The Masnavi, Book One (Oxford World's Classics)

shams means ‘sun’, hence the word-play.
125 So I can breathe in scent from Joseph’s shirt: the scent of Joseph’s shirt was
perceived by his father Jacob before it even reached him, informing him
that Joseph was still alive and restoring sight to his eyes after he had gone
Notes to pages 
5–12
245

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blind through weeping over his favourite son’s disappearance (see further
Koran 
12: 93–6).
130 drunkenness: this term is used in Sufi literature to mean intoxication due
to love.
225 Think of the child whose jugular Khezr slit: a reference to part of the story
in the Koran (
18: 65–82) about Moses’s failed attempt to follow Khezr
(see Glossary) as a disciple without questioning him about his actions.
Khezr shocks Moses by, among other things, killing a boy. This act is
later revealed by Khezr to have been in accordance with the wishes of
God, who wanted to give the boy’s pious parents a better child in his
place.
228 Like Ismail: Ismail, the forefather of the Arabs, is the son whom Abraham
was ready to sacri
fice in the Muslim version of this well-known story,
rather than his brother Isaac, who plays this role in the Judaeo-Christian
tradition.
229 Ahmad’s: Ahmad, meaning ‘most praised’, is one of the names of the
Prophet Mohammad. It is used in the Koran (
61: 6) where Jesus
announces that a messenger of God called Ahmad will come after him.
238 Moses stayed veiled: Moses was ‘veiled’ (i.e. ignorant) in his Koranic
encounter with Khezr (see Glossary), in that he doubted the correctness
of his guide’s actions, including the destruction of a boat which was the
property of others (see note to v. 
225).
245 barber’s blade: this is probably a reference to the Muslim practice of
circumcision, which was normally carried out by barbers in Rumi’s time.
277 a man who’s tasted truth: mystical knowledge is often described by Sufis as
‘tasting the truth’, indicating that it is an immediate, experiential form of
knowledge which gives greater certainty than theoretical knowledge.
279 Magicians challenged Moses, friend of God: a reference to the Koranic story
(
20: 62–76) about the help given by God to Moses, so that he could meet
the challenge of Pharaoh to perform a miracle greater than the sorcery of
his magicians. By magic they make their rods move about, while through
God’s help the transformation of Moses’s rod is even greater (according
to tradition, it changes into a snake).
289 like those from Merv and Reyy: Merv and Reyy were prosperous towns in
the east and west of medieval Persia. This expression is the equivalent of
‘like chalk and cheese’.
297 the Mother of the Book: Koran, 13: 39, where it can be understood to
signify the source in heaven of all books of revelation, or, more uni-
versally, the source of all knowledge.
298 a gap they don’t encroach upon: Koran, 55: 20, where it describes the way
in which di
fferent kinds of water (salt and sweet) are kept separate, as one
of a long list of signs in nature of God’s favours to mankind.
322 Bu Mosaylem’s name: in Muslim tradition, Bu Mosaylem was a con-
temporary of the Prophet Mohammad who claimed falsely to be a
Notes to pages 
12–23
246

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prophet himself. He was known, like the Prophet Mohammad, as
‘Ahmad’, the name associated in particular with the foretelling of the
latter’s mission (see note to v. 
229).
323 those who know well: Koran, 38: 29, where it is used to describe those who
appreciate revelation.
367 Companions: the Companions, or contemporary followers, of the Prophet
Mohammad. In Sunni Islam, the tradition to which Rumi belonged, the
Prophet’s Companions are the 
first generation of his religious successors.
394 They’re sleeping: Koran 18: 18, taken from the story of the Companions of
the Cave (see note to v. 
406).
401 He who makes each dawn break: Koran 6: 96, in a passage describing God’s
qualities. Rumi compares the break of dawn with the signalling of the
Resurrection (see note to v. 
1925) on Judgment Day by the angel Esrafil
(see Glossary).
406 Companions of the Cave: seven companions who, together with their dog,
are described in the Koran (
18: 9–26) as hiding in a cave during the reign
of a cruel tyrant, and praying to God for protection. They sleep there for
some
309 years before waking up and returning to the outside world,
though it seems to them like a single night. Their experience is referred
to in the Koran as a demonstration to sceptics of God’s power both to
protect His faithful servants and to resurrect men on Judgment Day. In
the earlier Christian version of this Koranic story, they are known as the
‘Seven Sleepers of Ephesus’.
410 Heading The caliph: this title, traditionally understood as meaning
‘political successor to the Prophet’, has been held by various rulers who
could trace their ancestry back to the tribe of the Prophet.
417 houri: female denizen of paradise.
428 How he makes shadows stretch: Koran 25: 45, where it serves to describe
one of the signs of God’s management of His ordered creation. The
shrinking and extension of shadows inform of the motion of the planet in
relation to the sun, while saints inform of the light of God.
429 don’t love the ones that set: Koran 6: 76, in the Koranic account of
Abraham’s search for a god truly worthy of worship – he worships in
turn a star, the moon, and the sun, until he witnesses that each one of
these is transient, at which point he declares: ‘I don’t love the ones that
set.’ This search leads him ultimately to worship none but the Eternal
Creator.
437 Sanctify my house: Koran 2: 125, God’s command to Abraham and Ismail
to purify the Kaaba (see Glossary) for the sake of His worshippers.
504 Not seeing Jesus’s one-colouredness . . . he didn’t guess: this refers to tradi-
tions that can be found in works of the Islamic ‘Stories of the Prophets’
genre, which present Jesus as an apprentice of a dyer. In one version, he