In Jalaluddin Rumi's Masnavi, the tale of the Roman and Chinese painters serves as a profound allegory for spiritual epistemology and the purification of the soul. In the story, the Chinese painters represent exoteric scholars who accumulate outward forms, knowledge, and dogmas, spending their time acquiring intricate colors and designs. In contrast, the Roman painters represent Sufi mystics who focus solely on polishing their hearts to a mirror-like finish, removing the rust of worldly attachments. When the king removes the curtain dividing them, the Romans' polished wall perfectly reflects the Chinese painters' magnificent artwork with even greater brilliance. Rumi uses this narrative to illustrate that a purified heart directly reflects divine truth and spiritual beauty without the need for intermediary forms or discursive reasoning.

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## Original content
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چینیان گفتند ما نقاش‌تر 
رومیان گفتند ما را کر و فر
گفت سلطان امتحان خواهم درین 
کز شماها کیست در دعوی گزین
اهل چین و روم چون حاضر شدند 
رومیان در علم واقف‌تر بدند
چینیان گفتند یک خانه به ما 
خاص بسپارید و یک آن شما
بود دو خانه مقابل در بدر 
زان یکی چینی ستد رومی دگر
چینیان صد رنگ از شه خواستند 
پس خزینه باز کرد آن ارجمند
هر صباحی از خزینه رنگها 
چینیان را راتبه بود از عطا
رومیان گفتند نه نقش و نه رنگ 
در خور آید کار را جز دفع زنگ
در فرو بستند و صیقل می‌زدند 
همچو گردون ساده و صافی شدند
از دو صد رنگی به بی‌رنگی رهیست 
رنگ چون ابرست و بی‌رنگی مهیست
هرچه اندر ابر ضو بینی و تاب 
آن ز اختر دان و ماه و آفتاب
چینیان چون از عمل فارغ شدند 
از پی شادی دهلها می‌زدند
شه در آمد دید آنجا نقشها 
می‌ربود آن عقل را و فهم را
بعد از آن آمد به سوی رومیان 
پرده را بالا کشیدند از میان
عکس آن تصویر و آن کردارها 
زد برین صافی شده دیوارها
هر چه آنجا دید اینجا به نمود 
دیده را از دیده‌خانه می‌ربود
رومیان آن صوفیانند ای پدر 
بی ز تکرار و کتاب و بی هنر
لیک صیقل کرده‌اند آن سینه‌ها 
پاک از آز و حرص و بخل و کینه‌ها
آن صفای آینه وصف دلست 
صورت بی منتها را قابلست
صورت بی‌صورت بی حد غیب 
ز آینهٔ دل تافت بر موسی ز جیب
گرچه آن صورت نگنجد در فلک 
نه بعرش و فرش و دریا و سمک
زانک محدودست و معدودست آن 
آینهٔ دل را نباشد حد بدان
عقل اینجا ساکت آمد یا مضل 
زانک دل یا اوست یا خود اوست دل
عکس هر نقشی نتابد تا ابد 
جز ز دل هم با عدد هم بی عدد
تا ابد هر نقش نو کاید برو 
می‌نماید بی حجابی اندرو
اهل صیقل رسته‌اند از بوی و رنگ 
هر دمی بینند خوبی بی درنگ
نقش و قشر علم را بگذاشتند 
رایت عین الیقین افراشتند
رفت فکر و روشنایی یافتند 
نحر و بحر آشنایی یافتند
مرگ کین جمله ازو در وحشتند 
می‌کنند این قوم بر وی ریش‌خند
کس نیابد بر دل ایشان ظفر 
بر صدف آید ضرر نه بر گهر
گرچه نحو و فقه را بگذاشتند 
لیک محو فقر را بر داشتند
تا نقوش هشت جنت تافتست 
لوح دلشان را پذیرا یافتست
برترند از عرش و کرسی و خلا 
ساکنان مقعد صدق خدا

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## English translation
The Chinese said, 'We are better painters'; the Romans said, 'Ours is honor and splendor.'
The sultan said, 'I want a test in this, to see which of you is superior in your claim.'
When the people of China and Rome were present, the Romans were more deeply acquainted with the knowledge.
The Chinese said, 'Entrust one room specially to us, and one to you.'
There were two rooms facing each other, door to door; the Chinese took one and the Romans the other.
The Chinese asked the king for a hundred colors; then that noble one opened the treasury.
Every morning, colors from the treasury were allotted to the Chinese as a stipend from his bounty.
The Romans said, 'Neither design nor color is fitting for the work, only the removal of rust.'
They closed the door and kept polishing; they became simple and clear like the heavens.
From multicoloredness there is a way to colorlessness; color is like the cloud, and colorlessness is like the moon.
Whatever light and radiance you see in the cloud, know it comes from the star, the moon, and the sun.
When the Chinese had finished their work, they beat drums for joy.
The king entered and saw the images there; they stole away reason and understanding.
After that he came toward the Romans; they lifted the curtain from between.
The reflection of those images and works struck upon these polished walls.
Whatever he had seen there appeared better here; it stole the eye from its socket.
The Romans are the Sufis, O father, without repetition, book, or skill.
But they have polished those breasts, clean of greed, covetousness, miserliness, and rancor.
That mirror-like purity is the attribute of the heart; it can receive the infinite Form.
The formless Form of the boundless Unseen shone from the mirror of the heart upon Moses from the bosom.
Although that Form is not contained in the celestial sphere, nor in Throne, earth, sea, or fish,
for those are limited and numbered; the mirror of the heart has no such limit.
Reason here becomes silent or misleading, for the heart is either He, or He Himself is the heart.
The reflection of every form does not shine forever except from the heart, both with number and without number.
Forever, every new form that comes upon it appears within it without veil.
The people of polishing have escaped scent and color; at every moment they behold beauty without delay.
They left aside the form and husk of knowledge; they raised the banner of direct certainty.
Thought departed and they found luminosity; they found the breast and sea of intimacy.
Death, from which all these others are terrified, this people laughs at it.
No one gains victory over their hearts; harm comes to the shell, not to the pearl.
Although they left grammar and jurisprudence behind, they took up the effacement of poverty.
Thus the forms of the eight paradises have shone and found the tablet of their hearts receptive.
They are above Throne, Footstool, and void, dwellers in God's seat of truth.

دفتر اول - بخش ۱۵۷ - قصهٔ مری کردن رومیان و چینیان در علم نقاشی و صورت‌گری / Book One - Section 157 - The Tale of the Contention Between the Romans and the Chinese in the Art of Painting and Portraiture

In Book 1 of Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, the physical seating arrangement of a royal court serves as an allegory for spiritual perception. Rumi explains that while kings position their champions on the left and scribes on the right, they seat the Gnostic Sufis directly in front of them. This prominent placement is because the spiritually purified hearts of the Sufis act as flawless mirrors. By gazing upon them, the king is able to see a clear reflection of his own inner spiritual state and the divine attributes. This narrative establishes the philosophical concept of the spiritually realized person serving as an objective mirror of truth and clarity.

The Sufi as the Mirror of the Soul in the Masnavi

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The Allegory of the Roman and Chinese Painters in the Masnavi

In Book 1 of the Masnavi, Rumi employs the narrative of a guest presenting a mirror to Joseph as an allegory for the metaphysical relationship between existence and non-existence. The guest's logic—that Joseph's peerless beauty can only be appreciated through a mirror—introduces the concept that 'the mirror of being is non-being' ($$adam$$). Rumi argues that divine attributes are only manifest through their opposites: the tailor's skill requires unshaped timber, and the physician's art requires the sick. Consequently, human deficiency ($$nuqs$$) and 'non-being' serve as the essential mirrors reflecting God's absolute perfection ($$kamāl$$) and generosity. This framework posits that the recognition of one's own flaws is the primary catalyst for spiritual growth. Rumi warns that the 'conceit of perfection' is a spiritual death, as it prevents the soul from seeking the divine completion found only when one empties themselves of ego to become a clear reflector of the Divine.

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