M6:1028 — تن سپید و دل سیاهستش بگیر / در عوض ده تن سیاه و دل منیر

Translation: Take the one whose body is white and heart is black; In return, give the one whose body is black and heart is luminous. Meaning: This couplet speaks of trading a person with fair skin but a dark soul for one with dark skin but an enlightened heart, highlighting the supremacy of inner spiritual light over external appearance.

This couplet appears within the narrative of Bilal and Abu Bakr, as Abu Bakr strives to free Bilal from the torment of a Jewish man. Abu Bakr offers a symbolic exchange, proposing a slave who is, incidentally, 'white-bodied and black-hearted' in return for Bilal, who possesses a 'black body and a luminous heart.' With this exchange, Rumi issues a clear ontological decree: what truly matters is not the complexion or physique, but the state of the heart and the light of the soul.

I have emphasized repeatedly that Rumi warns against this worship of forms (ṣūrat-parastī), this attachment to outward appearances. The world, in Rumi's terms, is but 'the foam of the sea'; the forms and shapes of the cosmos are superficial and fleeting phenomena. Depth and authenticity reside beneath this foam, in the ocean of formlessness and colorlessness. Race, color, and physical appearance all belong to the category of 'form'; but a luminous or black heart belongs to the category of 'meaning' and 'character.' This is an invitation to transcend the merely visual and sensory in judging and understanding people, and indeed all phenomena. As Rumi himself states: 'The forms of the world are the foam of the sea / Pass beyond the foam if you are of pure essence.' If you are of pure inner essence, you will pass beyond the foam and reach the depth.

This narrative reveals that even the 'hard-hearted' Jew, upon witnessing the outward beauty of another slave (the 'white-bodied' one), finds his heart softened and accedes to Abu Bakr's request. This itself testifies to how profoundly the worship of forms can stir even a heart oblivious to truth. Yet Abu Bakr, representing the mystical vision, pays no heed to these external appearances. He is willing to sacrifice what is deemed beautiful in the eyes of men for what is precious in the eyes of God and the saints. Values are inverted: Bilal's blackness becomes luminosity, and the other slave's whiteness becomes darkness. This is precisely the self-knowledge that Socrates advocated with 'know thyself,' and the sacred tradition articulated with 'He who knows himself, knows his Lord.' One who knows oneself from within comprehends true values and will no longer be captivated by deceptive forms.

Key takeaways

• The primacy of inner essence (heart) over outer appearance (body).
• The luminosity of the heart is the true measure of human worth.
• A critique of superficial judgment and the worship of forms.
• The exchange of 'dark inner whiteness' for 'luminous inner blackness'.