M6:1672 — گفت خیاطیست نامش پور شش / اندرین چستی و دزدی خلق‌کش

Translation: He said, “There is a tailor named Pour-shash, who in this cunning and thievery is a slayer of people.” Meaning: This verse introduces a highly skilled and deceptive tailor, known as Pour-shash, whose mastery of cunning and thievery leads to the undoing of others.

In this verse, Rumi introduces a tailor named "Pour-shash," describing him as unparalleled in cunning and dexterity in thievery, calling him a "slayer of people" (khulq-kush). Yet, in the Masnavi, no story is merely anecdotal; every tale is a verse meant to convey profound meaning. This cunning, thieving, "people-slaying" tailor is a deep allegory for our own ego (nafs), for the deceptive nature of time (zamāneh), and for our inherent heedlessness (ghaflat).

I firmly believe that Rumi is speaking here not merely of a tailor's theft, but of the theft of our lives and our awareness. He crafts this narrative as a veil to articulate how humans become engrossed in "idle talk and amusement" (lahw o lāgh); how, through jokes, laughter, and fruitless diversions, they remain oblivious to the core reality of their existence. This tailor symbolizes the cunning world that, with sweet tales and pleasantries, lulls us into laughter and intoxication, and in this very heedlessness, steals the precious fabric of our lives. Just like the Turk in the story, whose eyes close from excessive laughter, losing his wits and failing to see his fabric being plundered piece by piece. The heedless human, precisely like this blind Turk, remains unaware of the continuous looting of their existential capital amidst their own laughter.

Rumi explicitly states that many "hundred-year-olds" remain like "raw children" (ṭifl-e khām) because they learn no lessons from experience and still crave the "amusements" and "tricks" of the heavens (falak). It is this "common tailor" or "tailor of time" who sews clothes for these childlike elders; but a tailoring that involves tearing and stealing. These "amusements" of the world may occasionally bring joy and freshness, as Rumi says, "If its jest granted gardens abundance," but they quickly usher in autumn and annihilation: "When winter came, it scattered what was granted to the wind." This is the way of time: playing tricks and deceiving us. It fools us and makes us laugh so that it can steal from us. This is nothing short of a profound warning to awaken from the slumber of heedlessness.

This narrative also clearly illustrates how we welcome plunder when faced with "Satan" and our "satanic companions." We ask them to entertain us, to distract us from reality, and to steal from us. And this theft ultimately leads to "soul-slaying" – to spiritual destruction and annihilation. Rumi interprets this "soul-slaying" as the loss of our essence and departing this world empty-handed; an outcome that should never befall the seeker of truth. In summary, this verse is a deep existential warning to guard the capital of life against the cunning of time and the heedlessness of the self.

Key takeaways

• This verse introduces a cunning and master tailor, adept at deceiving and stealing from others.
• The "people-slaying Pour-shash" symbolizes the heedless self or the deceptive world that steals from humanity.
• Rumi uses this story as a warning against human heedlessness regarding the precious capital of life and being.
• The world's amusements and "jests" lead people to laughter, but simultaneously pilfer their true values.
• The heedless individual, like the Turk in the story, in a state of joyous intoxication, closes their eyes to the real theft and ends up empty-handed.
• This narrative is an invitation to awakening and safeguarding one's spiritual life against the cunning of time and the commanding self.