MATHNAWÍ Verses 1330-1358
Self-Delusion & Dissonance
The Foundation of Blindness
Delusion stands as this world’s pillar strong, We chase our fortune, but we chase it wrong— We run and run until the beating comes, Like donkeys dying where the desert drums.
When you embrace a task with fervent mind, Its hidden flaws you’ll never hope to find, For God conceals what’s broken from your sight, So you may labor through the day and night.
Each passion burning hot within your chest Contains a flaw you cannot see or test— The very heat that makes your spirit race Has drawn a veil across your eager face.
The Mercy of the Veil
If all the shame and fault were laid out bare, Your soul would flee beyond compare— From east to west it would escape in fear, Never to let that wretched work draw near.
That state of mind where you at last repent— If felt at first, how differently time’s spent! You’d never run toward what you now regret, You’d turn away before the trap was set.
So divine laws hide the truth from mortal eyes, That we might walk the path that agency supplies— The veil lifts only when the deed is done, And then repentance comes for everyone.
THE MATHNAWÍ OF JALÁLU’DDÍN RÚMÍ v. 1330-1337
1330. Heedlessness (delusion), then, is in sooth the pillar (support) of this world: what is dawlat (worldly fortune)? For this dawádaw (running to and fro) is (accompanied) with lat (blows).
The beginning thereof is daw, daw (run, run); in the end (it is) lat khwar (suffer blows): the death of the ass is not (occurring) except in this wilderness.
Whenever thou hast earnestly taken a work in hand, its faultiness has become veiled to thee at this moment.
Thou art able to give thyself up to the work, (only) because the Creator veils its faultiness from thee.
Likewise, (with) every thought in which thou art hot (eager), the faultiness of that thought of thine has become hidden from thee.
1335. If its faultiness and disgrace were made visible to thee, thy soul would flee from it (as far as) the distance between east and west.
The state (of mind) in which at last thou repentest of it (of a faulty action)—if this should be thy state (of mind) at first, how wouldst thou run (for the sake of that action)?
Therefore He (God) at first veiled (the real nature of) that from our souls, in order that we might perform that action in accordance with the Divine destiny.
The Cycle of Repentance
When destiny unfolds its grand design, The eye springs open—now you see the sign, Repentance rushes in like morning tide, But this regret is destiny’s own guide.
This very sorrow is God’s will made known— Now drop this repentance, worship God alone! For even penitence is Heaven’s decree, Let go the guilt and simply let it be.
The Prison of Regret
If you make habit of your contrite days, And wander lost in repentance’s maze, This constant sorrow breeds still more remorse— You’ll ride regret like some unending horse.
One half your life will scatter in distraction, The other half consumed by guilt’s reaction— A pendulum that swings from sin to shame, While both the poles remain essentially the same.
Release this anxious thought, this endless cycle! Seek better spiritual work, a nobler rival— Find higher ground, a friend, a sacred task, Instead of wearing penitence’s mask.
And if no better work awaits your hand, Then for what missing deed do you withstand? What labor lost deserves your ceaseless grief? What phantom crime denies your soul relief?
If you know well the good, then worship pure— If goodness stays obscure, then how are you sure That this dark path you walk is truly wrong? You cannot know the false without the song.
THE MATHNAWÍ OF JALÁLU’DDÍN RÚMÍ v. 1338-1337
When the Divine destiny brought its ordainment into view, the eye was opened, so that repentance arrived.
This repentance is another (manifestation of the) Divine destiny: abandon this repentance, worship God!
1340. And if thou make (it) a habit and become addicted to repentance, because of this (habitual) repentance thou wilt become more repentant.
One half of thy life will pass in distraction and the other half will pass in repentance.
Take leave of this (anxious) thought and repentance: seek a better (spiritual) state and friend and work.
And if thou hast no better work in hand, then for the omission of what (work) is thy repentance?
If thou knowest the good way, worship (God); and if thou dost not know (it), how dost thou know that this way (in which thou art going) is evil?
The Paradox of Knowing
You cannot know what evil truly means Until you’ve glimpsed what good is in between— Only by contraries can truth be found, O youth, one half reveals the other’s ground.
You say you’re powerless to leave this thought, Yet powerless to sin as well, you’re caught— If impotence kept you from going astray, Then why repent for crimes you couldn’t pay?
Ask this: from where does impotence arise? By whose great pull does weakness rule the wise? No soul has seen a powerless state alone— Without true power, weakness can’t be known.
And so with every longing that you hold, Its hidden flaws remain forever cold— You’re barred from seeing what the desire conceals, The veil descends before the truth reveals.
REYNOLD A. NICHOLSON translation
1345. Thou dost not know evil till thou knowest good: (only) from (one) contrary is it possible to discern (the other) contrary, O youth.
Since (as thou sayest) thou wert rendered impotent to abandon the thought of this (repentance), at that time thou wert also impotent to commit sin.
Since thou wert impotent (to commit sin), on account of what is thy repentance? Inquire concerning impotence, by whose pull (exertion of power) is it (produced)?
No one has seen impotence in the world without power, nor will it (ever) be (so). Know this (for sure).
Similarly, (with) every desire that thou cherishest, thou art debarred from (perceiving) its faultiness;
The Prayer for Vision
If that desire’s viciousness were shown, Your soul would recoil, abandoned and alone— It would retreat from what it sought before, And never seek to gratify once more.
Had God revealed the faultiness in store, No force could drag you toward that door— You’d turn away without a moment’s thought, Refusing what temptation’s net had caught.
And that other work from which you flee? Its faults are clear for all to see— The reason for your deep aversion’s plain: The broken nature causes all your pain.
O God who knows the secrets that we hide, Whose gracious speech becomes our trusted guide— Don’t veil from us what evil work contains, Show us the poison, spare us future pains!
But shield from us the good work’s every flaw, Lest we grow cold and break the sacred law— Lest we become disgusted and turn back, Distracted from the spiritual track.
REYNOLD A. NICHOLSON translation
1350. And if the viciousness of that desire had been shown, thy soul of its own accord would have recoiled from seeking (to gratify it).
If He (God) had shown unto thee the faultiness of that work, no one, dragging (thee) along (by force), would have taken thee in that direction;
And (as regards) that other work from which thou art exceedingly averse, the reason is that its faultiness has come into clear view.
O God who knowest the secret and who art gracious in speech, do not hide from us the faultiness of the evil work;
(And) do not show unto us the faultiness of the good work, lest we become cold (disgusted) and distracted from journeying (in the Way).
Solomon’s Vision
According to this habit well-rehearsed, Great Solomon arose at morning’s first— Into the Mosque he walked at break of day, To see what new plants lined the sacred way.
The king maintained his daily rule and rite, Observing growth that bloomed within his sight— But not the plants that common eyes can see, He sought the herbs of deeper mystery.
The heart that holds that pure and perfect eye Perceives the growth the vulgar can’t descry— It sees in secret, in the hidden way, The spiritual herbs that bloom beyond the day.
REYNOLD A. NICHOLSON translation
1355. According to that (aforesaid) habit, the exalted Solomon went into the Mosque in the brightness (of dawn).
The king was seeking (to observe) the daily rule of seeing the new plants in the Mosque.
The heart with that pure eye (which it possesses) sees occultly the (spiritual) herbs that are invisible to the vulgar.