Where Manohar Searches for Madhumalati

Madhumalati: An Indian Sufi Romance by Mir Sayyid Manjhan Shattari Rajgiri
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Okay, so what happened was I was looking for historical romances from other countries--not Italy or France or England, I mean--and eventually found a little information online about this epic poem. Otherwise, I'd never heard of it. It was kinda chance, but kinda on purpose, and I'm glad it turned out to be very cool.

Based on questions like "Is it fun to read?" and "Is it a lot of work?" and "Do you learn much reading this?" I'd score this a 4/5, almost a 5/5. I absolutely can't speak to its value or even how "good" it is; maybe then it's a 5. I dunno. But for me, it was quite entertaining and instructive. The front matter really didn't help me enjoy it, and unless you're studying this, or studying Sufi thought in general, I'd just skip it all. Maybe come back to it after reading to see if it speaks to you, but plowing through the long introduction before reading the actual poem almost made me drop the book.

I'm glad I didn't. As a story, sort of a fantasy, it's very cool. Prince Manohar is young and full of virtue, and he's so handsome that a group of nymphs watching him sleep wonder if there is any young woman as beautiful as him. They settle on a likely name, the eponymous princess Madhumalati, but to be sure they decide to compare them. Magically, they transport him, still asleep in his bed, to the princess's bedroom. This sets off the action of the whole story, because they wake up, freak out, fall in love, mess around a little (not too much), and then fall asleep. Then the nymphs separate them again, and they both are despondent when they wake up.

The rest of the story is about them trying to get back together, and it includes a sea voyage and angry demon and other dangers, including Madhumalati being turned into a bird. Both the young lovers get help along the way and eventually find their way back to each other. All of this is filled with (to a western reader like me) exotic settings, fantastic celebrations, unexpected customs, strange supernatural creatures, and a very different worldview, and that's the instructive part of the work. After a while, you understand that, yes, of course he waited outside the city while someone went ahead to notify the king that he has arrived, and of course the people lined the streets, and obviously every caste is considered and made part of the wedding celebration...

Stuff like that. The culture of a time and place unknown to me is revealed a little bit by such literature, and I find that very interesting, well worth my energy to try to understand it. Not that I get it all--I surely don't. I don't think that's necessary unless you want to dig deep. There's a great deal of Sufi symbolism intentionally embedded in all this, and the reader is free to investigate it in the introduction and end notes, but I don't think it's necessary for enjoying the story.

As far as the translation: I like the way it's done, keeping the basic format of ten short lines and two longer ones, written in clear, non-rhyming English with a hint rhythm but nothing forced. (Or so it seemed to me.) There was nothing jarring in the language to remind me it's a translation, so I think it's pretty good.

This might not be of interest to most readers, but I'm sure there are more who would find something to enjoy here. I think the historical romance and sort-of fantasy elements get it close to a fit for me, and the curiosity I have about the literature of distant lands and times does the rest, so maybe readers with some of those characteristics should take a look.

I hope you do. And shoot me recommendations of your own.

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