M6:2052 — یا مگر دیوت دو شاخه بر نهاد / بر تو وسواس سفر را در گشاد

Translation: Or did the demon place a two-pronged yoke upon you, / and unleash the obsession of travel within you? Meaning: These are the angry, mocking words of Sheikh Kharaqani's wife to a dervish, questioning if Satan has deceived him, implanting in his heart the mere urge for aimless wandering.

This verse emerges from the tale of the dervish from Taleqan and Sheikh Abul Hasan Kharaqani, found in the sixth book of the Masnavi. A sincere dervish, filled with devotion, embarks on a long journey to visit Sheikh Kharaqani, only to be met not with a warm welcome, but with the harsh rebuke of the Sheikh's wife. She dismisses the dervish's travel not as a spiritual quest, but as 'foolish wandering' (gool-gardi) and a mere 'boredom with home' (malooli-e vatan), suggesting it was the Div (demon or Satan) who spurred him on this path. She mockingly questions him: 'Did the demon place a two-pronged yoke upon your neck, and unleash the obsession of this fruitless journey within you?' The 'two-pronged yoke' (do-shakheh) refers to the wooden yoke placed on the neck of an ox, implying that the devil has subjugated and misled the dervish like an animal.

I wish to emphasize that Mowlana, while delivering these words through the voice of the Sheikh's wife, subtly incorporates his own critique of certain contemporary Sufi pretenders. This implicit criticism indicates that, in Mowlana's view, not every urge to travel or seek a sheikh necessarily stems from divine inspiration or genuine spiritual progression. At times, it can be a satanic vasvās (obsession or temptation) that lures individuals into aimless wandering or the pursuit of superficial fame. Mowlana, through the wife's biting tongue in this very story, employs terms like 'pretentious claimants' (laf-kishi), 'sycophants' (kaseh-lisi), and 'drum-eaters' (tabl-khwar) to denounce false Sufis. This verse, on the one hand, depicts the depth of charlatanry and falsehood among spiritual aspirants, and on the other, raises a fundamental question about the origin of human motivations: Does this yearning well up from within and is it divine, or is it an external temptation that places a devilish yoke upon the soul? The Sheikh's wife here plays the role of a merciless, critical interrogator who exposes truth from behind the veil of superficial claims. Through her cutting language, she effectively warns the dervish that he might be following a demon who has preoccupied him with futility instead of God. This critical view of hypocrites and pretenders of the path is prominent throughout the Masnavi, and Mowlana never shies away from presenting it, even if he articulates this critique through the voice of a sharp-tongued and angry woman.

Key takeaways

• Not every desire for spiritual journey or seeking is divine; it can sometimes be a satanic temptation.
• Mowlana, even through a sharp-tongued character, offers a potent critique of false Sufi claimants.
• The 'obsession of travel' can be a sign of misguidance or an incorrect goal in the spiritual path.
• The question of the origin of one's motivations—whether from God or Satan—is central to spiritual seeking.