M6:2049 — خنده‌ای زد زن که خه‌خه ریش بین / این سفر‌گیری و این تشویش بین

Translation: His wife let out a laugh, "Hee-hee, look at this fool! Look at this journeying and all this trouble!"

Meaning: In this verse, Sheikh Kharaqani's wife scornfully laughs at a dervish who has traveled a long distance to visit the Sheikh, mocking him as foolish and senseless for undertaking such a troublesome and, to her, pointless journey.

This verse, from the story of the dervish of Taleqan's journey to visit Sheikh Abu'l-Hasan Kharaqani, marks a crucial point for understanding the seeker's encounter with worldly ignorance and contempt, and indeed, Rumi's own implicit critique of Sufism in his time. The dervish, after enduring immense hardships on his journey, arrives at the Sheikh's home, only to be met not with welcome, but with the Sheikh's wife's scornful laughter and harsh words. "Hee-hee, look at this fool!" she exclaims. Here, rish does not refer to facial hair, but rather means 'ignorant,' 'senseless,' or 'ridiculous.'

The Sheikh's wife, with a biting tone, lambasts the dervish: "You've come all this way, look at this journeying and all this trouble!" She mockingly asks if he had nothing better to do in his own city, to undertake such a long and pointless journey. She questions if he was afflicted by an "itch for aimless wandering" (ashthā-yi gūl-gardī), or if he was simply "weary of his homeland" (malūl-i vaṭan) and decided to hit the road. She even goes further, accusing him of being yoked by a "devil" (dīv) who instilled in him the "obsession of travel" (vasvās-i safar). These words deeply wound the dervish, as he certainly did not expect such a reception at the home of a great Sheikh.

I believe that Rumi here is not merely recounting an event, but subtly critiquing the pretenders within the Sufism of his era. Through the voice of the Sheikh's wife, he critiques those who are "pretentious, flatterers, and drum-eaters" (lāf-kīshī, kāsa-līsī, ṭabl-khār), who lure simple-minded people with false and deceptive claims. This is a point Rumi emphasizes repeatedly throughout the Masnavi: the distinction between the true gnostic and the false claimant.

However, the deeper interpretation of this story, as I have always stressed, lies in its symbolic dimension. The Sheikh Kharaqani's wife must be seen as a symbol of the unruly and commanding nafs (the carnal self or ego) within every human being. This nafs constantly torments the seeker from within, mocks them, and obstructs any upward or spiritual movement. Sheikh Kharaqani, as a symbol of perfected intellect (ʿaql) and spirit, is one who has attained a high station of miraculous power (karamat) and spiritual authority (velāyat). Rumi clarifies later in the story that the Sheikh's miracles are the result of his patience and endurance in the face of his wife's tyranny. This means that spiritual attainments emerge from enduring and overcoming the self's suffering, not from fleeing it. This is a profound message: spiritual perfection is forged in patience against the bitter inner struggles of the nafs; that very nafs which deems every spiritual journey and effort as "pointless" and labels every truth-seeker as a "fool." Thus, encountering such mockery, whether from without or within, is an inseparable part of every seeker's path.

Key takeaways

• Contempt and mockery from the ignorant (both external and internal) are an inseparable part of the spiritual path.
• The Sheikh's wife in this story symbolizes the commanding nafs (ego) that scoffs at the seeker from within.
• The Sheikh's spiritual stature and miracles (karamat) are born from his patience and endurance in the face of this unruly nafs's tyranny.
• Rumi sometimes voices his critique of false Sufi claimants and superficiality through the characters in his stories.
• Spiritual seeking is often perceived as a pointless and foolish endeavor by the nafs or the material-minded.