The Richard Stevens Masnavi Group
“Where is the Musician in my soul? That its singing May echo in a thousand heads the enchantments of love. I said I will not speak, but I will; Fulfilling promises is not a notable virtue of mine”
(Divan 223, v 1-2, translated by Dr Fatemeh Keshavarz)
We meet weekly to read Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi’s Masnavi in Nicholson’smagisterial translation. We intersperse our readings with readings from the Divan e Shams e Tabriz in various translations.
Please click the link below to register and you will receive an invitation to join the Zoom meeting.
These meetings are offered free of charge. Please consider making a donation to The Study Society to support the charity.
We read together and discuss the Masnavi from our diverse perspectives. We are lovers of Rumi, not scholars, our group includes people of diverse faiths, cultures and spiritual interests who are both non-Persian and Persian speakers. We recognise that you can begin from different starting points and yet the Masnavi can help you connect with your own tradition and to make your own spiritual journey.
Our group abides by certain values:
First and foremost, we respect the voice of Mawlana and strive to grasp his wisdom, guidance, encouragement and inspiration in translations made by those who approached him free of judgement and artifice.
We seek to explore the roots of his teachings in the Quran and Hadith and in the almost endlessly rich trove of historical stories and sources that he drew upon.
We are non-judgemental in our approach and welcome everyone’s insights and reflections.
The Study Society’s headquarters at Colet House has been a home for Mevlevi turning for more than 60 years, and it is here that the founder of our group Richard Mevlevi (Richard Stevens) first fell in love with Mawlana more than 55 years ago. Colet House’s calm and welcoming atmosphere has helped many of us to open ourselves up to Mawlana.