In Book 1, Section 9 of Rumi's Masnavi, the King's messengers use gold, silver, and robes of honor to lure the Goldsmith from Samarkand. This episode serves as an allegory for how the human soul is deceived by worldly wealth and material attachments. The Goldsmith's eagerness to accept the gifts ('He saw much wealth and many robes of honor; he was deluded') symbolizes the ego's blindness. He mistakes the instruments of his own destruction—his literal 'blood money'—for a profound blessing. Rumi uses this narrative turn to illustrate the deceptive allure of the material world (Dunya) and how avarice blinds individuals to their impending spiritual and physical ruin.

Google

## Original content
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right; line-height: 2; margin-top: 0.5rem;">

شه فرستاد آن طرف یک دو رسول 
حاذقان و کافیان بس عَدول
تا سمرقند آمدند آن دو امیر 
پیش آن زرگر ز شاهنشه بَشیر
«کای لطیف استاد کامل معرفت 
فاش اندر شهرها از تو صفت
نک فلان شه از برای زرگری 
اختیارت کرد زیرا مهتری
اینک این خلعت بگیر و زرّ و سیم 
چون بیایی خاص باشی و ندیم»
مرد مال و خلعت بسیار دید 
غرّه شد از شهر و فرزندان برید.
اندر آمد شادمان در راه مرد 
بی‌خبر کان شاه قصد جانْش کرد
اسپ تازی برنشست و شاد تاخت 
خونبهای خویش را خلعت شناخت.
ای شده اندر سفر با صد رضا 
خود به پای خویش تا سوء القضا
در خیالش مُلک و عِزّ و مهتری 
گفت عزرائیل رو، آری بری
چون رسید از راه آن مرد غریب 
اندر آوردش به پیش شه طبیب
سوی شاهنشاه بردندش بناز 
تا بسوزد بر سر شمع طراز
شاه دید او را بسی تعظیم کرد 
مخزن زر را بدو تسلیم کرد
پس حکیمش گفت کای سلطان مِه 
آن کنیزک را بدین خواجه بدِه
تا کنیزک در وصالش خوش شود 
آب وصلش دفع آن آتش شود
شه بدو بخشید آن مه روی را 
جفت کرد آن هر دو صحبت‌جوی را
مدت شش ماه می‌راندند کام 
تا به صحتْ آمد آن دختر تمام
بعد از آن از بهر او شربت بساخت 
تا بخورد و پیش دختر می‌گداخت
چون ز رنجوری جمال او نماند 
جان دختر در وبال او نماند
چونک زشت و ناخوش و رخ زرد شد 
اندک‌اندک در دل او سرد شد.
عشقهایی کز پی رنگی بود 
عشق نبود عاقبت ننگی بود
کاش کان هم ننگ بودی یکسری 
تا نرفتی بر وی آن بد داوری
خون دوید از چشم همچون جوی او 
دشمن جان وی آمد روی او
دشمن طاووس آمد پرّ او 
ای بسی شه را بکشته فرّ او
گفت: «من آن آهوم کز ناف من 
ریخت این صیاد خون صاف من،
ای من آن روباهِ صحرا، کز کمین 
سر بریدندش برای پوستین،
ای من آن پیلی که زخم پیلبان 
ریخت خونم از برای استخوان،
آنک کشتستم پی مادون من 
می‌نداند که نخسپد خون من
بر منست امروز و فردا بر وی‌است 
خون چون من کسْ، چنین ضایع کی‌است؟
گر چه دیوار افکند سایهٔ دراز 
باز گردد سوی او آن سایه باز؛
این جهان کوهست و فعل ما ندا 
سوی ما آید نداها را صدا»
این بگفت و رفت در دَم زیر خاک 
آن کنیزک شد ز عشق‌و رنج پاک
زانک عشق مردگان پاینده نیست 
زانک مرده سوی ما آینده نیست
عشق زنده در روان و در بصر 
هر دمی باشد ز غنچه تازه‌تر
عشق آن زنده گزین کو باقیست 
کز شراب جان‌فزایت ساقیست
عشق آن بگزین که جمله انبیا 
یافتند از عشق او کار و کیا
تو مگو ما را بدان شه بار نیست 
با کریمان کارها دشوار نیست

</div>

## English translation
The king sent in that direction one or two messengers, skilled, capable, and very upright men. Those two amirs came to Samarkand as bearers of good news from the king of kings to the goldsmith: “O gracious master, perfect in knowledge, your reputation is openly known through the cities. Behold, such-and-such a king has chosen you for goldsmith’s work, because you are superior. Take this robe of honor, gold, and silver; when you come, you will be a favorite and companion.” The man saw much wealth and robes of honor; he was beguiled and tore himself from city and children. Gladly he entered upon the road, unaware that the king intended his life. He mounted an Arabian horse and joyfully rode off, mistaking the robe of honor for his own blood-price. O you who set out on the journey with a hundred satisfactions, walking by your own feet toward evil fate! In his imagination were kingdom, glory, and eminence; Azrael was saying, “Go, yes, you are going.” When that stranger arrived from the road, the physician brought him before the king. They led him graciously toward the king of kings, so that he might burn before the candle of Taraz. The king saw him and honored him greatly, entrusting the treasury of gold to him. Then his sage said, “O great Sultan, give that handmaiden to this master, so the handmaiden may be happy in union with him, and the water of union may quench that fire.” The king bestowed that moon-faced one on him and paired those two seekers of companionship. For six months they fulfilled their desire, until the girl was fully restored to health. After that, the physician made a potion for him, so that he drank it and wasted away before the girl. When, through sickness, his beauty was gone, the girl’s soul was no longer in bondage to him. When he became ugly, unpleasant, and yellow-faced, little by little he grew cold in her heart. Loves that follow outward color are not love; in the end they are disgrace. Would that even that disgrace had been entire, so that that evil judgment had not fallen on him! Blood ran from his eyes like a stream; his face became the enemy of his life. The peacock’s feathers became its enemy; how many a king has been slain by his own splendor! He said: “I am that deer from whose navel this hunter shed my pure blood. I am that desert fox whose head they cut off from ambush for the sake of its fur. I am that elephant whose mahout’s blow shed my blood for the sake of ivory. The one who killed me for what is lower than me does not know that my blood will not sleep. Today it is on me, and tomorrow it is on him; when is the blood of someone like me ever wasted so? Though a wall casts a long shadow, that shadow returns back to it. This world is a mountain, and our action is a shout; the echo of shouts comes back to us.” He said this and at once went beneath the earth; the handmaiden was purified of love and suffering. For love of the dead is not lasting, since the dead do not come toward us. Love of the Living One, in spirit and in sight, is fresher at every moment than a bud. Choose love of that Living One who is everlasting, who is cupbearer to you from soul-increasing wine. Choose the love of the One from whose love all the prophets found power and glory. Do not say, “We have no access to that King”; with the generous, affairs are not difficult.

دفتر اول - بخش ۹ - فرستادن پادشاه رسولان به سمرقند به آوردن زرگر / Book 1 - Section 9 - The King Sending Messengers to Samarkand to Fetch the Goldsmith

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

In Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, the deliberate poisoning of the goldsmith by the divine physician in "The King and the Handmaiden" presents a challenging moral paradox. Rumi directly addresses this tension by providing a theological defense, asserting that the act "was not out of hope, nor out of fear" but executed strictly by "command and divine inspiration." To contextualize this, Rumi draws a parallel to the Quranic figure of Khidr, whose seemingly destructive actions—such as taking a youth's life or scuttling a boat—were driven by infallible divine foresight beyond human comprehension. Rumi posits that a true spiritual master acts entirely as God's deputy, meaning "his hand is the hand of God." This narrative segment underscores a core Sufi tenet: divine justice transcends human morality, and what appears to the limited intellect as harsh cruelty is often a profound manifestation of spiritual purification.

The Divine Justification of the Goldsmith's Death in the Masnavi

## Original content
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right; line-height: 2; margin-top: 0.5rem;">

کشتن آن مرد بر دست حکیم 
نه پی اومید بود و نه ز بیم
او نکشتش از برای طبع شاه 
تا نیامد امر و الهام اله
آن پسر را کش خضر ببرید حلق 
سر آن را در نیابد عام خلق
آنک از حق یابد او وحی و جواب 
هرچه فرماید بود عین صواب
آنک جان بخشد اگر بکشد رواست 
نایبست و دست او دست خداست
همچو اسماعیل پیشش سر بنه 
شاد و خندان پیش تیغش جان بده
تا بماند جانت خندان تا ابد 
همچو جان پاک احمد با احد
عاشقان آنگه شراب جان کشند 
که به دست خویش خوبانشان کشند
شاه آن خون از پی شهوت نکرد 
تو رها کن بدگمانی و نبرد
تو گمان بردی که کرد آلودگی 
در صفا غش کی هلد پالودگی
بهر آنست این ریاضت وین جفا 
تا بر آرد کوره از نقره جفا
بهر آنست امتحان نیک و بد 
تا بجوشد بر سر آرد زر زبد
گر نبودی کارش الهام اله 
او سگی بودی دراننده نه شاه
پاک بود از شهوت و حرص و هوا 
نیک کرد او لیک نیک بد نما
گر خضر در بحر کشتی را شکست 
صد درستی در شکست خضر هست
وهم موسی با همه نور و هنر 
شد از آن محجوب تو بی پر مپر
آن گل سرخست تو خونش مخوان 
مست عقلست او تو مجنونش مخوان
گر بدی خون مسلمان کام او 
کافرم گر بردمی من نام او
می‌بلرزد عرش از مدح شقی 
بدگمان گردد ز مدحش متقی
شاه بود و شاه بس آگاه بود 
خاص بود و خاصهٔ الله بود
آن کسی را کش چنین شاهی کُشد 
سوی بخت و بهترین جاهی کِشد
گر ندیدی سود او در قهر او 
کی شدی آن لطف مطلق قهرجو
بچه می‌لرزد از آن نیش حجام 
مادر مشفق در آن دم شادکام
نیم جان بستاند و صد جان دهد 
آنچ در وهمت نیاید آن دهد
تو قیاس از خویش می‌گیری ولیک 
دور دور افتاده‌ای بنگر تو نیک

</div>

## English translation
The killing of that man by the physician's hand
Was not out of hope, nor out of fear.
He did not kill him to gratify the king's nature;
Not until the command and divine inspiration came from God.
That boy whose throat Khiḍr cut —
The common people cannot grasp the secret of it.
One who receives revelation and answer from God —
Whatever he commands is the very essence of rightness.
One who gives life — if he kills, it is lawful;
He is a deputy, and his hand is the hand of God.
Like Ishmael, lay your head before him;
Joyfully and smiling, give your life to his sword,
So that your soul may remain joyful forever,
Like the pure soul of Aḥmad with the One.
Lovers drink the wine of the soul at the moment
When the beloved ones slay them with their own hands.
The king did not shed that blood out of desire;
Leave off suspicion and contention.
You supposed he committed defilement —
In purity, does adulteration ever hold in the refined?
This spiritual discipline and this hardship exists
So that the furnace may extract dross from silver.
The testing of good and bad exists
So that gold may boil and bring scum to the surface.
If his actions had not been divine inspiration,
He would have been a tearing dog, not a king.
He was pure of desire, greed, and passion;
He did good, but the good appeared as evil.
If Khiḍr scuttled the boat in the sea,
In Khiḍr's breaking there are a hundred soundnesses.
Moses's understanding, with all its light and skill,
Was veiled by that. You who are without wings, do not try to fly.
That is a red rose — do not call it blood;
He is intoxicated with reason — do not call him mad.
If the blood of Muslims had been his desire,
I would be an unbeliever if I uttered his name.
The Throne trembles at the praise of the wicked;
The God-fearing grows suspicious at his praise.
He was a king, and a very knowing king;
He was elect, and among the elect of God.
The one whom such a king slays
Is drawn toward fortune and the most excellent station.
If he had not seen the benefit for him in that severity,
How would absolute grace have sought to be severe?
The child trembles at the barber-surgeon's lancet;
The loving mother is joyful at that moment.
He takes half a life and gives a hundred lives;
He gives what does not enter your imagination.
You are drawing analogies from yourself, but
You have fallen far, far astray — look carefully.

دفتر اول - بخش ۱۰ - بیان آنک کشتن و زهر دادن مرد زرگر به اشارت الهی بود نه به هوای نفس و تامل فاسد / Book One - Section 10 - Explaining That the Killing and Poisoning of the Goldsmith Was by Divine Indication, Not by Selfish Desire and Corrupt Thought

Learn Before

Related