M6:1030 — آنچنان که ماند حیران آن جهود / آن دل چون سنگش از جا رفت زود

Translation: Such that the Jew remained bewildered; his stone-like heart swiftly moved from its place. Meaning: This verse describes the sudden astonishment and emotional sway of a hard-hearted Jewish man when confronted with the physical beauty of a slave, causing his seemingly unyielding heart to soften.

This verse appears within the profound narrative of Bilal al-Habashi and Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, a story through which Rumi opens a window into the discernment of ṣūrat (form) and maʿnā (meaning). Abu Bakr, with his spiritual insight, sought to purchase Bilal, a dark-skinned slave with a “luminous heart,” from his Jewish owner. In return, he offered his own slave, who was fair-skinned but “dark-hearted,” stipulating that while this slave was outwardly beautiful, his heart was dark, in contrast to Bilal, whose form was dark but whose heart was bright.

Here, Rumi brilliantly illustrates the depth and complexity of “form-worship” (ṣūrat-parastī). The Jewish man, whom Rumi describes as “stone-hearted,” instead of attending to the inner meaning and essence of the slave (which was his faith and purity of heart), becomes instantly “bewildered and astonished” by the outward beauty of the fair-skinned slave offered by Abu Bakr. His heart, which until then was as hard and impervious as stone, is “swiftly moved from its place” by the sight of this captivating form, and turns “wax-like” in the face of this formal beauty.

This moment, in my view, is the peak of Rumi’s critique of superficial perception and captivity to external appearances. He immediately draws a conclusion in the subsequent verse: “The condition of form-worshippers is this: their stone becomes wax from a [beautiful] form.” This man, despite his hard-heartedness and avarice (as we see later in the narrative, he still haggles for more), cannot withstand the allure of form. This story teaches us how form can move even the most hardened hearts, but this movement does not necessarily lead to inner transformation or deep knowledge. It is merely an instinctive, human reaction to external beauty, not a spiritual revolution.

This is where the difference between those focused on form and those focused on meaning becomes evident. For Abu Bakr, the value lay in Bilal’s “luminous heart,” despite his “dark skin.” But for the Jew, the value was in the “fair skin” of Abu Bakr’s slave, irrespective of his “dark heart.” This story is one of the keys to understanding the distinction between form and meaning in the Masnavi, a distinction that recurs in various forms throughout this ocean-like book. Rumi calls upon us to transcend the ocean’s foam and reach its depths, moving from form to meaning.

Key takeaways

• This verse is part of the story of Abu Bakr and Bilal, used by Rumi to elucidate the relationship between form and meaning.
• The Jewish man is captivated by ṣūrat-parastī (form-worship), and his heart transforms from stone to wax upon seeing the physical beauty of a slave.
• This emotional stirring is merely an instinctive reaction to outward beauty, not necessarily leading to inner or spiritual transformation.
• Rumi here culminates his critique of superficial perception, highlighting the fundamental difference between valuing based on appearance versus essence.