Italian scholar laments lack of translations of Masnavi-ye Manavi

TEHRAN,Dec.20(MNA) -- Italian scholar Domenico Ingenito lamented the lack of translations of Jalal ad-Din Rumi’s magnum opus the Masnavi-ye Manavi into various languages of the world. Ingenito attended the From Balkh to Konya international conference on the Persian poet and mystic Rumi which was held on December 16 and 17. Ingenito urged Persian literature and language scholars around the world to introduce works by Rumi in different countries. “Unlike Sadi and Hafez, Rumi and his works are not well known in Italy,” he added. Only fifty sonnets from Rumi’s Divan of Shams were selected and translated into Italian by the famous orientalist Alessandro Bausani in 20th century, he said. He pointed to Turkish, English and French translations of works by Rumi calling them insufficient for introducing such a great poet to the world. “I have conducted research on Islamic mysticism, especially mysticism in Persian poetry and works by Hafez and Rumi,” he said. He called the From Balkh to Konya conference as a crucial event to introduce Rumi’s ideas and facilitate the exchange of knowledge between scholars. Domenico Ingenito, 29, graduated in Oriental Studies in Napoli, Italy. He works as a freelance photographer, journalist, and translator. He is versed in the Portuguese, Persian, French, Catalan, Spanish Arabic and English languages. Rumi was born in 1207 in Balkh, now in Afghanistan and died in Konya, Turkey. He wrote the Masnavi-ye Manavi (“Spiritual Couplets”), which widely influenced Muslim mystical thought and literature. The Divan-i Shams and Fihi ma fihi (“There Is in It What Is in It”) are his other works.