M6:1271 — تا که سفرهٔ روی او پنهان شود / تا نگین حلقهٔ خوبان شود

Translation: So that the wrinkles on her face might be hidden, So that she might become the jewel of the circle of beauties.

Meaning: This couplet describes an old woman's vain attempt to conceal her aging face and appear beautiful to others by affixing gold fragments from an illuminated Qur'an to her skin.

This couplet is embedded within a profound and insightful story from the Masnavi: the tale of an old woman consumed by a longing for external beauty, who resorts to an unusual act to conceal the wrinkles of her advancing age. Preparing for a gathering, she first tries conventional cosmetics and adornments, only to find that "her face's tablecloth (wrinkles) would not be more covered." Rumi, with particular subtlety, uses the word sofreh (tablecloth) to liken the folds of her skin to a cloth that can no longer be gathered or hidden.

In despair with ordinary means, this old woman commits a striking and regrettable act: she scrapes off the gold embellishments that adorned the ʿasharāt (marks for every ten verses in ancient illuminated Qur'ans) of an old manuscript and tries to glue them onto her face. Her intention is twofold: first, "so that the wrinkles on her face might be hidden," meaning to conceal her apparent ugliness and imperfections. Second, "so that she might become the jewel of the circle of beauties," thereby joining the esteemed company of the beautiful in the assembly and earning approval.

This couplet, though initially appearing as mere narrative, gains a deeper significance within Rumi's perspective on humanity and existence. The old woman's action is symbolic of humanity's attempt to cover the false inner truth with deceptive outward appearances. True beauty, in Rumi's view, emanates from formlessness (bī-ṣūratī) and from the very essence and soul of a person, not from something pasted onto a fleeting, decaying body. The soul is the essence, and the body is secondary; anything attached to the body that does not spring from the soul is like these gold particles that "fell off when she tied her veil." This is, without doubt, a fundamental critique of humanity's obsession with manifestations and its neglect of its own existential core. Beauty that does not well up from within can never endure, and no mask, however precious (even gold from a Qur'an), can hide the truth forever; it will ultimately fall away.

This story also reveals a curious contrast with Rumi's understanding of the "Qur'an" and its values. Rumi, who considers the Masnavi to be "the Qur'an in Persian" and calls it the "polisher of griefs" (jalāʾ al-aḥzān) and the "unveiler of the Qur'an" (kashshāf al-Qurʾān), here depicts a woman misusing the sanctity and adornment of the Qur'an for her own superficial physical enhancement. This signifies using the sacred for trivial and superficial ends. In Rumi's school of thought, truth and beauty must well up from within and unveil existence, rather than becoming veils themselves to hide ugliness. This tale teaches us that liberation and salvation lie in becoming a "child of the moment" (ṣūfī ibn al-waqt) and living in the "present state" (ḥāl), not in yearning for the past or attempting to repair worn-out and decaying appearances.

Key takeaways

• Superficiality and attempts to mask inner truths with outward adornments are destined to fail.
• Misusing sacred objects for trivial worldly ends signifies a profound misguidance and devaluation of true principles.
• Genuine and lasting beauty emanates from within, from the formlessness of the soul, not from external application to a perishable visage.
• The core teaching of the Masnavi is the primacy of the inner over the outer; anything lacking inner substance will ultimately fall away.