Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase each other
doesn’t make any sense.
Note: Above English translation by Coleman Barks. Below is the original in Persian, followed by an English transliteration.
از کفر و ز اسلام برون صحرائی است
ما را به میان آن فضا سودائی است
عارف چو بدان رسید سر را بنهد
نه کفر و نه اسلام و نه آنجا جائی است
az kufr-o ze-islâm berûn, SaHrâyê-st
mâ-râ ba-meyân-é ân faZâ, sawdâyê-st
`ârif chô ba-d-ân rasîd sar-râ be-neh-ad
nay kufr-o na islâm, na ân-jâ jâyê-st
well, i reached here by searching for the origin of this imprecise translation
yet the main concept of the original poem and the translation is the same: utopia=no-where-land
The Persian script is:
از کفر و ز اسلام برون صحرائی است
ما را به میان آن فضا سودائی است
عارف چو بدان رسید سر را بنهد
نه کفر و نه اسلام و نه آنجا جائی است
Thanks for the original verse in Persian.
Well, the origin of this “imprecise translation” is Coleman Barks from his book “The Essential Rumi”. As I don’t speak Persian, I can’t say how precise it is, but as you do, maybe you can offer a better translation into English?
im afraid i could do the translation in the other way, but i give it a try.
literal translation:
Out beyond the heathendom and Islam, there is a field
We have a business right there
The gnostic man gives up when he reaches there
There neither is heathendom, nor Islam, nor anywhere
Hi, I’d been looking for the Persian script of this verse for a while. Finally found it here! Thanks a lot!
I want to get a tattoo of the verse in Persian, but I need a bigger version of the text. Do you think you’ll be able to help?
Hi Prerna,
Sure, I think it’s pretty easy, I just copied and pasted the persian script in openoffice writer (what I use instead of microsoft word though I’m sure that should work too), and I just selected the verse and increased the font size. Then you can print it out, or email it, etc. Here’s the persian verse again
از کفر و ز اسلام برون صحرائی است
ما را به میان آن فضا سودائی است
عارف چو بدان رسید سر را بنهد
نه کفر و نه اسلام و نه آنجا جائی است
What a great idea for a tattoo!
Thanks so much for the literal translation. Wow it is so different from Coleman Barks’. I am wondering if Rumi’s intention in this verse got through in Barks’ translation or not. What do you think?
I like your translation, I also like Barks’ – his feels very poetic to me.
You are very welcome.
I think Bark’s translation is a new poem. This is the property of all good poems, you either can’t translate it, or you’ll make a new poem out of it.
imho, Rumi tries to say that the ultimate milestone of the truth seeker (=Arif http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arif) is beyond any religious law. This is a common idea among sufis.
Thank you for sharing the original script and the beautiful meaning of Rumi’s words. I have been searching for the actual script like forever. Thank you so much.
Amy, I don’t deserve the thanks for the original script, the previous commentator does, and I don’t even know his/her name! I hope you read his/her literal translation too in his comment above, it’s very different than Coleman Barks’ in a certain sense, though I think Barks did capture the essence.