M6:2078 — کی شود دریا ز پوز سگ نجس / کی شود خورشید از پف منطمس

Translation: How can the sea become defiled by a dog's snout? How can the sun be extinguished by a puff of breath? Meaning: This couplet questions how something vast and pure, like the ocean or the sun, could be defiled by a minor impurity or extinguished by a trivial act. Rumi uses this as a metaphor for the unblemished nature of perfected saints and divine truths.

This couplet appears within a narrative in the Masnavi where a disciple confronts the scolding wife of Abu'l-Hasan Kharaqani. The wife criticizes and insults the saints of God for actions that, on the surface, might seem contrary to religious law. The disciple responds by elaborating on the grandeur of divine men, employing this verse as a definitive metaphor.

In my view, Rumi uses a potent metaphor here to convey the undefilable nature of the station of God's saints. He had previously spoken in the Masnavi of āb-i karr (karr water): "A small basin is not less than two qullatayn (a measure of karr water), for a drop to defile it." This implies that a true sheikh or saint is like karr water, which, due to its inherent vastness and purity, cannot be defiled by any small impurity. This stands in contrast to a "small basin" or "qālil water," which is easily contaminated by a mere drop. This metaphor serves as a direct rebuttal to those who judge men of God using their own limited, superficial criteria.

This issue is connected to the concept of ibāḥat (permissibility) in mysticism. Rumi distinguishes between two types of ibāḥat: "Ibāḥat that comes from desire is error" (ibāḥat-i az havā) – which is self-deception and a false justification for abandoning religious duties – and "ibāḥat that comes from God is perfection" (ibāḥat-i az khodā). This second type pertains to those who have reached absolute perfection, who, as I interpret it, have reached "the rooftop" and for whom the ladder of Sharia was merely a means to an end. Such claimants of perfection, theoretically, become independent of the ordinary rules of Sharia. Rumi, theoretically, accepts this possibility, although he himself never acted in such a way in practice, and Ghazali vehemently rejects it. Similarly, as the example of Hallaj's "Ana al-Ḥaqq" versus Pharaoh's "Ana al-Ḥaqq" illustrates, the criterion is inner realization, not mere outward claim.

Here, Rumi asserts with ultimate conviction that these divine saints possess such a high station and grandeur that the puffing of devil-like individuals cannot extinguish the sun of their truth, nor can the barking of dog-like people defile the sea of their knowledge. These words are both a response to the ignorant of his time and an expression of the pinnacle of the perfect human being who has united with God and is free from superficial impurities. With this argument, he, in a way, defends a form of ghuluw (exaggeration) in the descriptions of the perfect human, which has a history in Sufism and even Isma'ili Shi'ism, although mainstream Twelver Shi'ism does not accept such claims for imams or prophets. This couplet carries a clear message: the station of those who have attained truth is beyond superficial judgments and unaffected by the impurities of the world; they themselves are sources of purity and light. Just as the moon pursues its course undeterred by the barking of dogs, so too do the divine saints traverse their path of perfection heedless of reproaches.

Key takeaways

• The station of the perfect human and divine saint is immune to external impurities or negative influences due to its inherent grandeur and purity.
• The sea and the sun symbolize enduring and boundless truths that cannot be affected by trivial actions or corrupt intentions.
• Rumi distinguishes between 'permissibility from desire' (self-deception) and 'permissibility from God' (true perfection); the latter denotes a state where outward religious rules no longer apply.
• This couplet serves as a definitive rebuttal to the ignorant who judge men of God with superficial and limited criteria.
• Union with God elevates an individual to such a degree of purity that they become undefilable, akin to karr water.
• The criticisms and misunderstandings of 'dog-like' individuals are like puffing at the sun; they cannot extinguish the light of truth.