Lesen› Buch 3› Der Wunsch des Mannes von Moses, die Sprache der Tiere und Vögel zu lernen› Vers 3284
M3:3284 — آن غم آمد ز آرزوهای فضول / که بدان خو کرده است آن صید غول
M3:3284
Bedeutung · به زبانِ تو — Deine Sprache · AI
This man's suffering arises from his obsessive and unnecessary desires, habits that have made him captive to demonic, soul-destroying forces.
This couplet serves as the diagnostic core of the story. A man has begged Moses to teach him the language of animals, a power he does not need. Rumi identifies the source of this man's spiritual sickness: ārezu-hā-ye fuz̤ul, or 'meddlesome/superfluous desires.'
The man is not just someone with a passing fancy; he is described as a ṣayd-e ġul, the 'prey of a ghoul.' In Persian folklore, the ghoul is a desert demon that mimics voices to lure travelers off the path and devour them. Spiritually, it represents the deceptive appetites of the lower self (nafs) that lead one to ruin. The man's insistence on this useless knowledge is not a sign of curiosity but of a deep-seated habit (khu kardeh ast). He has become so accustomed to chasing these ruinous desires that he is now their captive, unable to see that the very thing he craves will be his undoing.
This beyt connects the man's specific, foolish request to a universal Sufi teaching: true safety and peace lie not in gaining more power or knowledge, but in freeing oneself from the tyranny of excessive wants. His sorrow is self-inflicted, born from a spiritual addiction to things that are ultimately harmful.
- فضول
- Fuz̤ul: An Arabic loanword meaning meddlesome, impertinent, superfluous, or excessive. Here it modifies 'desires' (ārezu-hā) to mean cravings for things that are unnecessary and ultimately harmful.
- صید غول
- Ṣayd-e ġul: Literally, 'prey of the ghoul.' A metaphor for a person who has been captured and is being led to destruction by demonic or delusive inner forces, specifically the appetites of the lower self (nafs).
- خو کرده
- Khu kardeh: 'Has become accustomed to' or 'has made a habit of.' This phrase emphasizes that the man's condition is not a momentary whim but a chronic, ingrained pattern of behavior.
Discussion — Ask about this beyt — answered from the Masnavi, every verse cited
Your conversation stays on this device unless you share it.
What readers asked0
No questions shared yet — yours could be the first.