Poetic Translation of Mathnawī by Fayḍullah Sājid

Abstract

Mathnawī, one of the basic works of Islamic civilization, has received great attention since the day it was written. In addition to Eastern languages such as Arabic, Hindi, Sanskrit and Urdu, it has also been transleted to Western languages such as German, Dutch, French, English, Spanish and Italian. Feyḍullah Sājid (1892-1978) was one of the translators of the Mathnawī, many translations and commentaries of which were made into Turkish literature. Sājid translated the first book of Mathnawī in 4,118 couplets in syllabic meter and published the first thirty-four of them in Ottoman Turkish in 1928; he later published all of them in new alphabet. Thirty-four couplets, which are the subject of the present study, are successful in terms of meter, rhyme and antibacchius. They have a very simple and understandable style. In terms of rhetoric, they contain strong couplets, as well as couplets that do not exceed the average.