Overview

In the Masnavi, Rumi employs the metaphor of a crooked pillar casting a crooked shadow (پایهٔ کژ کژ افکند سایه) to illustrate the psychological and spiritual phenomenon of projection. This concept explains how an individual's internal moral and spiritual state distorts their perception of external reality and other people.

Key Principles

• Projection of Inner State: Rumi asserts that when someone views another with suspicion or ill-will (بدگمانی), they are not perceiving the other's true character but are projecting their own internal flaws ('In whomever you look with an evil eye, you are looking from the collar of your own existence').
• The Crooked Base: Just as a crooked foundation cannot produce a straight shadow, a corrupt or biased soul cannot form a true or straight judgment of others. This is why the wicked (خسان) often accuse prophets and saints of being deceitful or crooked.
• Purification for Objective Perception: To see things as the...