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Shala Unbound August: Gold: Poetry of Rumi translated by Haleh Liza Gafori

Wed, Aug 30

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Lexington Writer's Room

Insightful books and lively discussion to give you the tools to be the healthiest, happiest version of you. Let's explore the connection between our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. This month we will read and discuss Gold: Poetry of Rumi translated by Haleh Liza Gafori

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Shala Unbound August: Gold: Poetry of Rumi translated by Haleh Liza Gafori
Shala Unbound August: Gold: Poetry of Rumi translated by Haleh Liza Gafori

Time & Location

Aug 30, 2023, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Lexington Writer's Room, 343 E High St Suite #1, Lexington, KY 40507, USA

About the Event

We have all been reading Rumi, the 13th-centurury poet and mystic whether we know it or not. Oft quoted by everyone from MLK to Madonna the words hit us where we feel most deeply.  In this translation by Haleh Liza Gafori, an American poet and native Persian speaker, the words soar. 

Elizabeth Gray says in Hyperallergeic, “Translating a 13th-century Persian poet whose work is deeply rooted in Islamic theology and Qur’anic language, infused with mystical vision, and laced with heretical imagery, is not a project for the faint of heart. Many of Rumi’s recent English translators or ‘para-translators,’ have no knowledge of Persian, the work’s cultural context, or Islam. Many speakers of modern Persian lack the literary gifts to craft English poems of equivalent power. Despite all this, the core luminosity of Rumi’s work has shone through. It gives me great pleasure, and relief, to say that I think Haleh Liza Gafori’s translations are the closest an English translator has come to bringing it all together. . . . Gold is a perfect introduction to the illuminations in Rumi’s work, or an important addition to your Rumi bookshelf.”

Gold is available at your local bookstores and online at Bookshop and ThriftBooks and an e-version on Kindle. There is no audio and unfortunatly they don't have it at this moment at the Lexington Public Library.

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