M6:2462 — خدمت شیخی بزرگی قایدی / عام نارد بی‌قرینهٔ فاسدی

Translation: If common folk serve a great sheikh, a guide, They never do so without a corrupt underlying motive.

Meaning: This verse offers a sharp critique of ordinary people's interactions with spiritual leaders, suggesting that any apparent service is driven not by sincerity but by hidden, self-serving, and often corrupt intentions.

This verse emerges from the tale of the camel, cow, and ram, where the ram suggests that the found grass be consumed by the eldest, invoking the principle of respecting elders. Following this anecdote, Rumi directs a sharp critique towards the 'āmm' (common people) of his era. He posits that in a time of 'le'ām' (base individuals), elders are put forth only in two specific scenarios: either to taste intensely hot food, so that their suffering might forewarn others, or to cross a dilapidated bridge first, so that their fall might reveal the danger to those behind. This kind of reverence, Rumi implies, is not for the elder's person but for their utility as a tool.

In this vein, the verse states that if such people offer service to a 'sheikh-i bozorg' (great master) or 'qā'id' (guide, leader—a word whose etymological root, as Dr. Soroush often notes, resonates with the English 'guide'), this service is never rendered out of pure devotion or without ulterior motives. There is always a 'qarīneh-i fāsid' at play: a hidden motive, a corrupt intention, or a self-serving calculation that strips the service of its spiritual essence. This ostensible service is a façade for personal gain, which ultimately benefits the server, not the sheikh or the divine will.

Here, Rumi alludes to a deeper philosophical point he repeatedly emphasizes throughout the Mathnawi: the distinction between animalistic aggression and human cunning. While a wolf may be predatory and 'istemgar' (oppressive), its aggression stems from instinct, not from 'farhang' (cunning, stratagem) or 'kayd' (deceit). Animals do not scheme; they act directly. Humans, however, even in their weakness, can inflict harm far greater than the fiercest beasts through guile and trickery. This 'corrupt motive' in the common folk's service to the sheikh is precisely this kind of human cunning and artifice—a 'second-order activity' that arises from calculations of self-interest, rather than from simplicity and sincerity of intention. This self-serving individual is more perilous than any predator, for their power is intertwined with the force of deception and hypocrisy. This verse, in essence, paints a picture of spiritual poverty and a lack of pure intention amidst an environment of pretense and deceit.

Key takeaways

• Outward service without sincerity is invariably tainted by corrupt motives.
• In an age of debasement, elders become tools for personal gain.
• Human cunning and deceit are more perilous than the instinctive aggression of animals.
• A true guide (qā'id) must discern hidden intentions beneath the veneer of service.
• This verse critiques the hypocritical culture of Rumi's time, and by extension, any era.