Masnavi
Vol. 1 v. 325-335

The story of the Jewish King who used to kill Christians due to prejudice


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Note: Leiden Manuscript, elucidated by the late Dr. Frouzanfar, may Allah shower his soul with mercy.



بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ


Once upon a time there was an unjust Jewish king
With enmity for Jesus who tormented Christians
v. 324

بودْ شاهی در جَهودانْ ظلمْ سازْ
دشمنِ عیسی و نصرانی گداز
Recite 

Nasrāni: Attributed to the city Nasiri (Nazarene), birth place of Jesus, located in Palestine now under the control of the country of Israel. Nasrani means Christian.

It was the dawn of the time of Jesus (Prophethood)
He was the beloved of Moses and Moses his beloved    
v. 325

عهدِ عیسی بُود وَ نوبتْ آنِ او
جانِ موسی او وَ موسی جانِ او
Recite 

Ān: Dawn, a short moment, time for something.

Jān: Beloved, the love, the spirit, the life. The Rahi (Author) translated the word into "beloved" which fits most with the daily language of the Iranians and the context of the poem.

The walleyed king who suffered double-vision upon the Divine Path
Separated those two Divine beloveds (i.e. the Moses and the Jesus)
v. 326

شاهِ اَحْوَلْ کردِ در راهِ خدا
آن دو دمسازِ خدایی را جدا
Recite  

Ahval: A person suffering from Binocular Diplopia i.e.cross-eyed who sees everything in doubles. The Jewish king was called cross-eyed because he saw Moses and Jesus as two fully separate entities i.e. not issued from the same origination and for the same purpose! He saw them as two, like a person affected with Diplopia.

Dara
"All the prophets are but one person looking into many mirrors."

Rumi has criticized discrimination and prejudices against other religions several times in Masnavi; he considered the very origins and foundation of all religions to be one and the same. He saw all these religions reaching towards the same destination of Haqq (Reality and Truth). In Rumi's opinion, the religious wars that have been fought, in every period of the history, were nothing but the reflection of  ignorance and the very color/characteristic of the transient universe.

Whoever is able to reach to the Qadim (The Realm of the actualities) becomes estranged i.e. excuses the prejudices and the fights amongst the different religious, factions and forsakes such conflicts as he acquires the certitude that the prophets were each others’ true friends- as Moses announced the future advent of Jesus and Jesus gave the glad tidings of the advent of Muhammad, peace be upon all of them collectively. In return, Muhammad did acknowledge the Prophethood of both Moses and Jesus and even did defended Jesus and his truthful virgin mother from false-accusations leveled against them.

However the nations that followed have again become ignorant of the unity of the prophets and more wars have been fought in the name of religion. (Below a parable)

The teacher said to a cross-eyed (man): ‘enter
Your room and bring out that crystal from within’

گفتْ استادْ اَحْوَلی را کَاندرآ
زُو بُرونْ آرْ از وُثاقْ آن شیشه را
Recite 

The cross-eyed replied ‘Which one of the TWO crystals’?
That I might bring to you so you can explain them all to me

گفت احول زِ آن دو شیشه منْ کدام
پیشِ تو آرمْ بِکن شرحِ تمام
Recite 

The teacher said ‘there are no TWO crystals’, Give up!
This double-vision and seek not to see what is not there!"

گفت استاد آن دو شیشهْ نیستْ رَو
احولی بُگذارُ وُ افزونْ بینْ مَشَو
Recite 

The cross-eyed replied ‘O teacher poke fun at me not!’
The teacher said ‘Ok then break one of those two crystals’

گفت ایْ اُستا مرا طَعْنِهْ مَزَنْ
گفت اُستا زِ آنْ دو یِکْ را درْ شِکَن
Recite 

When the cross-eyed broke one of the crystals, both vanished!
That a man suffers from double-vision due to his own lusts and angers
v. 327-332  (verse 332 missing)

چونْ یِکی بِْشکَسْتْ هرْ دو شُدْ زِ چَشم
مَردْ احولْ گرددْ از مَیْلانُ وُ خَشم
Recite 

Zū: Abbreviation for Zūd, Farsi for quick fast.

Wusāq: Room originally Turkish.

Mailān: Arabic for lusts which Rumi has used to mean desires and loves.

Shish-eh: Crystal but also means a trick or an illusion.

Both love and hate cause the human being to fail to observe things and circumstances as they truly are. For example a friend never sees the shortcomings of his friends and only sees the good in them; similarly, the enemy observes nothing but evil in his enemies.

A just vision sees all things in the middle i.e. in their true reality as they are. Rumi teaches us that a judge must not be biased, either with excessive friendship or excessive enmity, both of which cause severe prejudices by tainting the vision.

The metaphor of the cross-eyed man and his teacher has also been used by Attar in Asrar Nameh.

Anger and desire shall give the man double-vision
Resistance against these shall alter the spirit (away from double-vision)
v. 333

خشمُ وُ شهوتْ مردْ را احولْ کند
زِ استقامتْ روحْ را مُبْدَلْ کند
Recite 

Anger and desire, each on his own, cause damaging changes to the Nafs (Self) and affect her stability by rendering her inclined towards injustice. Once off the state of equilibrium, man commits extreme actions that are far from the common sense of his normal state. In such periods of instability, suddenly what was impossible before becomes possible and an evil action is not only considered an ordinary deed but at times even an obligatory matter. Whoever is not in agreement with this deviance from justice is also considered a wrong-doer and may be tormented and even killed.

On the other hand, if something is not understood or believed in, it is considered a falsehood; anyone not sharing the prejudice becomes a target for grudge and is denied all virtues .

Idrak (Prehension, grasp) of this Haqiqat (Absolute reality and truth) is possible only for the person who does not take the side of anger or desire (false-love), and is thus able to resist the double-vision disease of the eyes and continue seeing clearly without occlusion or alteration of his vision.

Once the bad intentions are formed within the heart, the goodness of others is veiled
Hundreds of veils occlude the vision, dispatched from an ill-intending heart
v. 334

چونْ غرَضْ آمدْ هنْر پوشیده شد
صْد حجابْ از دلْ بسویِ دیدهْ شد
Recite

Plato
“Your love for something establishes a veil between you and its evil and your anger for something is a veil between you and its goodness!”
Source: Mukhtar Al-Hikam, Madrid, p. 153.

مختار الحكم
طبع مادريد
ص 153
افلاطون
محبتك الشيء ستر بينك و بين مساوئه و بغضتك له ستر بينك و بين محاسنه

That if a judge allows the desire for a bribe within his heart
When can he ever again know the aggressor from the moaning victim?
v. 335

چونْ دهدْ قاضی بِدلْ رُشوَتْ قَرار
کَیْ شناسْد ظالْم از مظلومِ زار
Recite





© 2007-2002,  Dara O. Shayda, Dr. Hind Rifai