Divine Face of Maulana Jalal ud Din
Muhammad Rumi
The Prince and the Slave Girl
While engaged on a hunting excursion, a prince caught sight of a fair maiden, fell in love with her, bought her and brought her to his kingdom, and provided her with every happiness and comfort he could have imagined for her. All his favors could bring no joy to her; she refused to surrender before him, and after a while, she fell sick. The prince had her tended by the best physicians available. They tried their best, fully confident of their worldly expertise; they did not regard it as a major challenge and asserted, Yes! Not a big deal, we will cure her; however, they all omitted to say, InShahAllah, “God favoring us.” Alas! Their treatment was of no avail. The girl was getting worse day by day. According to the medical model, a patient is treated according to symptoms. However, the symptoms can be misleading when the problem is with the psyche – the inner soul. Because of the hurt, the wounded would try to shy away and hide the truest reason for pain to save one’s ego or self-respect. That loss that failure is alone; refusing to accept the loss or failure or share it with others increases pain and sickness. Acceptance relieves you of pain because it involves surrendering to the Divine Will. A mature soul never questions, Why me? It surrenders like Hazrat Ismail: Why not me? The love of the maiden for the goldsmith was stuck in her heart like a thorn.
Let us begin with the story ……...
A window to Mathnavi Maulvi Ma’nvi
Translation and Commentary Seema Arif
A thorn in a foot is firmly stuck,
Softly underlap, he has it duck.
Gently prick the needle to find it;
Unable to locate, with lips moist, it (1)
So hard looking for a thorn in a foot went,
Wonder! What beseeching a heart meant.
Who may thorn in heart explore,
Who would control over grief then implore? (2)
Somebody under the tail of a donkey a thorn pumps,
Not knowing how to pull it off (donkey) helplessly jumps.
To relieve twinge and ache (donkey) kicks in vain,
Causing a hundred sores to itself is but his gain.
Kicking, in no way, can relieve it of thorns,
An expert is needed to locate the mourn.
A spiritual healer, the master of art
Examines carefully the body and the heart
A window to Mathnavi Maulvi Ma’nvi
Translation and Commentary Seema Arif
Further Links for Rumi
While engaged on a hunting excursion, a prince caught sight of a fair maiden, fell in love with her, bought her and brought her to his kingdom, and provided her with every happiness and comfort he could have imagined for her. All his favors could bring no joy to her; she refused to surrender before him, and after a while, she fell sick. The prince had her tended by the best physicians available. They tried their best, fully confident of their worldly expertise; they did not regard it as a major challenge and asserted, Yes! Not a big deal, we will cure her; however, they all omitted to say, InShahAllah, “God favoring us.” Alas! Their treatment was of no avail. The girl was getting worse day by day. According to the medical model, a patient is treated according to symptoms. However, the symptoms can be misleading when the problem is with the psyche – the inner soul. Because of the hurt, the wounded would try to shy away and hide the truest reason for pain to save one’s ego or self-respect. That loss that failure is alone; refusing to accept the loss or failure or share it with others increases pain and sickness. Acceptance relieves you of pain because it involves surrendering to the Divine Will. A mature soul never questions, Why me? It surrenders like Hazrat Ismail: Why not me? The love of the maiden for the goldsmith was stuck in her heart like a thorn.
Let us begin with the story ……...
Notes
- A person carefully nurtures wounds…he/she may kiss his/her own foot with lips, do the impossible, or show an unreasonable attitude and behavior. It is to nurture pain and not an attempt to soothe it.
- It is the thorn, which gives reason to be grieved and in pain…and if it would have been pulled out…there would have been no reason for lament. A man looks for simulated physical reasons for pain in his soul. Here, the ego defense mechanisms of Denial and Displacement are reflected.
Sufi spiritual masters use the allegory of the donkey for ‘ignorant human soul’:
Ignorant in the sense that it is not well groomed to deal with realities of life, to bear the loss (compromise with what is not there or what could not BE), and to thank the blessings of Allah the Almighty (what is there to enjoy or what could BE). It has an underdeveloped reason or cognitive consciousness to
Identify the true reason…the cause of pain, and the weak spirit to fight the effect.
Such a soul is ignorant of ‘other’ realities. Its only realization is pain, and its consciousness is blinded to everything else, especially reason. It is wounded and would give nothing but the wound. In such a condition, it is vital to look for the cause of the ailment; just dealing with symptoms would not heal the pain…. Marz barhta gaya joon joon dawa ki.
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