M6:2053 — گفت نا‌فرجام و فحش و دمدمه / من نتانم باز گفتن آن همه

Translation: She uttered such ill-fated, abusive, and ranting words, I cannot recount all of them. Meaning: This verse refers to the torrent of insults hurled by Sheikh Kharaqani's wife at a dervish who sought out her husband. Rumi, as the narrator, expresses his inability to fully detail the extent and severity of her verbal abuse.

This verse presents one of the most direct and intriguing narrative choices Rumi makes in the Masnavi. In the tale of a dervish journeying to meet Sheikh Abul-Hasan Kharaqani, who instead encounters the Sheikh's irate wife, Rumi explicitly refuses to recount all of the wife's insults and vitriol. The woman not only abuses the newly arrived dervish, calling him 'foolish' (khām-rīsh) and a 'vagabond' (gūl-gard), but also disparages the Sheikh himself, labeling him a 'deceitful charlatan' (sālus zarrāq tahī) and a 'boastful pretender' (lāf-kīsh). After conveying some of these harsh words, Rumi abruptly states: She uttered such vile, abusive, and ranting words; I cannot recount all of them.

For me, this admission of inability or refusal to fully narrate holds two fundamental insights. First, it demonstrates the 'natural' and unpretentious style of Rumi in the Masnavi. Unlike Hafez, who meticulously refines and polishes his words, Rumi composes the Masnavi as it flows from his tongue. This candidness in expressing a narrative limit shows that he is not bound by literary artifices or a pretense of absolute knowledge. He genuinely states, 'I cannot,' not out of modesty, but out of truthfulness. Many experiences, both inner and outer, cannot be fully captured by words, and Rumi, with this verse, exposes the limitations of language.

Second, this point relates to the concept of 'silence' in Rumi's thought, which I have often discussed. Although Rumi's takhalluṣ (pen-name) 'Khāmoush' (Silent) carries deeper meanings, sometimes referring to the ineffability of intuitive knowledge or the protection of the audience, here, this silence takes on another dimension: silence in the face of excessive vileness and ugliness. It is as if Rumi does not wish to taint the sacred space of the Masnavi with a full recitation of vulgar abuse, for this book is meant to be a 'polish for griefs' (jalāʾ al-aḥzān), not a source of defilement. He deliberately refrains from fully narrating this segment, and this itself is a conscious choice, indicating that in the Masnavi, everything that is said serves a purpose, and everything that remains unsaid also stems from wisdom. Indeed, this verse teaches us that in both Rumi's speech and his silence, there is wisdom. Even in this scene, through the voice of the Sheikh's wife, he critiques 'sycophantic Sufism' and 'boastful pretenders,' showing that the mystical landscape of his era was not devoid of hypocrisy and posturing. However, a full account of those insults remains beyond the narrator's capacity or will.

Key takeaways

• Rumi explicitly states his narrative limitations in the Masnavi.
• This verse reflects the unpretentious and 'natural' style of the Masnavi's composition.
• Rumi deliberately refrains from fully detailing vileness to preserve the sacred atmosphere of the Masnavi.
• An admission of language's inability to fully represent certain realities, whether internal or external.
• Wisdom resides in silence as much as in speech within the Masnavi.
• Rumi uses this context to subtly critique hypocritical claimants of Sufism.