Read› Daftar 4› The complete story of that lover who fled from the watchmen into an unknown garden, where he found his beloved, and in his joy, he prayed for the watchmen, saying, 'Perhaps you dislike a thing and it is good for you'› beyt 72
M4:72 — آن بگوید زید صدیق سنیست / وین بگوید زید گبر کشتنیست
M4:72
Meaning · به زبانِ تو — Your language · AI
This couplet illustrates the principle of relativity by showing how the same person, Zayd, can be judged in two completely opposite ways depending on the observer's perspective and relationship to him.
This couplet serves as a stark, concrete example of the philosophical argument Rumi has been building in the preceding verses: that qualities like "good" and "bad" are not absolute but relative to the observer. Using the generic name "Zayd" (the Arabic equivalent of "John Doe"), Rumi presents two irreconcilable verdicts.
To one person, Zayd is a ṣiddīq (a truthful, righteous man) and a Sunni—the highest praise in that context, signifying a pillar of the community. To another, he is a gabr (a pejorative for a Zoroastrian, used here to mean "infidel") who is kushtanīst (deserving of death). The contrast is not merely between like and dislike, but between veneration and a death sentence.
This extreme example forces the reader to confront the idea that our judgments are projections of our own state and relationship to the object of our perception. Rumi is demonstrating that a person is not a fixed entity but a mirror reflecting the viewer. The beyt functions as a pivot, shifting from general examples (snakes, the sea) to the more complex and volatile realm of human and religious judgment, preparing the reader for the subsequent advice: to see the Beloved, one must borrow the eyes of a lover.
- صدیق
- Ṣiddīq. An Arabic term meaning 'truthful,' 'righteous,' or 'a close, faithful friend.' It carries strong religious weight, famously being the epithet of Abu Bakr, the first Caliph.
- سنیست
- Sunnī-st ('is a Sunni'). A follower of the Sunni branch of Islam. In the context of Rumi's world, this would generally denote an orthodox, mainstream believer.
- گبر
- Gabr. A term for a Zoroastrian, but often used more broadly and pejoratively in classical Persian poetry to mean 'infidel,' 'pagan,' or 'unbeliever.'
- کشتنیست
- Kushtanī-st ('is to be killed'). A compound word indicating that someone is deserving of death or ought to be killed, implying a legal or religious justification for execution.
- زید
- Zayd. A common Arabic male name, used in classical logic, grammar, and literature as a generic placeholder, equivalent to 'John Doe' in English.
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