| Divine Face of Jalal ud Din Rumi |
| Translation & Commentary by Seema Arif |
| This Website has been created & maintained by Seema Arif |
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| Mathanavi:Book 1 |
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| (1) Rumi has quoted Qu�ran: 2:24: "But if ye cannot- and of a surety ye cannot- then fear the Fire whose fuel is men and stones, which is prepared for those who reject Faith. "
(2) Qu�ran has been quoted again, �maasiyah� means disobedience as in (58:8-9) And they hold secret counsels among themselves for iniquity and hostility, and disobedience to the Messenger. And when they come to thee, they salute thee, not as Allah salutes thee, (but in crooked ways): And they say to themselves, "Why does not Allah punish us for our words?" Enough for them is Hell: In it will they burn, and evil is that destination! O ye who believe! When ye hold secret counsel, do it not for iniquity and hostility, and disobedience to the Prophet; but do it for righteousness and self- restraint; and fear Allah, to Whom ye shall be brought back. Ibn-Arabi has explained in Fusus al Hikam: �The deviators� (57:27) are those who do not submit to Deen and observe it properly. Allah does not accord to the one who does not obey it, a law which pleases Him, but the command requires submission. Its proof is that the one who is obligated either obeys with agreement or opposes it. The one who agrees and is obedient has no need of any discourse on it to prove it.� Click for Detail�. (3) According to a tradition from Abu Huraira, a young man had come to mosque, but he did not say his prayer rightly and then said �Salaam� to Hazrat Muhammad (saw). The prophet admonished him that he had not said his prayer rightly so he should say again. He went and committed the same mistake; again when he came in the presence of Prophet the prophet hinted at his mistake for the third time and taught him the right procedure of saying a prayer. Qazi Sajjad has argued that because the young man was wrong just in his method, so we can�t call him a �raya kar� meaning a hypocrite. It�s just the fact that �raya� here is used in meaning of false pretension. The young man pretended before Hazrat Muhammad (saw) that he knows how to say a prayer and even when the prophet had hinted at incorrectness of his way, he did not ask the prophet to teach him the right way but preferred to continue with his faulty one. It is the false pretentious ego of a disciple which Rumi has hinted at. We cannot follow over own whims and presumption in following the Divine Law is the main theme of this story. (4) Rumi has begun this story with reference to Ibn-Arabi and his deep reverence and special affiliation for the 1st Surah (chapter) of Qu�ran: Fatiha-The Opening. A reference to �Fatiha� may be an indirect suggestion to read Ibn-Arabi�s �Fatuhat al Makkiyah� which comprises of 17000 pages in original and is a complete doctrine of Muslim Shariah with special context to its esoteric dimension. Click for Detail�. (5) The reference to �Fatiha-The Opening� continues: �Dhwaleen� are �the people who have gone astray� and they are the Christians according to the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah (SAW) reported from Adee bin Haatim (RA). Concerning this Qu�ran says: (5:77) �And do not follow the vain desires of people (i.e. the Christians) who went astray in times gone by, and misled many, and have themselves strayed from the Straight Path�. Abdur-Rahmaan bin Mahdee said "Maalik bin Anas (Sahabi) had been asked about the Sunnah to which he replied, �it is whatever has no other name for it except �the Sunnah� and he recited. "�And Verily, this is my Straight Path, so follow it, & follow not [other] paths, for they will separate you away from His Path.� [6: 153] Rumi has constantly guided us to follow the �Way of Sunnah� of Hazrat Muhammad (saw) and none other. At many occasions he advocates following of Christ, but not Christians. (6) Constant relying upon speculative faculty and not exploiting analytical reason shall lead mind towards pathological deviance: permanent loss to deal with reality in its truest perspective. Such minds are characterized by their dependence upon delusions, be they of grandeur or persecution; sometimes hallucinations also accompany; and one is hardly able to please anyone not even one�s own self and is painfully caught in wrench of misery. |
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| The Deaf and the Sick |
| To curb the anger it is wise not to displace it
Thou may earn sweet recompense and delight Lacking patience and wincing in anger Mean barking dog returning to manger I must retort him well of what he said I wonder where this raging lion had slept To enquire after is to console the sick heartily He did not comfort but showed at length enmity To see one�s enemy in disaster was desire plain His sick heart he must comfort in spite and disdain Many people worship Allah devotedly no doubt They seek reward and pleasure of God all about Sometimes it�s just to cover up their sins lure Many a polluted water one may regard as pure Like the deaf who has complete faith in convention He�d visited his sick neighbor with noble intention Happy that he�s served the poor with grace Fulfilling his obligation in righteous of ways |
| NOTES |
| In fact, he had but lit a fire for himself that squashes
In the heart of the sick who wished him to ashes Allah says: Escape the fire thou had lit in abundance (1) The Unbelievers are steady just in disobedience (2) Hazrat Muhammad (saw) has said to a pretender (3) O young man! Don�t miss; Say thy prayer regular To treat our soul of all such doubts and fear We do plead, �Guide us� in every prayer (4) We pray: O Allah Please held not equal my prayer To the prayers of those misled and the transgressor (5) The wild guess that the deaf has made A lifetime companionship did but break People assume that they are worshipping Are ignorant they�re just wasting away in sin Please stop indulging in conjectures wild Otherwise the injury shall worsen not mild (6) Specially the guess that faulty perception beseech About Divine Revelation that�s beyond thy reach Thou ears may have been used to hearing words But deaf they are to listen to the �unseen� world |