M6:1689 — از حکایتهای میران دگر / وز کرمها و عطاء آن نفر

Translation: From tales of other rulers / And from the generosities and gifts of those folk. Meaning: To distract the Turk, the cunning tailor began to spin various tales about the generosity of kings and the gifts of other people, aiming to divert his attention.

In this verse and those immediately preceding and following it, Rumi vividly portrays the cunning tailor's glibness. To deceive his Turkish customer, the tailor resorts to storytelling, employing what Rumi calls feshār — idle chatter, jokes, and absurd tales designed to bewilder the Turk. He speaks of 'tales of other rulers' (Mirān), recounting their grand bounties and 'gifts' (atā), as well as the miserliness of the stingy. These narratives serve a singular purpose: to entertain and distract the Turk, creating a veil of heedlessness behind which the tailor can stealthily cut and steal valuable portions of the Turk's satin cloth. Dr. Soroush expands this anecdote beyond a simple story, interpreting it as an allegory for the universal 'human condition.' We, too, are likened to the Turk, squandering the precious capital of our lives and energy on lāgh (jokes) and afsāne (tales). Soroush asserts that 'we humans have grown fat on amusement and frivolity,' constantly occupying ourselves with jokes and distractions, thus becoming oblivious to deeper realities. Time itself acts as a cunning tailor, a darzī-ye ʿāmm (common tailor), whose 'jokes' (lāghs) dismantle the dignity of 'hundreds of thousands like you.' Through captivating stories and diverting games, time beguiles us, much as the tailor's tales of kings, misers, and jests so intoxicated the Turk with laughter that his eyes closed, and his 'reason flew, bewildered.' In this state of unawareness and intoxication, the tailor of time finds ample opportunity to pilfer the garment of our very existence, tearing away our lives piece by piece. This verse, then, illuminates a facet of how the tailor of existence, with sweet words and deceptive narratives, distracts us from our true essence.

Key takeaways

• The verse belongs to the 'Turk and Tailor' story, an allegory for human heedlessness towards the capital of one's life.
• The tailor, through eloquent speech and tales of rulers' generosity, distracts the Turk from the actual act of theft.
• Rumi terms idle, distracting speech feshār (empty chatter), aimed at making the listener oblivious.
• Soroush interprets this as a parable for humanity, 'fattened by amusement and frivolity,' becoming oblivious to our true essence.
• Time acts as a cunning tailor, stealing our life and existential capital through its 'jokes' (lāghs) and deceptive games.