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Masnavi I, 988-989
He Is Abiding Peacefully
988. When the breeze of (spiritual) poverty1 is (blowing)
within (someone), he is abiding peacefully upon the surface
of the world.
989. Even though this entire world is his kingdom,2 (such a)
kingdom is (as) nothing in the eye of his heart.
--From "The Mathnawî-yé Ma`nawî" [Rhymed Couplets of
Deep Spiritual Meaning] of Jalaluddin Rumi.
Translated from the Persian by Ibrahim Gamard (with
gratitude for R. A. Nicholson's 1926 British translation)
© Ibrahim Gamard (translation, footnotes, & transliteration)
Archives at Dar-al-Masnavi
Notes on the text, by line number:
1(988) (spiritual) poverty [darwÍshÓ]: may also be
translated as "the quality of being a (true) dervish. "It
means, 'He is not absorbed in love of (the attractions of)
the world and travels in the world of the spirit.'"
(Anqaravi, the 17th century Turkish commentator, translated
here into English from a Persian translation)
2(989) Even though this entire world is his kingdom: "The
dervish whose heart is closed against worldly desires can
never sink and perish; his spiritual poverty enables him to
surmount every temptation and live in perfect peace with
God, scorning the kingdom of this world which belongs to him
as God's viceregent." (Nicholson, Commentary)
(mathnawi meter: XoXX XoXX XoX)
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