Masnavi to be read in different languages

Masnavi to be read in different languages

Hurriyet Daily News KONYA - Anatolia News Agency

The famous work Masnavi has been translated into 20 languages and is currently being translated into Russian and Malaysian.

Konya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tahir Akyürek told Anatolia news agency the Persian text was first translated into Turkish, and currently they are supporting other translation projects. The work has been translated into French, Spanish, English, Chinese and Greek and translation projects are still continuing, said Akyürek.

Half of the world’s population can read Masnavi, Akyürek said. “We have also presented the work to state presidents and officials.”

Masnavi is an epic poem written in Persian by Mevlana Celaddiin-i Rumi, the celebrated Persian Sufi saint and poet. It is one of the best known and most influential works of both Sufism and Persian literature. The Masnavi is a series of six books of poetry that each amount to about 25,000 verses or 50,000 lines. It is a spiritual writing that teaches Sufis how to reach their goal of being in true love with God.

July/30/2012