M6:2183 — در خیال از بس که گشتی مکتسی / نک بسوفسطایی بدظن رسی

Translation: Since you have been so clothed in imagination's garb, / Now you will reach the ill-willed sophist. Meaning: This verse warns that excessive indulgence in imagination and groundless conjecture leads one to deny objective reality and truth, fostering skepticism and ill-will towards genuine knowledge.

This verse from Rumi is a grave warning to seekers of truth and the spiritually inclined. He states: “Since you have been so clothed in imagination's garb, / Now you will reach the ill-willed sophist.” Here, maktasi means 'clothed,' implying that by excessively dwelling in fantasy, conjecture, and mere imaginings, you will soon transform into an ill-willed sophist. Sophists, like their ancient Greek counterparts, were masters of rhetoric and sophistry, capable of presenting falsehood as truth and truth as falsehood. They are, in essence, the ancestors of certain lawyers we see in court today, or those who, through legal and jurisprudential cunning, distort reality. The danger is that they gradually come to confuse themselves, reaching a point where they deny the existence of objective right and wrong, believing everything to be a construct of their own minds and language. This conflict is an ancient one in the history of thought: the battle of realism against sophistry and idealism.

Rumi warns that being absorbed in illusions and mental games ultimately leads one to deny the existence of truths independent of the mind. The sophist is suspicious of all truth, and this suspicion itself stems from intellectual stagnation. Rumi continues by saying: “He himself was dismissed from the lip of reason, / Then deprived of sense, then dismissed from existence itself.” This portrays the gradual fall of the sophist: first, ostracized from reason and intellect, then deprived of sensory perceptions, and finally, dismissed from existence and reality itself. This downward spiral is the fate of one who neglects em'ān-e nazar, or deep contemplation.

What is em'ān-e nazar? It is intense, profound reflection and introspection. Merely having an opinion is not enough; one must have a deep and rich perspective. This verse is part of a broader call to awaken from intellectual and psychological stagnation. Rumi says: “The spring is frozen, and has become a mere rivulet.” If the spring of our thought and soul remains stagnant and frozen, it becomes a small, insignificant 'rivulet'. God does not ask us to 'strike cold iron,' meaning to engage in futile endeavors. Cold iron can never be shaped; it must be heated in a furnace before it can be molded. This is a metaphor suggesting that our soul and mind also need the heat of passion and contemplation to become fertile and malleable.

And if you lack this inner fire, “O iron, become as David.” In the Quran, David is the one for whom God softened iron (“wa alannā lahu al-ḥadīd”). If you cannot, go to one who can. “If your body is dead, run to an Israfil; / If your heart is frozen, turn to a flowing sun.” If your physical self is dead, seek a life-giver like Israfil; and if your heart is depressed and frozen, turn to a flowing, radiant sun that will warm you and liberate you from despondency. These are all allusions to the seeker's need for a guiding master or saint.

According to Rumi, the root of much sorrow and depression is 'psychological stagnation' and the 'stagnation of the soul's spring.' Joy, he asserts, is the product of making this spring flow and opening its path. He says: depression is like the debris that gathers on stagnant water; the only way to remove it is to open the water's path so it can flow and join other waters. “When the stream flows with great speed, / Grief will not remain within the gnostics.” When the flowing stream gains speed, sorrow does not remain, for it sweeps away the debris and continually brings forth new forms and fresh beauty to banish melancholy. This is why ravān (Persian for 'soul' or 'psyche') means a flowing spring or 'a soul delivered from the body'; a soul freed from bodily attachments that has attained 'fluidity' and 'spirituality.' Such a soul alone is capable of deep contemplation and understanding truths, thereby escaping sophistry and suspicion.

Key takeaways

• Excessive indulgence in imagination and conjecture leads to the denial of reality and truth.
• Sophistry begins by dismissing reason, then denies sensory experience, and ultimately leads to the denial of existence itself.
• The remedy for this affliction is em'ān-e nazar, profound contemplation and deep reflection.
• Intellectual and psychological stagnation is the source of sorrow; mental flow and dynamism lead to joy.
• To escape stagnation and sophistry, one must seek guidance from enlightened spiritual masters who can revive the soul and warm the heart.