M6:1532 — هین حدیث صوفی و قاضی بیار / وان ستمکار ضعیف زار زار

Translation: Now, tell the tale of the Sufi and the Qazi (Judge), / And that feeble, utterly wailing oppressor (who wronged the Sufi). Meaning: In this verse, Rumi invites the listener to continue the narrative of the Sufi and the dying oppressor, whose case is about to be presented before a judge.

In this verse, Rumi beckons us to delve into a story that possesses dimensions far deeper than a simple legal dispute. The narrative begins when a Sufi is struck from behind. He seeks no revenge, but upon realizing that his aggressor is a terminally ill, dying man, the Sufi resolves to bring him before a judge, aiming to impart a profound lesson. The opening word, "Hin" (Listen!), serves as an urgent call for attention, as if Rumi is saying: "Pay heed!" For this tale of the "Sufi and the Qazi" (Judge), and "that feeble, utterly wailing oppressor," is poised to become a meditation on the nature of justice, death, and the Sufi way of life.

As the Qazi (judge) states in the lines immediately following this beyt: "Thabbit al-ʿarsha, ay pesar / Tā bar u naqshi konam az khayr o sharr" (Stabilize the ground, my son, / So that I may inscribe upon it a sketch of good and ill). This is an Arabic proverb meaning "fix the foundation before you paint," implying that one must first secure the context and gather the details of the incident before rendering a judgment, a "sketch of good and ill." However, in this specific case, the Qazi quickly loses sight of a "living agent." He questions: "Ku zanande? Ku mahall-e enteqām?" (Where is the striker? Where is the subject of revenge?). He answers his own question: "In khayālī gashte ast andar saqām" (This has become a phantom due to illness). This weak, ailing man is nothing more than a "phantom" or "semblance" due to his severe illness; he is a body barely breathing. "Saqām" meaning illness, the Qazi concludes that this man is among the "dwellers of the graveyard."

It is at this juncture that Rumi transcends the material and legal situation. The Qazi argues: "Sharʿ be-har zendegān o aghniyā-st / Sharʿ bar ashāb-e gurestān kojā-st?" (The Shari'a (law) is for the living and the wealthy; / Where is the Shari'a for the dwellers of the graveyard?). He posits that legal and jurisprudential rulings are for the living and those capable of action and responsibility, not for someone on the brink of death, who is already "as good as dead." In his view, this man is "in the category of the dead" and thus falls outside the jurisdiction of Shari'a. However, Rumi, with his characteristic flair for hyperbole and his ability to move from the apparent to the inner truth, uses this discussion of "death" as a springboard into the "mystical death" (marg-e ʿerfānī) of the Sufis. He declares: "Morde az yek ru-st fāni dar gazand / Sufiyān az sad jehat fāni shodand" (The dead are annihilated in one respect from harm / Sufis are annihilated in a hundred respects).

Here, the physical death of this weak man is linked to the fanāʾ (annihilation) of Sufis, who sacrifice themselves a hundredfold for the Beloved. Natural death has merely one "aspect"; the body ceases to function. But the Sufi, in their "poverty" (faqr) and "annihilation" (fanāʾ), offers "two hundred souls" daily on the path of God, as Rumi says elsewhere in the Masnavi: "Āzmūdam marg-e man dar zendegī-st / Chun raham z'in zendegī pāyandegī-st" (I have tested it: my death is in my life; / When I escape this life, then there is permanence). Thus, this story is not merely about an earthly judge's ruling on a weak man, but about the "invalidity of complaining against the dead"; both the man whose body is nearing annihilation and the mystics who have abandoned "outward life" to join "Divine Life" are beyond the legal and judicial frameworks of this world. Complaint and retribution become meaningless when faced with such "dead ones"—be they physically dead or dead to the lower self.

Key takeaways

• Rumi utilizes seemingly simple stories as a pretext to delve into the deepest mystical and ontological discussions.
• Earthly judgment and the rulings of "Shari'a" are limited to the realm of the living and the able, unable to grasp realities beyond death and annihilation.
• The Sufi concept of "mystical death" (fanāʾ), an intentional and conscious annihilation in the path of Truth, far transcends the natural "annihilation" of a dying patient.
• For the Sufi, complaint and retribution against another, especially one who is dead to the lower self, is meaningless, as the Sufi considers themselves "annihilated a hundredfold."