Islamophobic president in US history, tweeted it out after her dad failed to make peace in Afghanistan. If Rumi were alive today, her dad wouldn't even allow him in the country. The irony.
Where is this quote from? It's from 'The Essential Rumi' probably the best selling poetry book in America, written by Coleman Barks who has made his career peddling Rumi 'translations.'
Meet Coleman Barks, the man responsible for nearly every 'Rumi quote' you've seen. Coleman hasn't studied Islam, Sufism, or Persian in academia or traditional settings, he doesn't even know Persian! But that didn't stop him from writing over a dozen translation books!
In a country where poetry books struggle to sell even a few thousand copies, Barks has sold over five hundred thousand, literally making millions from Moulana Rumi's writings.
After three decades of 'translating' Moulana Rumi, Barks managed to establish himself as a scholar. Here he is giving a Ted talk about his 'translations.'
Remember when I said he has no formal qualification? Scratch that, he was actually given an honorary doctorate by the University of Tehran (Iran's premier university) for all of his... scholarship... right. With friends like this, who needs enemies!
Here's what @ostadjaan had to say via @rozina_ali for @NewYorker
“I see a type of ‘spiritual colonialism’ at work here: bypassing, erasing, and occupying a spiritual landscape that has been lived...by Muslims from Bosnia and Istanbul to Konya and Iran to Central and South Asia.” a gem from an actual real Rumi scholar, @ostadjaan
Persians call Rumi's Masnavi, "The Qu'ran in Persian." It's a storybook that embodies the spirit of the Qu'ran in simple, rhyming Persian for the non-Arabic speaking masses. One cannot understand the Masnavi w/o the Qu'ran, but alas “The Koran is hard to read.” remarks Barks.
But let's go back to the quote I mentioned earlier. I've found the original Persian text (that Coleman can't even read) and translated it into English. Notice anything?
Compare my mostly literal translation with Coleman's 'translation.' My heart aches for those who only know Moulana Rumi via this orientalist garbage masquerading as a translation.
Take this second poem. All of the Islam is removed to the point where the poem is almost meaningless. 'Home' (dargah) in Persian is unnecessarily translated as 'caravan'. This divergence from the original exposes the orientalist mindset of these 'translators.'
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"I really want to break into Product Management"

make products.

"If only someone would tell me how I can get a startup to notice me."

Make Products.

"I guess it's impossible and I'll never break into the industry."

MAKE PRODUCTS.

Courtesy of @edbrisson's wonderful thread on breaking into comics –
https://t.co/TgNblNSCBj – here is why the same applies to Product Management, too.


There is no better way of learning the craft of product, or proving your potential to employers, than just doing it.

You do not need anybody's permission. We don't have diplomas, nor doctorates. We can barely agree on a single standard of what a Product Manager is supposed to do.

But – there is at least one blindingly obvious industry consensus – a Product Manager makes Products.

And they don't need to be kept at the exact right temperature, given endless resource, or carefully protected in order to do this.

They find their own way.
1

From today, we will memorize the names of 27 Nakshatras in Vedic Jyotish to never forget in life.

I will write 4 names. Repeat them in SAME sequence twice in morning, noon, evening. Each day, revise new names + recall all previously learnt names.

Pls RT if you are in.

2

Today's Nakshatras are:-

1. Ashwini - अश्विनी

2. Bharani - भरणी

3. Krittika - कृत्तिका

4. Rohini - रोहिणी

Ashwini - अश्विनी is the FIRST Nakshatra.

Repeat these names TWICE now, tomorrow morning, noon and evening. Like this tweet if you have revised 8 times as told.

3

Today's Nakshatras are:-

5. Mrigashira - मृगशिरा

6. Ardra - आर्द्रा

7. Punarvasu - पुनर्वसु

8. Pushya - पुष्य

First recall previously learnt Nakshatras twice. Then recite these TWICE now, tomorrow morning, noon & evening in SAME order. Like this tweet only after doing so.

4

Today's Nakshatras are:-

9. Ashlesha - अश्लेषा

10. Magha - मघा

11. Purvaphalguni - पूर्वाफाल्गुनी

12. Uttaraphalguni - उत्तराफाल्गुनी

Purva means that comes before (P se Purva, P se pehele), and Uttara comes later.

Read next tweet too.

5

Purva, Uttara prefixes come in other Nakshatras too. Purva= pehele wala. Remember.

First recall previously learnt 8 Nakshatras twice. Then recite those in Tweet #4 TWICE now, tomorrow morning, noon & evening in SAME order. Like this tweet if you have read Tweets #4 & 5, both.