The Healing Power of Rumi

WHEN MELODY MOEZZI WAS HOSPITALIZED, RUMI’S WORDS, READ TO HER AS THEY HAD BEEN HER ENTIRE LIFE BY HER FATHER, OFFERED A PATH TO HEALING.

- MELODY MOEZZI

A WRITER AND ACTIVIST, Iranian-American Melody Moezzi enlisted the aid of her father, who is fluent in the classical Farsi of the mystic poet Rumi, to write her book The Rumi Prescription: How an Ancient Mystic Poet Changed My Modern Manic Life.

Each chapter includes an original translation of one of Rumi’s poems. Moezzi shows how the words can help navigate a particular challenge, from anger, to isolation, to depression.

Kalia Kelmenson spoke with Moezzi to explore the prescriptive power of Rumi’s poems, the mysticism that can be embedded in madness, and what is, or isn’t, lost in translation.

You describe a strong connection with Rumi, calling him a guest in your house as a child. Do you feel like Rumi’s work is available to everyone in that same way?

Yes. It speaks to so many people. To be honest, Rumi’s poems are described as “deceptively simple,” but it turns out they are not simple at all. In Farsi, they are very difficult, some more than others.

They are not simple, but in translation, they have become simple. Some translators don’t actually speak Farsi, but still manage to translate the spirit of Rumi’s poetry, which is very much in line with Rumi. Rumi notes specifically that it’s better to be of the same heart than of the same tongue.

For me, speaking Farsi is in a way absolutely helpful, but also the language can get in the way.