Leggi› Libro 3› La richiesta di quell'uomo a Mosè della lingua degli animali e degli uccelli› Distico 3267
M3:3267 — تا بود کز بانگ حیوانات و دد / عبرتی حاصل کنم در دین خود
M3:3267
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The young man tells Moses he wants to learn the language of animals to find spiritual lessons in their sounds, which he believes will be purer than human speech.
This couplet expresses the idealistic, if naive, wish of a young man speaking to the prophet Moses. He has grown disillusioned with human language, which he sees as corrupted by worldly concerns for "bread and water" (M3:3268). He imagines that the sounds of animals—unburdened by human ego and materialism—must contain a purer, more direct form of wisdom.
He hopes to gain ʿibrat, a spiritual lesson or moral insight that causes one to "cross over" from ignorance to understanding. By listening to the beasts, he seeks a shortcut to enriching his dīn (faith or spiritual path). Rumi uses this man's request to set up a classic teaching story: the search for wisdom in external, exotic sources is a dangerous distraction from the true source, which is God himself. Moses immediately warns him against this "obsession" (havas), advising him to seek enlightenment from God directly, not from created things (M3:3270–71).
- عبرتی
- A lesson, warning, or moral insight. From an Arabic root meaning 'to cross over,' it implies knowledge that transports one from a state of ignorance to one of awareness. It is a key concept in didactic literature.
- دد
- Wild beasts, predatory animals. Often paired with 'ḥayvānāt' (animals) to mean 'all creatures, wild and tame.'
- دین
- Religion, faith, or spiritual path. In this context, it refers to the man's personal spiritual life and understanding, which he hopes to deepen.
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