About the Quatrains Concordances
The concordance is a compilation of previously published translations and versions (from 48 books) in English of the quatrains attributed to Jalaluddin Rumi (in the earliest manuscripts in the critical edition of Foruzanfar). It is the result of many years of study of Rumi's quatrains. It was developed after translating (together with the Afghan scholar, Rawan Farhadi) all the quatrains attributed to Rumi in the earliest manuscripts. The names of the particular translators and version-makers are listed with the book titles and page numbers. There are also lists of multiple renditions: cases in which a quatrain has been translated or versioned by more than one author. Quatrains which are not in the authentic Foruzanfar edition of the quatrains (Volume 8) are distinguished, as well as some which have been identified as composed before Rumi's time (116 quatrains).
There are two on-line concordances available. The first is the "old concordance," which cntains the first lines of all quatrains translations or versions in English published previous to the complete translation, "The Quatrains of Rumi". The second is the "new concordance," which contains the essential information from the earlier concordance (but differently arranged, without the first lines) plus the 1,983 listings for the complete translation, "The Quatrains of Rumi". The new concordance is Appendix V in the published book. For more information about "The Quatrains of Rumi," translated by Ibrahim Gamard and Rawan Farhadi, 2008, 712 pages), please go to the Announcement on this website.
(1) NEW QUATRAINS CONCORDANCE.
(2) OLD QUATRAINS CONCORDANCE.
Instructions for Using the Quatrains Concordances
(A) To verify that a particular quatrain is by Rumi: If you have a number for the quatrain you are looking for, use either of the two concordances and type in a search using the number; keep pressing "Find" so that you don't miss the selection you are looking for. If all you have are the first words of the first line of the quatrain you are looking for, use the "old concordance" and type in a search for the first two or three words of the first line. If you are using the "old concordance" and the quatrain is listed as "not Rumi, not in the earliest MSS" [= manuscripts], that means that the quatrain has been falsely attributed to Rumi in the inferior Isfahan edition of the quatrains (that was incorporated into the commercial one-volume "pseudo-Foruzanfar" edition of Rumi's Divan.
(B) To find out if there are multiple translations or versions of a particular quatrain published prior to our complete translation: use the "old concordance" and follow the steps in section A above.
(C) To compare a previously published translation or version of a quatrain with our accurate translation: You cannot use the quatrain numbers in most of the popularized translations and versions to find equivalent accurate translations in the new concordance, because they use different, "pseudo-Foruzanfar" numbers. You can use the quatrain numbers used by university scholars (Chittick, Schimmel, and Lewis) because they are the correct Foruzanfar numbers. In order to make comparisons with our accurate translations easily, one can: (1) use the on-line text of the new concordance (Appendix V) by typing a search using the "pseudo-Foruzanfar" numbers from the popularized books in the form, "Isf X", and obtaining the equivalent "FG" (Farhadi-Gamard) numbers in "The Quatrains of Rumi"; (2) use the on-line text of the old concordance (this text) by typing a search using the "pseudo-Foruzanfar" numbers from the popularized books in the form, "Isf X", obtaining the equivalent "F" (=authentic Foruzanfar) number, and using that number to find the "FG" number in Appendix V of "The Quatrains of Rumi"; or (3) use the on-line text of the old concordance (this text) by typing a search using the first two or three words from the popularized translations and versions, obtaining the equivalent "F" number and then the "FG" number as in #2 above.
An Example
If one wants to compare our accurate translation to the well-known quatrain version by Barks ("Open Secret," p. 8; "The Essential Rumi," p. 36), "Out beyond the ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, There is a field. I'll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase 'each other' doesn't make any sense."--
(C-1) Use Barks' reference data for the poem (p. 298 in "The Essential Rumi"): "Furuzanfar," "#158." Choose the on-line new concordance (Appendix V) and type "Isf 158". You will get a listing of all previously published translations and versions of this quatrain [F-395/FG-1314: Mafi-Kolin RGB p. 179 (Isf 158), Ergin p. 21b, Barks-Arberry BR p. 17b, Barks-Moyne OS p. 8b [ER p. 36 & IR p. 98], Arb p. 41a (Isf 158), Ergin-Johnson p. 23a]. Then look for the FG (Farhadi-Gamard) number (1314) and find our accurate translation of the quatrain on page 407 ("Beyond Islam and unbelief...").
(C-2) Use Barks' reference data for the poem (p. 298 in "The Essential Rumi"): "Furuzanfar," "#158." Choose the on-line old concordance and type "Isf 158". You will get a listing of all previously published translations and versions of this quatrain--except for ours [Barks OS p. 8b, Isf 158 (= F 395) [also in Barks ER p. 36; also in Barks IR p. 98] b/o Moyne: Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing]. Look for the F number (395), find it in our Appendix V (on-line version or near the end of the book, p. 620), look for the FG number (1314), and find our accurate translation of the quatrain on page 407.
(C-3) Choose the on-line old concordance and type, "Out beyond". You will get the same listing as in #2 above [Barks OS p. 8b, Isf 158 (= F 395) [also in Barks ER p. 36; also in Barks IR p. 98] b/o Moyne: Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing]. Look for the F number in bold print (395), find it in our Appendix V (online version or near the end of the book, p. 620), look for the FG number (1314), and find our accurate translation of the quatrain on page 407.