This study examines the translation strategies employed by Coleman Barks and E.H. Whinfield in rendering the Ney-nāmeh—the opening poem of Rumi's Masnavī—into English. Using Venuti's (1995) framework of domestication and foreignization, this research adopts a qualitative and comparative approach with a critical methodological refinement: while Whinfield translated directly from the Persian source text, Barks worked indirectly through R.A. Nicholson's English prose translations, re-versifying them into free verse. The analysis is conducted across three distinct linguistic levels—lexical, syntactic, and semantic—to capture the nuanced and multi-layered nature of translation strategies. The results indicate that on the macro-structural level (meaning and emotion), Barks predominantly employs domestication to enhance accessibility and emotional resonance, often omitting or altering significant cultural and religious references. However, on the micro-structural level (lexical choices), he occasionally retains Persian terms—a foreignizing move. In contrast, Whinfield shows a greater tendency toward foreignization at the lexical and syntactic levels, preserving linguistic structures and cultural-religious context, though he frequently anglicizes syntax for readability—a domesticating strategy. The findings suggest that Venuti's binary framework may benefit from a more fine-grained, multi-level application, particularly when analyzing poetic texts with dense cultural specificity. These findings contribute to broader discussions in translation studies regarding the translator's role and the ethics of cultural representation.