A Reading List on Jalaluddin Rumi

Primary Sources

Biographies

شمس الدین الافلاکی: مناقب العارفین۔ (1)

فریدون بن احمد سپهسالار: رسالہ۔ (2)

Books by Jalaluddin Rumi

دیوان۔ (3)
فیه ما فیه۔ (4)
مثنوی معنوی۔ (5)
مجالسِ سبعه۔ (6)
مکتوبات۔ (7)

Books by Bahauddin Walad, Rumi's Son

ابتداء نامه۔ (8)
انتهاء نامه۔
دیوان۔
رباب نامه۔

معارف۔ (9)

Books by Rumi's Elders

بهاء الدین ولد: معارف۔ (10)
برهان الدین محقق: معارف۔ 
شمس الدین التبریزی: مقالات۔ (11)

Books by Rumi's Followers

احمد رومی: دقائق الحقائق۔

Secondary Sources

Biographies of Rumi

Afzal Iqbal: The Life and Work of Jalal-ud-Din Rumi. (12)

Franklin Lewis: Rumi: Past and Present, East and West. (13)

بدیع الزمان فروزانفر: مولانا جلال الدین محمد: مشهور به مولوی۔

شبلی نعمانی: سوانح مولانا رومؒ۔ (14)

عبد الباقی گولپنارلی: مولانا جلال الدین: زنگانی، فلسفه، آثار و گزیده ای از آنها۔ (15)

عبد الحسین زرین کوب: پله پله تا ملاقاتِ خدا۔ (16)

Biographies of Rumi's Elders and Students

Hülya Küçük and Ibrahim Gamard: Sultan Walad: In the Footsteps of Rumi and Shams.

Fritz Meier: Bahā'-i Walad: Grundzüge seines Lebens und seiner Mystik. (17)

عبد الباقی گولپنارلی: مولویه بعد از مولانا۔ (18)

محمد علی موحد: شمسِ تبریزی۔

Studies of Rumi's Thought

Annmarie Schimmel: The Triumphal Sun: A Study of the Works of Jalaluddin Rumi.

Annmarie Schimmel: Rumi's World : The Life and Works of the Great Sufi Poet. (19)

Afzal Iqbal: The Impact of Mowlana Jalaluddin Rumi on Islamic Culture. 

The Mawlana Rumi Review. (20)

Ibrahim Gamard: Rumi and Islam: Selections from His Stories, Poems, and Discourses.

Khalifa Abdul Hakim: The Metaphysics of Rumi: A Critical and Historical Sketch.

Gholamreza Aavani: Rumi: A Philosophical Study.

Şefik Can: Fundamentals of Rumi’s Thought: A Mevlevi Sufi Perspective.

William C. Chittick: The Sufi Doctrine of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi. 

William C. Chittick: The Sufi Doctrine of Rumi. 

جلال الدین همایی: مولوی نامه: مولوی چه می گوید۔

حکیم محمد اختر: معارفِ مثنوی۔

خلیفه عبد الحکیم: حکمتِ رومی۔

عبد الحسین زرین کوب: بحر در کوزه: نقد و تفسیر قصه ها و تمثیلات مثنوی۔

عبد الحسین زرین کوب: سرِّ نی: نقد و شرح تحلیلی و تطبیقی مثنوی۔

عبد اللطیف خان نقشبندی: سوز و سازِ رومی۔

عنایة الله ابلاغ الأفغاني: جلال الدين الرومي: بين الصوفية و علماء الكلام۔

کریم زمانی: میناگری: شرح موضوعی مثنوی معنوی۔

محمد تقی جعفری: مولوی و جهانبینی ها در مکتب های شرق و غرب۔

محمد علی طاوسی (Editor): مولوی در عرفانِ ایران (مجموعه مقالات)۔

هادی حائری: نخبة العرفان عن آیات القرآن و تفسیرها۔

Studies of the Mathnawi

Seyed Gahreman Safavi and Simon Weightman: Rumi's Mystical Design: Reading the Mathnawi, Book One.

بدیع الزمان فروزانفر: احادیثِ مثنوی۔

بدیع الزمان فروزانفر: مأخذِ قصص و تمثیلاتِ مثنوی۔ (21)

خلیفه عبد الحکیم: تشبیہاتِ رومی۔

صادق گوهرین: فرهنگ لغات و تعبیرات مثنوي جلال الدین محمد بن محمد بن حسین بلخی۔

قادر فاضلی: جبر و اختیار و قضا و قدر در مثنوی مولوی۔

قادر فاضلی: خدا شناسی در مثنوی مولوی۔

قادر فاضلی: تفسیر موضوعی در مثنوی معنوی۔

قادر فاضلی: فرهنگ موضوعی ادب فارسی: ویژه مثتوی معنوی۔

میر جلال ابراھیمی: شرح تحلیلی اعلام مثنوی۔

Classical Mathnawi Commentaries

اسماعیل انقروی: شرح کبیر انقروی بر مثنوی معنوی مولوی۔ (22)

بحر العلوم: تفسیر عرفانی مثنوی معنوی۔

حاج ملا هادی سبزواری: شرح اسرارِ مثنوی۔

کمال الدین حسین بن حسن الخوارزمی: جواهر الاسرار و زواهر الانوار۔

کمال الدین حسین بن حسن الخوارزمی: کنوز الحقایق فی رموز الدقایق۔

محمد رضا لاهوری: مکاشفاتِ رضوی در شرح مثنوی معنوی۔

یوسف بن أحمد المولوي: المنهج القوي لطلاب المثنوي۔

Modern Mathnawi Commentaries

اشرف علی تھانوی: کلیدِ مثنوی۔

بدیع الزمان فروزانفر: شرح مثنوی شریف۔

حشمت الله ریاضی: داستان ها و پیام های مثنوی۔

عبد الباقی گولپنارلی: نثر و شرح مثنوی شریف۔ (23)

کریم زمانی: شرح جامع مثنوی معنوی۔

محمد استعلامی: متن و شرح مثنوی مولانا۔

محمد تقی جعفری: تفسير و نقد و تحليل مثنوى جلال ‌الدين محمد بلخى۔

محمد نذیر عرشی: مفتاح العلوم۔

Studies of the Divan

اسد الله ایزد گشسب: جذباتِ الهیّه۔

تقی پورنامداریان: داستانِ پیامبران در کلّیاتِ شمس۔

سید حسین فاطمی: تصویرگری در غزلیاتِ شمس۔

عباس کی منش: پرتوِ عرفان: شرح اصطلاحاتِ عرفانیِ کلّیاتِ شمس۔

علی حسین پور چافی: بررسی و تحلیلِ سبک شخصیٔ مولانا در غزلیاتِ شمس۔

علی دشتی: سیری در دیوانِ شمس۔

قادر فاضلی: آیات و احادیث در کلّیات شمس تبریزی۔

قادر فاضلی: فرهنگ موضوعی ادب فارسی: ویژه کلیات شمس تبریزی۔

کریم زمانی: شرح دیوان شمس تبریزی۔

مجید سرمدی: سی پارۂ عشق: تفسیرِ غزل ھای دیوانِ شمس تبریزی۔

محمد رضا شفیعی کدکنی: گزیدهٔ غزلیاتِ شمس۔

مریم ابو القاسم: اصطلاحات و مفاھیمِ عرفانیِ دیوانِ شمس۔

Notes

1. An English translation by John O' Kane was published by Brill: The Feats of the Knowers of God.
2. Also published as زندگینامۂ مولانا.
3. The best version of the Divan is probably the edition by Badi al-Zaman Foruzanfar, who spent a lot of effort in comparing the manuscripts and locating and identifying falsely attributed poems. English readers can benefit from the Academic translations of Nicholson, Arberry, Schimmel, Chittick, Gamard, and Lewis, though it must be mentioned that some of these (Nicholson, for example) have included some poems in their translations that were later on revealed to be by someone other than Rumi. Popular translations by Bly and Barks contain many omissions and mistranslations and should probably be avoided. Also note that many quotes and poems have been falsely attributed to Rumi in the English language and popular collections as a result contain many errors. Persian Poetics in English has tried to rectify this problem by identifying many such instances of misattribution and mistranslation and making them known to the public.
4. Two English translations of Rumi's lectures are available: Discourses of Rumi by Arthur J. Arberry, and Signs of the Unseen by W. M. Thackston, Jr. Alongside these, one can also find an Arabic translation and an Urdu one titled ملفوظاتِ رومی.
5. Nicholson's edition of the Mathnawi is probably the most beneficial, as well as his translation, though one may also look at the abridged edition by E. H. Whinefield or the recent ongoing translation by Jawid Mojaddedi (which is very nicely done). Urdu readers may also check out the translation by Qazi Sajjad.
   
6. An Urdu translation of Rūmī’s sermons can be found in مکتوبات و خطباتِ رومی. 
7. I am aware of an Arabic and an Urdu translation of Rumi's letters, but not of any in English. These have been published as رسائل مولانا جالال الدین الرومي and مکتوبات و خطباتِ رومی respectively.
8. Also published as ولد نامه and مثنوی ولدی.
9. The credit for this source goes entirely to Shaykh Ibrahim Gamard who was kind enough to share his own Rumi Bibliography with me. May Allah shower him with His Mercy.
10. I am not aware of any trustworthy translations of this work. One popular "translation" that is available does not deserve that title, as the "translator" does not know Persian and fails to even translate complete passages. Shaykh Ibrahim Gamard has discussed it with examples in one of his articles.
11. The best edition of this work is the one edited by Muhammad Ali Muwahhad. A partial translation was published by William C. Chittick under the title Me and Rumi: The Autobiography of Shams-i Tabrizi.
12. Though outdated with regards to research, this book remains an interesting and perhaps even useful resource in the English language. It contains many errors, however, and is best read alongside Lewis’ work.
13. Hands down, the best resource on Rumi available in the English language. Also contains biographies of Rumi's Elders and Followers, as well as details on the way Rumi has been viewed, studied, and interpreted by scholars throughout history.
14. Though outdated with regards to research, this book remains an important (and perhaps even the only) resource in the Urdu language.
15. Originally in Turkish, I have listed above the translation by Tawfiq Subhani.
16. An English translation is available, titled Step by Step up to Union with God. I must thank Shaykh Gamard for knowledge of this work.
17. This useful resource remains to be translated.
18. Originally in Turkish, I have listed above the translation by Tawfiq Subhani.
19. Originally published as I Am Wind, You Are Fire: The Life and Work of Rumi. Note, however, that Schimmel's research is somewhat outdated.
20. An academic journal dedicated to studying the life and the works of Rumi.
21. In these two books, Foruzanfar has identified the various references and sources of the Mathnawi. They were later on combined into one book by Hussayn Dawudi and published under the title احادیث و قصصِ مثنوی.
22. Originally in Turkish, I have listed above the translation by Esmat Sattarzade.
23. Originally in Turkish, I have listed above the translation by Tawfiq Subhani.