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

Notes to pages 
90–99
252

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1593 like those four rivers ruled by heaven’s fold: the Koranic (47: 15) rivers of
water, wine, milk, and honey in paradise.
1613 Heading Commentary on the saying of Attar . . . antidote’: this verse is
from a 
ghazal in the collection of poems, or Divan, of Faridoddin 
Attar
(concerning whom, see Introduction, and 
Encyclopaedia Iranica,
s.v. ‘
Attar’).
1625 Heading The reverence of the magicians . . . cast your rod first?: see note
to v. 
279.
1632 Listen!: Koran 7: 204, where it is used to instruct attentiveness to the
Koran, in order to gain God’s mercy.
1638 Enter their houses by their doors: Koran 2: 189, a verse that is often cited
as a proverb to mean that one should do things in the proper way.
1654 Knowledge and wisdom lawful meals produce: an allusion to the emphasis
placed by the early ascetic precursors of Su
fism on reliance exclusively
on sustenance which is known to be lawful and not ill-gotten according
to the religious law, as part of their extreme emphasis on purity.
1677 Even though God created all the pain!: an allusion to the theological
doctrine that God is the creator of all acts.
1683 A verse we cause you to forget: Koran 2: 106, concerning the abrogation of
certain verses in the Koran by other ones that are revealed later.
1684–7 They caused you to forget . . . they made you forget recite: Koran, 23:
110, where the unbelievers are warned that their mockery of the
righteous caused them to forget God’s message.
1719 ‘I swear’ until ‘in hardship’, for relief!: Koran 90: 1–4, the last verse of
which asserts that without God’s help Man is helpless in the face of the
challenges before him.
1722 God’s jealousy: the notion that God possessively demands our exclusive
attention and devotion.
1743–4 Even . . . maa?: in Persian maa is the relative pronoun meaning
‘we/us/our’, which is the way that it is used in v. 
1743. However, in
Arabic it is a particle serving, in di
fferent contexts, to either negate or
a
ffirm, and this is the sense intended in v. 1744.
1769 When I say ‘none’, read: ‘but’ the Deity!: wordplay involving parts of the
Muslim testimony of faith: ‘
There is no deity but God.’ Rumi is suggest-
ing that he cannot mention directly his intended subjects (God, the sea
of spirituality), which are too lofty and would therefore burn up his
tongue (v. 
1768).
1773 Heading Sad is truly jealous: Sad ebn Obada was a Companion of
the Prophet remembered for his jealous disposition.
1799 the order ‘Be!’: see note to v. 1390.
1805 Pay tax on your fair face: this implies that your face is so fair that it
should be counted as precious wealth on which one must pay tax.
Notes to pages 
99–112
253

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1817 It’s dawn . . . all night: a reference to the process of composition of the
Masnavi. Rumi would recite verses when inspired with them, even if
that meant staying up all night, and Hosamoddin would write down
what he recited.
1819 We sit and drink Mansur’s most potent wine: Mansur al-Hallaj (d. 922) was
a Su
fi who died on the gallows. He is famous for having made the
utterance ‘I am the Truth’ while experiencing mystical ecstasy, and later
traditions identify this as the reason why he was executed, although this
is contradicted by the earliest sources (see further ‘Hallaj’ in