M6:2544 — گفت شه لعنت برین زودیت باد / که دو صد تشویش در شهر اوفتاد

Translation: The king said: "A curse upon this haste of yours, For by it, two hundred anxieties befell the city." Meaning: The king curses the jester for his premature declaration, saying his rashness has caused widespread anxiety and unrest throughout the city.

This couplet vividly portrays the king's immense wrath towards the jester. The jester, without any prompt or expectation, rushes to the king and prematurely declares his inability to participate in a race that hasn't even begun. The king, with a sharp and reproving tone, curses his haste: "A curse upon this haste of yours." This 'haste' refers to his ill-timed and unnecessary urgency. The king condemns this rashness because it has caused "two hundred anxieties [to] befall the city." This trivial and ill-conceived declaration has thrown the entire city into turmoil. The king calls the jester a kham-rish (foolish, immature), saying he has "cast fire into this marj o hasheesh" (meadows and plants) for such a paltry statement. Marj refers to a meadow, and hasheesh here means plants in general, not the narcotic. The king's metaphor implies: you have ignited sedition and chaos, destroying the peace of the city's verdant fields. While seemingly a mere scolding of a jester, Rumi extracts a profound lesson from this small scene. He immediately pivots to critique the khamān bā tabl o alam—those 'fools with drums and banners' who, through fanfare and ostentation, present themselves as people of high status and knowledge, yet are inwardly 'donkeys in poverty and nothingness.' Soroush expands on this, identifying such individuals as 'illiterate, shallow, uncultured, and greedy for power,' who 'sell themselves dearly to the public.' These are people willing to commit 'a thousand injustices and shed a thousand bloods' to prevent their 'true nature from being revealed' or their 'secrets from being exposed.' This phenomenon, Soroush insists, is not exclusive to Rumi's era or the Islamic world; it is an affliction that has historically plagued every religion and sect. Religion, which was meant to be samḥatun sahlatun (tolerant and easy) as the Prophet stated, has become 'fat and swollen' due to 'superstitions, false narratives, and exaggerated claims,' losing its initial simplicity and purity. Rumi, with his keen and critical insight, though not directly confronting jurists and sheikhs, subtly revealed his disdain for this 'class and faction.' He saw himself miles apart from the 'sheikhs at their shops,' those who have turned religion into a means of worldly gain. This couplet and its explanation serve as a reminder to us not to be deceived by clamor and appearances, but to look beyond every claim to the depth of its truth.

Key takeaways

• Unjustified haste, even if well-intentioned, can lead to severe consequences and societal turmoil.
• Rumi uses the jester's story to critique hypocrites and false claimants of spiritual authority and knowledge.
• True religion is light and easy; it becomes cumbersome and alienating when burdened with superstitions and exaggerated claims.
• Some claimants prioritize maintaining appearances and concealing their inner emptiness, even resorting to injustice and bloodshed.
• Rumi subtly, yet sharply, refers to those who commercialize religion as 'sheikhs at their shops'.