M6:2520 — از شتاب او و فحش اجتهاد / غلغل و تشویش در ترمد فتاد

Translation: From his haste and the grossness of his endeavor, / A clamor and anxiety fell upon Termez. Meaning: This verse describes how the jester's extreme speed and immense effort caused widespread commotion and anxiety among the people of Termez.

In this verse, I see Rumi as a shrewd psychologist, skillfully depicting the collective human psyche, especially when confronted with sudden and ambiguous news. The phrase fuḥsh-i ijtehād here signifies excessive and extraordinary effort; meaning, the jester had arrived with such haste and exertion that this alone was enough to plunge the people into clamor and anxiety.

The city of Termez is suddenly enveloped in a tumult of apprehension. Why? Because a jester has arrived with such immense effort. The people, in the absence of clear information, become captives of khayāl (imagination) and resort to baseless speculation. Rumi explicitly portrays this psychological state: Har kasi fāli hami-zad az qiyās / Tā cheh ātash uftād andar palās (Each person cast a divination from conjecture / As to what fire had fallen into the blanket). Everyone, based on their wahm (conjecture or illusion) and assumption, constructs an image of an impending catastrophe – either an enemy attack or a divine calamity. This 'fire falling into the blanket' was a reflection of the people's inner fears.

This image reminds me of the power of wahm and khayāl in human life; something Rumi frequently alludes to and critiques in the Masnavi. When information is insufficient, the human mind quickly fills the gaps with its own hypotheses, and often these hypotheses take on the color of fear and disaster. Interestingly, even the jester himself, by remaining silent with khamūsh (silent), further fuels this anxiety: Wahm mi-afzūd z-īn farhang-i ū (His tactic thus increased their apprehension). This farhang, meaning his stratagem or device for withholding the news, adds to the people's bewilderment and anxiety. This is precisely what philosophers like Heidegger have addressed regarding existential anxiety, though Rumi views human 'clamor and anxiety' from a mystical, rather than merely existentialist, perspective; an anxiety rooted in ignorance and lack of true knowledge, and not necessarily in existential 'loneliness.'

Key takeaways

• Excessive haste and effort can inadvertently lead to collective turmoil and anxiety.
• In the absence of clear information, speculation and imagination dominate public perception.
• Rumi illustrates the power of 'wahm' (illusion/conjecture) and 'khayāl' (imagination) in generating fear and anxiety within a society.
• Withholding information can increase public bewilderment and apprehension, rather than fostering calm.