M6:1047 — حقهٔ پر لعل را دادی به باد / هم‌چو زنگی در سیه‌رویی تو شاد

Translation: You squandered the casket full of rubies; / Like a Zangī (African), you are joyful in your sīyah-rūyī (disgrace/blackness of face). Meaning: This verse warns against heedlessly wasting a precious spiritual treasure due to ignorance, while remaining content and even joyful in that very state of loss and unawareness.

This verse follows a series of lines in which Rumi rebukes someone who has underestimated a treasure and easily let it slip away. He states earlier: “You gave it away easily because you found it cheap; you didn’t see the pearl, you didn’t open the casket.” This implies that without examining the sealed container and recognizing its true value, the person carelessly relinquished it. Such an act, Rumi suggests, stemmed from “ignorance” (jahl), and soon the person will realize the immense “loss” (ghabnat) they have incurred.

In the present verse, Rumi says: “You squandered the casket full of rubies.” This casket filled with rubies can be an allusion to any valuable treasure: from humanity's highest existential capacities to divine knowledge and mystical truths offered to a person. “To squander” (be bād dādan) signifies complete waste and dissipation.

Rumi then adds: “Like a Zangī (African), you are joyful in your sīyah-rūyī (disgrace/blackness of face).” It is crucial to understand that this simile carries no racial prejudice or insult toward any specific ethnicity. Such expressions, like many literary terms, gain their meaning within their cultural context and require careful interpretation. “Sīyah-rūyī” in Persian culture often denotes shame, disgrace, dishonor, or, importantly, heedlessness and ignorance. Therefore, Rumi is not saying: “You are like a Black person who is joyful in their skin color,” but rather: “You are like one who is joyful in their shame or ignorance.” This refers to an individual who is content in their foolishness and unaware of the profound harm they have inflicted upon themselves.

I firmly believe that Rumi, himself a teacher of piety and gnosis, would never harbor such racist intent. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) explicitly stated: “No Arab has superiority over a non-Arab, nor a non-Arab over an Arab; no Black person has superiority over a Red (white) person, nor a Red person over a Black person, except by taqwā (piety).” This Hadith unequivocally abolishes any claim of superiority based on color or race. Therefore, the correct interpretation of this verse must be viewed through the lens of these fundamental Islamic teachings. In this context, “Zangī” serves as a metaphor for someone engrossed in the darkness of ignorance and lack of insight, who is joyful in this “sīyah-rūyī”—this very heedlessness and unawareness—while having squandered an incomparable treasure. With this sharp critique, Rumi aims to awaken people from their slumber of negligence, making them realize the invaluable treasure they have sold for nothing and how profoundly they have been defrauded in this transaction.

Key takeaways

• Failure to recognize the inherent value of inner and outer spiritual treasures inevitably leads to their waste and dissipation.
• The term “sīyah-rūyī” (disgrace/blackness of face) in this verse symbolizes ignorance, heedlessness, and lack of insight, not a racial or physical reference to skin color.
• Contentment and joy in a state of ignorance and inability to discern truth result in the greatest spiritual loss.
• Rumi, through this sharp critique, calls humanity to awaken from negligence and recognize the true existential values within themselves.
• This verse serves as a potent warning for individuals to comprehend the profound loss incurred by neglecting their spiritual treasures.