Roman And Chinese Artists
Learn with Rumi Man’s vain glory about his Self-constructed knowledge.
To the words of Hakim Sanai, listen; you may
Where thou get drunk, there you must lay.
When a drunk has lost his way to the tavern
A Joker, he becomes an object of fun (1)
He is falling here and there on the way.
Soiled, made for fools, an item to play
He is in such distress, and the kids wince or whine.
Ignorant of drunkenness and taste of wine
Creatures are kids except the ones lost in God.
An adult is the one who no more to passion hold (2)
Allah says: Life is but play and fake amusement.
Thou art kids and Allah but speaks the Truth. (3)
Thou art a kid if not relieved of trifling desires.
Without attaining purity of soul, thou can’t be pious.
Reckon lust like kids’ desire for mating (4)
In which youth are but carelessly indulging
Children coupling each other would no fruit bear.
Manliness and strength Ali(ra) or Rustam do declare(5)
Common people fighting quarrel like kids,
All meaningless, petty, and worthless, it is.
They fight but with swords made of wood;
Baseless motives; intentions bear no good. (6)
Everyone gaily riding their horses wooden.
Riding “Burraq” or “Duldul,” their illusion. (7)
Self-occupied with delusions of grandeur,
Assuming to rise above the 7th sphere (8)
Pause! The believers may cross any height.
Running their steeds fast along nine skies
The angelic soul shall ever rise toward Him (9)
At their ascension, the heavens shall swing.
Thou may keep withholding to lap like kids.
Imagining your clothes to be your steed (10)
God does not entertain delusions (11)
Your self-deception is no ascension.
Erroneous it is to use self-assumption
Why do you quarrel to explain “the sun” (12)
When “the sun” shall shine at the top of their heads
On Judgment Day over the mindful and the uninformed
Everyone shall look at their means of transport.
They’d know to ride; they were on their foot,
Thy intuition, thoughts, knowledge, and perception
Fake, it is like children riding bamboo, Reckon!
A window to Mathnavi Maulvi Ma’nvi
Translation and Commentary Seema Arif
Further Links for Rumi
NOTES
Even the novice can raise fingers at him when a man of knowledge has lost his way.
One must preserve one’s state and live through it in one’s consciousness.
(2) Hawa is the invoking of the lower soul. Click for Detail.
(3) Rumi quoted Qur’an 6:32: What is the life of this world, but play and amusement? But best is the home in the hereafter for those who are righteous. Will ye not then understand? See also Qur’an: 6:70
(4) Rumi hints at the moral corruption of society, which is outwardly manifested in sexual indulgence at a young age and sexual deviance at a mature age. It is the consequence of the desire to enjoy luxuries and comforts in life. During this enjoyment, people never recognize that worldly life is fleeting and temporary.
(5) Youth indulge in profane activities to proclaim “manliness,” strength, and maturity. Rumi says it is not worth it. The real achievement in life is to develop a character like “Rustam,” the famous Persian fighter, or “Ghazi,” meaning Hazrat Ali (RA), the brave and the chivalrous.
(6) People argue to win a score. They are egoistic, and the point is to differ to look “powerful” and “unyielding.” A mutual consensus is thus never achieved in such a society, and it causes conflict and disharmony among various classes of society. Their reasoning has not been sharpened. It has not been fully prepared to meet the objective. As in a fight, the task of a sword is to cut off the life of the opponent to death. Similarly, the wisdom of a scholar must be sharpened enough to separate Truth from falsehood.
(7) Children ride wooden rocking horses and enjoy as if they were riding the real horse.
“Burraq” was the horse that took Hazrat Muhammad (saw) to Mjra’j – the holy ascension of the Holy Prophet to the presence of God. The ruler of Alexandria, Greece, had presented prophet Muhammad (saw) a mule named“Duldul.”
(8) Fake scholars indulge in false pretensions. Though their thoughts never leave the domain of the material world, they think they are touching philosophical heights and experiencing spiritual ascension. They are aided with Divine support, and their thinking is powerful and pleasing to men of earth. It is self-deception and illusion reflected in their fickleness.
(8) Seven spheres of climate belong to this earth, while 8th clime is above in the heavens, belonging to the “Imaginal world.” Click for Detail….
9) Rumi has quoted the Qur’an: Surah Al Ma`arij verse no. 4
(10) Children sometimes stretch and twist their clothes between their legs, imagining it to be a horse or other vehicle and pose they are riding. Similarly, the illusionary masters think they are bestowed with Divine Intelligence. Ibn-Arabi has explained in Fusus al Hikam that Tajjali is from God. He illuminates our hearts. Our ideas cannot lift us off the earth; they are stuck to this world’s “ifs” and “buts” and cannot attain gnosis.
(11) Rumi quoted Qur’an 53:28: But they have no knowledge therein. They follow nothing but conjecture, and conjecture avails nothing against Truth.
(12) Mostly, “the sun” has been used as a metaphor for Hazrat Muhammad (saw). The
Truth – his Sunnah – is self-explanatory and self-evident. It does not require human reason or assumption to explain itself. It is far above the ordinary human intellect. All human reason is an assumption derived from self-speculation; hence, it is not real – the Absolute Truth, so why give preference to one speculation over the other? They are incomplete, only the half Truth. The Divine Guidance is forever to stay. All scientific knowledge and theory become obsolete with time. Don’t minimize the importance of Divine Guidance before scientific information.
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