In Book Five of the *Masnavi*, Rumi uses the famous metaphor of the human body as a guest-house (*mehman-khane*) to teach equanimity and spiritual hospitality toward all thoughts and feelings.

Key aspects of this metaphor include:
- **The Body as a Guest-House:** The physical and psychological self is a temporary dwelling where emotions and thoughts, arriving from the unseen world (*ghayb*), are transient guests.
- **Spiritual Hospitality:** The seeker or gnostic (*arif*) should welcome every guest with warmth and a cheerful face, mimicking the legendary hospitality of Abraham (*Khalil*), who welcomed both friend and foe.
- **The Transience of Grief:** Joy and sorrow are fleeting. Seemingly difficult emotions should not be viewed as permanent burdens, as they soon return to non-existence, often clearing the way for new divine blessings.

The Metaphor of the Human Body as a Guest House in the Masnavi

## Original content
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آن یکی را بیگهان آمد قنق 
ساخت او را هم چو طوق اندر عنق
خوان کشید او را کرامتها نمود 
آن شب اندر کوی ایشان سور بود
مرد زن را گفت پنهانی سخن 
که امشب ای خاتون دو جامه خواب کن
پستر ما را بگستر سوی در 
بهر مهمان گستر آن سوی دگر
گفت زن خدمت کنم شادی کنم 
سمع و طاعه ای دو چشم روشنم
هر دو پستر گسترید و رفت زن 
سوی ختنه سور کرد آنجا وطن
ماند مهمان عزیز و شوهرش 
نقل بنهادند از خشک و ترش
در سمر گفتند هر دو منتجب 
سرگذشت نیک و بد تا نیم شب
بعد از آن مهمان ز خواب و از سمر 
شد در آن پستر که بد آن سوی در
شوهر از خجلت بدو چیزی نگفت 
که ترا این سوست ای جان جای خفت
که برای خواب تو ای بوالکرم 
پستر آن سوی دگر افکنده ام
آن قراری که به زن او داده بود 
گشت مبدل و آن طرف مهمان غنود
آن شب آنجا سخت باران در گرفت 
کز غلیظی ابرشان آمد شگفت
زن بیامد بر گمان آنک شو 
سوی در خفتست و آن سو آن عمو
رفت عریان در لحاف آن دم عروس 
داد مهمان را به رغبت چند بوس
گفت می ترسیدم ای مرد کلان 
خود همان آمد همان آمد همان
مرد مهمان را گل و باران نشاند 
بر تو چون صابون سلطانی بماند
اندرین باران و گل او کی رود 
بر سر و جان تو او تاوان شود
زود مهمان جست و گفت این زن بهل 
موزه دارم غم ندارم من ز گل
من روان گشتم شما را خیر باد 
در سفر یک دم مبادا روح شاد
تا که زوتر جانب معدن رود 
کین خوشی اندر سفر ره زن شود
زن پشیمان شد از آن گفتار سرد 
چون رمید و رفت آن مهمان فرد
زن بسی گفتش که آخر ای امیر 
گر مزاحی کردم از طیبت مگیر
سجده و زاری زن سودی نداشت 
رفت و ایشان را در آن حسرت گذاشت
جامه ازرق کرد زان پس مرد و زن 
صورتش دیدند شمعی بی لگن
می شد و صحرا ز نور شمع مرد 
چون بهشت از ظلمت شب گشته فرد
کرد مهمان خانه خانه خویش را 
از غم و از خجلت این ماجرا
در درون هر دو از راه نهان 
هر زمان گفتی خیال میهمان
که منم یار خضر صد گنج و جود 
می فشاندم لیک روزیتان نبود

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## English translation
A certain man had a guest arrive late and unseasonably;
He welcomed him warmly, holding him like a collar around his neck.
He spread the table and showed him much honor and hospitality;
That night there was a festive gathering in their neighborhood.
The husband spoke to his wife in secret, saying:
'O lady, prepare two beds tonight.
Spread our bedding toward the door,
And spread the other bedding on the opposite side for our guest.'
The woman said, 'I shall serve with joy;
Hearing and obeying, O light of my eyes!'
They spread both beds, and then the wife departed
To the circumcision feast and took up her abode there.
The dear guest and the husband remained behind;
They set out refreshments, both dry and moist.
In chosen conversation, they both spoke
Of past events, good and bad, until midnight.
Thereafter, the guest, weary from sleep and talk,
Went into that bedding which was toward the door.
The husband, out of bashfulness, said nothing to him,
To say: 'O dear soul, your place of sleep is on this side,
And for your comfort, O generous one,
I have laid the other bed on the opposite side.'
The arrangement that he had made with his wife
Was reversed, and the guest slumbered in that spot.
That night, a severe rain set in there,
Such that they were astonished by the thickness of the clouds.
The wife returned, on the assumption that her husband
Was sleeping near the door, and the guest on the other side.
The bride slipped naked under the quilt at that moment,
And eagerly gave the guest several kisses.
She said, 'I was afraid, O great man,
And indeed, it has happened, it has happened!
The mud and rain have detained the guest;
He has stuck to you like imperial soap!
In this rain and mud, when will he ever leave?
He will become a burden on your head and soul.'
The guest quickly leaped up and said, 'Let go of this, O woman,
I have boots, and I have no fear of the mud!
I am on my way; farewell to you!
May a soul never be happy during travel,
Save that it may return more quickly to the source (mine),
For this ease on the journey acts as a highwayman.'
The woman repented of those cold words,
When that solitary guest fled and departed.
The woman pleaded much, saying, 'After all, O prince,
If I made a jest, do not take it in ill part!'
The woman's prostration and lamentation availed nothing;
He departed and left them in that regret.
The husband and wife clothed themselves in blue (mourning) thereafter;
They saw his form as a candle without a candlestick.
He was going, and the desert was illuminated by the light of the candle,
Like paradise set apart from the darkness of the night.
The guest turned his home into his true home,
Free of the grief and shame of this affair.
Within both of them, through a hidden path,
At every moment, the image of the guest would say:
'I am the companion of Khidr, possessing a hundred treasures of bounty;
I was scattering them, but it was not your destiny.'

دفتر پنجم - بخش ۱۵۶ - حکایت آن مهمان کی زن خداوند خانه گفت کی باران فرو گرفت و مهمان در گردن ما ماند / Book Five - Section 156 - The Story of That Guest of Whom the Mistress of the House Said, 'The Rain Has set in and the Guest Has Remained on Our Necks'

## Original content
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هر دمی فکری چو مهمان عزیز 
آید اندر سینه ات هر روز نیز
فکر را ای جان به جای شخص دان 
زانک شخص از فکر دارد قدر و جان
فکر غم گر راه شادی می زند 
کارسازیهای شادی می کند
خانه می روبد به تندی او ز غیر 
تا در آید شادی نو ز اصل خیر
می فشاند برگ زرد از شاخ دل 
تا بروید برگ سبز متصل
می کند بیخ سرور کهنه را 
تا خرامد ذوق نو از ما ورا
غم کند بیخ کژ پوسیده را 
تا نماید بیخ رو پوشیده را
غم ز دل هر چه بریزد یا برد 
در عوض حقا که بهتر آورد
خاصه آن را که یقینش باشد این 
که بود غم بنده اهل یقین
گر ترش رویی نیارد ابر و برق 
رز بسوزد از تبسمهای شرق
سعد و نحس اندر دلت مهمان شود 
چون ستاره خانه خانه می رود
آن زمان که او مقیم برج تست 
باش هم چون طالعش شیرین و چست
تا که با مه چون شود او متصل 
شکر گوید از تو با سلطان دل
هفت سال ایوب با صبر و رضا 
در بلا خوش بود با ضیف خدا
تا چو وا گردد بلای سخت رو 
پیش حق گوید به صدگون شکر او
کز محبت با من محبوب کش 
رو نکرد ایوب یک لحظه ترش
از وفا و خجلت علم خدا 
بود چون شیر و عسل او با بلا
فکر در سینه در آید نو به نو 
خند خندان پیش او تو باز رو
که اعذنی خالقی من شره 
لا تحرمنی انل من بره
رب اوزعنی لشکر ما اری 
لا تعقب حسرة لی ان مضی
آن ضمیر رو ترش را پاس دار 
آن ترش را چون شکر شیرین شمار
ابر را گر هست ظاهر رو ترش 
گلشن آرنده ست ابر و شوره کش
فکر غم را تو مثال ابر دان 
با ترش تو رو ترش کم کن چنان
بوک آن گوهر به دست او بود 
جهد کن تا از تو او راضی رود
ور نباشد گوهر و نبود غنی 
عادت شیرین خود افزون کنی
جای دیگر سود دارد عادتت 
ناگهان روزی بر آید حاجتت
فکرتی کز شادیت مانع شود 
آن به امر و حکمت صانع شود
تو مخوان دو چار دانگش ای جوان 
بوک نجمی باشد و صاحب قران
تو مگو فرعیست او را اصل گیر 
تا بوی پیوسته بر مقصود چیر
ور تو آن را فرع گیری و مضر 
چشم تو در اصل باشد منتظر
زهر آمد انتظار اندر چشش 
دایما در مرگ باشی زان روش
اصل دان آن را بگیرش در کنار 
بازره دایم ز مرگ انتظار

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## English translation
Every moment, a thought like a dear guest
enters your breast every day as well.
Consider the thought, O soul, in place of a person,
for a person's value and spirit come from thought.
If the thought of sorrow blocks the path of joy,
it is actually preparing arrangements for joy.
It sweeps the house clean with fury of other things,
so that new joy may enter from the source of good.
It shakes the yellow leaves from the branch of the heart,
so that green leaves may grow continuously.
It uproots the old joy,
so that new delight may walk gracefully from beyond.
Sorrow uproots the crooked, decayed root,
so that it may reveal the hidden root.
Whatever sorrow sheds or carries away from the heart,
in exchange, in truth, it will bring something better,
Especially to the one who has this certainty:
that sorrow is the servant of the people of certainty.
If the cloud and lightning do not show a sour face,
the vineyard will be burnt by the smiles of the East.
Good and bad fortune become guests in your heart,
moving from house to house like a star.
When it resides in your zodiac sign,
be sweet and quick like its fortune,
So that when it joins with the moon,
it may speak of its gratitude for you to the King of the heart.
For seven years, Job, with patience and resignation,
was happy in calamity with the guest of God,
So that when the harsh-faced calamity returned,
it might express a hundred kinds of gratitude before God,
Saying, 'Out of love for me, who slays the beloved,
Job did not sour his face for a single moment.'
Out of loyalty and shame before God's knowledge,
he was like milk and honey with calamity.
When thoughts enter your breast anew,
go forth to meet them smiling and laughing,
Saying, 'May my Creator protect me from its evil,
and not deprive me of attaining its goodness.'
'My Lord, enable me to be thankful for what I see,
let no regret follow for me if it passes away.'
Cherish that sour-faced inner state,
and count that sourness as sweet as sugar.
Though the cloud has an outwardly sour face,
the cloud brings gardens and washes away salt-land.
Consider the thought of sorrow to be like a cloud;
do not sour your face so much in response to its sourness.
Perhaps that pearl is in its hand;
strive so that it departs from you satisfied.
And if there be no pearl and it is not wealthy,
you will have increased your own sweet habit.
Your habit will benefit you elsewhere,
and suddenly one day your need will be fulfilled.
The thought that prevents your joy
occurs by the command and wisdom of the Maker.
Do not call it worthless, O youth;
perhaps it is a lucky star and a planet of great conjunction.
Do not say it is secondary; take it as primary,
so that you may always triumph over your purpose.
For if you take it as secondary and harmful,
your eye will be waiting for the primary,
And expectation is poison in tasting;
you will be perpetually in death by that path.
Regard it as primary, hold it in your embrace,
and be delivered forever from the death of expectation.

دفتر پنجم - بخش ۱۵۷ - تمثیل فکر هر روزینه کی اندر دل آید به مهمان نو کی از اول روز در خانه فرود آید و فضیلت مهمان‌نوازی و ناز مهمان کشیدن و تحکم و بدخویی کند به خداوند خانه / Book Five - Section 157 - The parable of daily thoughts entering the heart like a new guest arriving at the house at the break of day, and the virtue of hospitality, enduring the guest's whims, and their dominance and ill-temper towards the master of the house

## Original content
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هست مهمان‌خانه این تن ای جوان 
هر صباحی ضیف نو آید دوان
هین مگو کین ماند اندر گردنم 
پر زند آن دم به سوی عدمم
هرچه آید از جهان غیب وار 
در دلت مهمان بود او را شمار

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## English translation
This body is a guest-house, O youth;
every morning a new guest comes running.
Do not say, 'This guest remains on my neck as a burden';
for in that very moment, they will fly back to non-existence.
Whatever comes from the unseen world
count it as a guest in your heart.

Google

## Original content
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این سخن از حد و اندازه ست بیش 
ای ایاز اکنون بگو احوال خویش
هست احوال تو از کان نوی 
تو بدین احوال کی راضی شوی
هین حکایت کن از آن احوال خوش 
خاک بر احوال و درس پنج و شش
حال باطن گر نمی آید بگفت 
حال ظاهر گویمت در طاق وجفت
که ز لطف یار تلخیهای مات 
گشت بر جان خوشتر از شکرنبات
زان نبات ار گرد در دریا رود 
تلخی دریا همه شیرین شود
صدهزار احوال آمد هم چنین 
باز سوی غیب رفتند ای امین
حال هر روزی بدی مانند نی 
هم چو جو اندر روش کش بند نی
شادی هر روز از نوعی دگر 
فکرت هر روز را دیگر اثر

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## English translation
This discourse is beyond limit and measure;
O Ayaz, now describe your own state.
Your states are from a mine of newness;
how would you be satisfied with these states?
Come, relate some story of those happy states;
dust upon the states and lessons of five and six.
If the inward state cannot be told,
I will tell you the outward state in odds and evens.
That by the grace of the Beloved, the bitterness of defeat
became sweeter to the soul than sugar-candy.
If a speck of that sugar-candy goes into the sea,
all the bitterness of the sea becomes sweet.
A hundred thousand states came in this manner,
and went back to the Unseen, O trustworthy one.
Each day's state was like a reed,
like a stream in its flow which has no barrier.
Each day's joy was of another kind,
and each day's thought had a different effect.

دفتر پنجم - بخش ۱۵۴ - دگربار استدعاء شاه از ایاز کی تاویل کار خود بگو و مشکل منکران را و طاعنان را حل کن کی ایشان را در آن التباس رها کردن مروت نیست / Book Five - Section 154 - The King's requesting Ayaz once again to explain the interpretation of his action and to solve the difficulty of the deniers and mockers, for it is not chivalrous to leave them in that confusion

Root URL: https://ganjoor.net/
Source URL: https://ganjoor.net/

This Reference node represents the source used by the Literature-to-1Cademy migration agent.

Ganjoor

دفتر پنجم - بخش ۱۵۵ - تمثیل تن آدمی به مهمان‌خانه و اندیشه‌های مختلف به مهمانان مختلف / Book Five - Section 155 - Analogy of the Human Body to a Guest-House and Different Thoughts to Different Guests

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