The Song of the Reed – on Rumi’s birth anniversary
Listen to the song of the reed,
How it wails with the pain of separation:
“Ever since I was taken from my reed bed
My woeful song has caused men and women to weep.
I seek out those whose hearts are torn by separation
For only they understand the pain of this longing.
Whoever is taken away from his homeland
Yearns for the day he will return.
In every gathering, among those who are happy or sad,
I cry with the same lament.
Everyone hears according to his own understanding,
None has searched for the secrets within me.
My secret is found in my lament
But an eye or ear without light cannot know it..”
The sound of the reed comes from fire, not wind
What use is one’s life without this fire?
It is the fire of love that brings music to the reed.
It is the ferment of love that gives taste to the wine.
The song of the reed soothes the pain of lost love.
Its melody sweeps the veils from the heart.
Can there be a poison so bitter or a sugar so sweet
As the song of the reed?
To hear the song of the reed
everything you have ever known must be left behind.
– Version by Jonathan Star
“Rumi – In the Arms of the Beloved”
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York 1997
Courtesy Sunlight where more versions can be found.
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I read this by Rumi somewhere else;
Who are you complaining to? I asked the reed,
Why do you moan and grieve?
“Since they have cut me from the riverbed, what else is left for me but to weep.”
[...] caused … http://www.moezmasoud.com/en/articles/articles44.html • Found on Yahoo! Search The Song of the Reed – on Rumi?s birth anniversary | Jahane Rumi Sep 29, 2007 … Listen to the song of the reed, How it wails with the pain of separation: [...]
The song of reed is a beautiful poem by Rumi.In mystic poetry it is always vague that the beloved is a real woman, saint or God. The real nature of the beloved is always hidden.This is the true beauty of Mystic Poetry.
Secondly the translation by Jonathan star is not a mere translation but its like his own inspiration is added.Marvelous translation
Thanks
[...] [...]
this is one of the best translations I have ever seen, as a native Persian and English Literature lecturer I was surfing the net for a good translation to be used in one of my essays. I found it wonderful.