M6:2061 — جیفة اللیلست و بطال النهار / هر که او شد غرهٔ این طبل‌خوار

Translation: He is the corpse of the night and the idler of the day / Whosoever becomes beguiled by this drum-eater. Meaning: This verse condemns hypocritical Sufis who are idle by day and spiritually dead by night, warning that anyone who follows such a 'drum-eater' will fall into the same spiritual decay.

Mowlana, in this verse from the Masnavi, launches a particularly sharp and biting critique against the hypocritical Sufis of his era. This couplet is part of a broader series of condemnations he leveled against monastery dwellers and claimants of spiritual authority, describing their lifestyle with unflinching irony and exposing its inherent corruption.

I contend that Mowlana here attributes two reprehensible qualities to these pretenders: jīfat al-layl (the corpse of the night) and baṭṭāl al-nahār (the idler of the day). Jīfat al-layl signifies one who, during the night, lies motionless and insensible like a cadaver; neither awake for worship nor engaged in remembrance. Their nocturnal existence is akin to a lifeless body, utterly devoid of spiritual activity. Baṭṭāl al-nahār denotes an individual who is idle and unproductive during the day; possessing no profession or skill, refraining from honest labor, and perpetually anticipating handouts from others. This is the dependence on futūḥāt (donations) that allowed monastery-dwelling Sufis to succumb to idleness instead of engaging in work and effort, subsisting on the labor of others.

The term ṭabl-khvār (drum-eater) is a metaphor for this very hypocrisy and pursuit of public recognition. Like a drum-beater who generates noise and commotion to attract attention for alms, such a person seeks outward show but remains inwardly empty and devoid of true substance. Mowlana warns that "whosoever becomes beguiled by this drum-eater" – that is, anyone who falls prey to these charlatans, becomes their disciple, or lends them dignity and occupies themselves with them – will inevitably share their fate. They too will become jīfat al-layl and baṭṭāl al-nahār; meaning they will suffer both spiritual decay and be drawn into sloth and parasitic behavior.

This critique by Mowlana is, in many ways, even more severe than Hafez's denouncements of Sufis. Hafez primarily complains about the Sufis' ʿujb-i khāneqāhī (monastery vanity) and their sour-faced demeanor, often suggesting wine as an antidote to these unpleasant traits. Mowlana, however, addresses the very essence of their existence, vividly portraying their moral and spiritual corruption. These Sufis often considered intellectual study to be undesirable, even forbidden, shunning knowledge to the extent that carrying a pen was deemed an awra (a shameful act). This ignorance and inaction, combined with their hypocrisy and parasitism, constitutes the image Mowlana paints of this group, explicitly warning against following their path. This was precisely what even a great Sufi like Alāʾuddawla Semnānī found intolerable, compelling the Sufis of his own monastery to work in the fields and sweat, thereby escaping such idleness and its attendant corruptions. Mowlana unequivocally rejects this path of inaction and drum-eating as a route to salvation; he summons the seeker to a journey of wakefulness and effort, both outwardly and inwardly.

Key takeaways

• Mowlana sharply criticizes hypocritical Sufis of his time who spend their nights in spiritual neglect and their days in idleness.
• The term 'drum-eater' metaphorically refers to those who create a spectacle and noise to live parasitically, relying on public donations.
• Anyone deceived by these 'drum-eaters' will fall into the same spiritual inaction and decay.
• These particular Sufis often disdained and even forbade the pursuit of knowledge and learning.
• Mowlana champions a path of wakefulness, effort, and sincerity, rejecting hypocrisy and sloth as avenues to spiritual fulfillment.