New Rumi movie?

islamoyankee

Ali Eteraz is teasing about a new Rumi bio-pic, run with Qatar Foundation and Rumi Foundation.

Looks really good, but some questions:

  1. Will it seriously deal with the fact that Shams-i Tabriz was most likely an Ismaili? I can’t imagine the Qataris would be too happy with that.
  2. Why do we need a non-Muslim playing the part of Rumi? Are there not enough good Muslim actors? I think the Iranians might object. Even Mel Gibson went with a no name for Jesus to make it seem more real, and that movie seems to have done OK.

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3 thoughts on “New Rumi movie?”

  1. Well, I guess, it doesn’t really matter if they portray Shams-i Tabriz as a Ismaili or not, as long as the movie itself opens new door to dialog and soul-searching.
    I’m not sure about the director, he hasn’t directed in a long time but I’m excited to see some other contemporary Rumi related big names on board. Hopefully there is a market for such type of movie, fingers crossed!

  2. fair enough about presenting shams as ismaili, but the shi’ah quality of his thought permeates rumi’s poetry. i would hate to see shams become an arab faqih to make him more palatable to the funders sensibilities.

  3. Sufi-Dari Books
    (An imprint of Sophia Perennis)
    Announces the Publication of
    The Quatrains of Rumi
    (Beginning of Marketing Campaign: May 20, 2009):
    Rubâ‘iyât-é
    Jalâluddîn Muhammad Balkhî-Rumî
    ISBN 978-1-59731-450-3; $25.95, £19.50
    Translated by
    Ibrâhîm W. Gamard
    and
    A. G. Rawân Farhâdî
    COMPLETE TRANSLATION WITH PERSIAN TEXT,
    ISLAMIC MYSTICAL COMMENTARY,
    MANUAL OF TERMS, AND CONCORDANCE
    The first complete English translation of the Quatrains — over 700 pages — based on the Persian of the original, complete, and uncorrupt Forûzânfar edition –
    translated with close attention to Rumi’s idiomatic usage,
    with the collaboration of scholar from Afghanistan,
    whose native Persian remains close to Rumi’s own
    The “version-makers” of the poetry of Jalâluddîn Rumî have helped to make him perhaps today’s most popular poet in the English language.
    But they have not served his intended meaning with equal zeal,
    often portraying him as a “universal” mystic who had somehow “transcended” Islam, even though his celebrated Mathnavi has been called “the Qur’an in the Persian tongue.” Ibrâhîm W. Gamard
    and A. G. Rawân Farhâdi have labored to set the record straight,
    and to demonstrate that Mawlana’s universality is inseparable
    from his Islam — from the depth of his Islam.
    For more information, contact Sufi-Dari Books/ Sophia Perennis at:
    jameswetmore@mac.com
    or info@sophiaperennis.com

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