In Book Three of the *Masnavi*, Rumi employs the narrative of Jesus healing the afflicted as a profound allegory for spiritual medicine. He equates the 'Monastery of Jesus' (صومعه عیسی) to the 'table of the people of the heart' (خوان اهل دل), which represents the presence and threshold of the perfect spiritual guide or Saint. In this metaphor, the physical ailments of the gathered crowd—such as blindness, lameness, and paralysis—symbolize the spiritual afflictions and moral sicknesses of humanity. Rumi instructs seekers not to abandon the door of the spiritual master, as the master's divine connection and spiritual breath (comparable to the miraculous, life-giving breath of Jesus) serve as the ultimate cure for the ailments of the soul.

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صومعهٔ عیسیست خوان اهل دل 
هان و هان ای مبتلا این در مهل
جمع گشتندی ز هر اطراف خلق 
از ضریر و لنگ و شل و اهل دلق
بر در آن صومعهٔ عیسی صباح 
تا بدم اوشان رهاند از جناح
او چو فارغ گشتی از اوراد خویش 
چاشتگه بیرون شدی آن خوب‌کیش
جوق جوقی مبتلا دیدی نزار 
شسته بر در در امید و انتظار
گفتی ای اصحاب آفت از خدا 
حاجت این جملگانتان شد روا
هین روان گردید بی رنج و عنا 
سوی غفاری و اکرام خدا
جملگان چون اشتران بسته‌پای 
که گشایی زانوی ایشان برای
خوش دوان و شادمانه سوی خان 
از دعای او شدندی پا دوان
آزمودی تو بسی آفات خویش 
یافتی صحت ازین شاهان کیش
چند آن لنگی تو رهوار شد 
چند جانت بی غم و آزار شد
ای مغفل رشته‌ای بر پای بند 
تا ز خود هم گم نگردی ای لوند
ناسپاسی و فراموشی تو 
یاد ناورد آن عسل‌نوشی تو
لاجرم آن راه بر تو بسته شد 
چون دل اهل دل از تو خسته شد
زودشان در یاب و استغفار کن 
همچو ابری گریه‌های زار کن
تا گلستانشان سوی تو بشکفد 
میوه‌های پخته بر خود وا کفد
هم بر آن در گرد کم از سگ مباش 
با سگ کهف ار شدستی خواجه‌تاش
چون سگان هم مر سگان را ناصح‌اند 
که دل اندر خانهٔ اول ببند
آن در اول که خوردی استخوان 
سخت گیر و حق گزار آن را ممان
می‌گزندش تا ز ادب آنجا رود 
وز مقام اولین مفلح شود
می‌گزندش کای سگ طاغی برو 
با ولی نعمتت یاغی مشو
بر همان در همچو حلقه بسته باش 
پاسبان و چابک و برجسته باش
صورت نقض وفای ما مباش 
بی‌وفایی را مکن بیهوده فاش
مر سگان را چون وفا آمد شعار 
رو سگان را ننگ و بدنامی میار
بی‌وفایی چون سگان را عار بود 
بی‌وفایی چون روا داری نمود
حق تعالی فخر آورد از وفا 
گفت من اوفی بعهد غیرنا
بی‌وفایی دان وفا با رد حق 
بر حقوق حق ندارد کس سبق
حق مادر بعد از آن شد کان کریم 
کرد او را از جنین تو غریم
صورتی کردت درون جسم او 
داد در حملش ورا آرام و خو
همچو جزو متصل دید او ترا 
متصل را کرد تدبیرش جدا
حق هزاران صنعت و فن ساختست 
تا که مادر بر تو مهر انداختست
پس حق حق سابق از مادر بود 
هر که آن حق را نداند خر بود
آنک مادر آفرید و ضرع و شیر 
با پدر کردش قرین آن خود مگیر
ای خداوند ای قدیم احسان تو 
آنکه دانم وانکه نه هم آن تو
تو بفرمودی که حق را یاد کن 
زانک حق من نمی‌گردد کهن
یاد کن لطفی که کردم آن صبوح 
با شما از حفظ در کشتی نوح
پیله بابایانتان را آن زمان 
دادم از طوفان و از موجش امان
آب آتش خو زمین بگرفته بود 
موج او مر اوج که را می‌ربود
حفظ کردم من نکردم ردتان 
در وجود جد جد جدتان
چون شدی سر پشت پایت چون زنم 
کارگاه خویش ضایع چون کنم
چون فدای بی‌وفایان می‌شوی 
از گمان بد بدان سو می‌روی
من ز سهو و بی‌وفاییها بری 
سوی من آیی گمان بد بری
این گمان بد بر آنجا بر که تو 
می‌شوی در پیش همچون خود دوتو
بس گرفتی یار و همراهان زفت 
گر ترا پرسم که کو گویی که رفت
یار نیکت رفت بر چرخ برین 
یار فسقت رفت در قعر زمین
تو بماندی در میانه آنچنان 
بی‌مدد چون آتشی از کاروان
دامن او گیر ای یار دلیر 
کو منزه باشد از بالا و زیر
نه چو عیسی سوی گردون بر شود 
نه چو قارون در زمین اندر رود
با تو باشد در مکان و بی‌مکان 
چون بمانی از سرا و از دکان
او بر آرد از کدورتها صفا 
مر جفاهای ترا گیرد وفا
چون جفا آری فرستد گوشمال 
تا ز نقصان وا روی سوی کمال
چون تو وردی ترک کردی در روش 
بر تو قبضی آید از رنج و تبش
آن ادب کردن بود یعنی مکن 
هیچ تحویلی از آن عهد کهن
پیش از آن کین قبض زنجیری شود 
این که دلگیریست پاگیری شود
رنج معقولت شود محسوس و فاش 
تا نگیری این اشارت را بلاش
در معاصی قبضها دلگیر شد 
قبضها بعد از اجل زنجیر شد
نعط من اعرض هنا عن ذکرنا 
عیشة ضنک و نجزی بالعمی
دزد چون مال کسان را می‌برد 
قبض و دلتنگی دلش را می‌خلد
او همی‌گوید عجب این قبض چیست 
قبض آن مظلوم کز شرت گریست
چون بدین قبض التفاتی کم کند 
باد اصرار آتشش را دم کند
قبض دل قبض عوان شد لاجرم 
گشت محسوس آن معانی زد علم
غصه‌ها زندان شدست و چارمیخ 
غصه بیخست و بروید شاخ بیخ
بیخ پنهان بود هم شد آشکار 
قبض و بسط اندرون بیخی شمار
چونک بیخ بد بود زودش بزن 
تا نروید زشت‌خاری در چمن
قبض دیدی چارهٔ آن قبض کن 
زانک سرها جمله می‌روید ز بن
بسط دیدی بسط خود را آب ده 
چون بر آید میوه با اصحاب ده

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## English translation
The monastery of Jesus is the banquet-table of the people of the heart; beware, beware, O afflicted one: do not leave this door. People from every side would gather there: the blind, the lame, the paralyzed, and the wearers of patched cloaks. At dawn they came to the door of that monastery of Jesus, so that by his breath he might deliver them from ailment. When he had finished his own litanies, at forenoon that man of good religion would come out. He would see group after group of afflicted, emaciated people seated at the door in hope and expectation. He would say, O companions of affliction, by God the need of all of you has been granted. Now go on your way, without pain and trouble, toward God's forgiveness and generosity. All of them, like hobbled camels whose knee-bonds are untied, would run happily and joyfully toward home; by his prayer they became swift-footed. You have tried many afflictions of your own; you found health from these kings of the path. How often has your lameness become fit for the road? How often has your soul become free of grief and hurt? O heedless one, tie a string to your foot so that you do not lose even yourself, O wanton one. Your ingratitude and forgetfulness did not remember that drinking of honey. Inevitably that road was closed to you when the hearts of the people of the heart became weary of you. Quickly reach them and ask forgiveness; weep bitter tears like a cloud, so that their rose garden may bloom toward you and ripe fruits may split open upon themselves. Circle around that same door; be no less than a dog, if you have become fellow-servant with the dog of the Cave. For even dogs advise dogs: set your heart on the first house. That first door where you ate a bone: hold fast to it and discharge its right; do not abandon it. They bite him so that, through discipline, he goes there and prospers from his first station. They bite him, saying, O rebellious dog, go; do not rebel against your benefactor. Stay fastened like a ring at that same door; be watchful, nimble, and ready. Do not be the image of breaking our fidelity; do not pointlessly expose faithlessness. Since fidelity is the mark of dogs, go, do not bring shame and bad name upon dogs. Since faithlessness is a disgrace even for dogs, how can you regard faithlessness as permissible? God Most High boasts of fidelity; He said, Who is more faithful to a covenant than We are? Know that faithlessness is fidelity to rejecting God; no one has precedence over God's rights. The mother's right came after that, when that Generous One made her your creditor through your embryo. He formed you inside her body; during her pregnancy He gave her repose and disposition. She saw you as a part joined to herself; His providence separated what was joined. God made thousands of crafts and arts so that the mother would cast affection upon you. Thus God's prior right comes before the mother's; whoever does not know that right is an ass. The One who created the mother, breast, and milk, and paired her with the father: do not take that as independently yours. O Lord, O Ancient One, Your beneficence: what I know and what I do not know is all Yours. You commanded, Remember the right, for My right does not grow old. Remember the kindness I did that morning for you, preserving you in Noah's ark. At that time I gave the cocoon of your forefathers safety from the Flood and its wave. Fire-natured water had seized the earth; its wave was snatching away the summit of the mountain. I preserved you; I did not reject you in the existence of your forefather's forefather's forefather. Since you have become a head, how should I strike the back of your foot? How should I waste My own workshop? How do you make yourself a sacrifice for the faithless, going toward that side through evil suspicion? I am free of forgetfulness and faithlessness; when you come toward Me, do you bring evil suspicion? Take that evil suspicion there, where you bend double before someone like yourself. You took many stout friends and companions; if I ask you where they are, you say, They went away. Your good friend went to the highest heaven; your sinful friend went into the depth of the earth. You remained in between, without help, like a fire left behind by a caravan. Take hold of His hem, O courageous friend, for He is beyond above and below. He does not ascend to heaven like Jesus, nor go down into the earth like Qarun. He is with you in place and placelessness when you are left without house and shop. He brings clarity out of turbidities; He takes your wrongs as fidelity. When you bring wrong, He sends a reprimand so that you turn back from deficiency toward perfection. When, on the path, you abandon a litany, contraction comes upon you from distress and fever. That is discipline, meaning: make no alteration in that ancient covenant. Before this contraction becomes a chain, before this heart-tightness becomes a fetter on the foot, your intelligible pain becomes sensory and manifest, so that you do not take this sign for nothing. In sins, contractions became heart-tightness; after death, contractions became chains. We give whoever turns away here from Our remembrance a straitened life, and We recompense with blindness. When a thief steals people's property, contraction and heart-tightness prick his heart. He keeps saying, Strange, what is this contraction? It is the contraction of the oppressed one who wept because of your evil. When he pays little attention to this contraction, the wind of persistence fans his fire. The heart's contraction becomes the officer's grip; inevitably that meaning becomes sensory and raises its banner. Sorrows have become prison and the rack; sorrow is a root, and branches grow from the root. The root was hidden, but it too became manifest; count inner contraction and expansion as roots. When the root is bad, cut it quickly so that an ugly thorn does not grow in the meadow. When you see contraction, remedy that contraction, for all heads grow from the root. When you see expansion, water your expansion; when fruit comes forth, give it to companions.

دفتر سوم - بخش ۱۰ - جمع آمدن اهل آفت هر صباحی بر در صومعهٔ عیسی علیه السلام جهت طلب شفا به دعای او / Book Three - Section 10 - The gathering of the afflicted every morning at the door of the monastery of Jesus, peace be upon him, to seek healing by his prayer

In Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, a foundational Sufi principle is the absolute necessity of a spiritual guide—often referred to as a Sheikh, Pir, or 'the Wise' ($$عاقل$$)—to safely traverse the spiritual path. Rumi emphasizes that individual intellect and isolated acts of worship are insufficient against the subtle deceptions of the ego (Nafs) and inner enemies. Seekers are instructed to take refuge under the "shadow" of a perfected master. This theme is explicitly established when the Prophet advises Imam Ali to prioritize companionship with a divine guide over all other forms of devotion, asserting that such a guide serves as an indispensable spiritual protector, shielding the disciple much like Noah's Ark saves believers from a flood.

The Necessity of a Spiritual Guide (Pir) in the Masnavi

In the *Masnavi*, Rumi draws a sharp contrast between the diagnostic methods and capabilities of physical physicians (طبیبان بدن) and spiritual or divine physicians (طبیبان الهی). While physical doctors rely on observable bodily signs like pulse, complexion, and urine to treat somatic diseases, they remain blind to internal emotional and spiritual afflictions. In contrast, the divine physician diagnoses through spiritual insight (کشف), recognizing that ailments of the soul—such as lovesickness—cannot be cured with worldly drugs. This distinction highlights Rumi's broader philosophical theme that spiritual illnesses require the guidance of a spiritual master who perceives the unseen state of the heart.

The Distinction Between Physical and Spiritual Medicine in the Masnavi

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The Metaphor of the Monastery of Jesus in the Masnavi

In Book Three of Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, a central didactic theme is the proper etiquette (adab) and receptivity required of disciples when receiving wisdom from a spiritual guide or Sheikh. Rumi emphasizes that spiritual teachers and divine messengers need attentive, humble, and eager listeners to effectively impart their knowledge. He asserts that without genuine respect, humility, and an enthusiastic readiness to receive, the outpouring of divine wisdom is obstructed. The success of spiritual transmission, therefore, depends heavily on the disciple's sincere state of need and respectful demeanor.

The Etiquette of Receiving Spiritual Wisdom in the Masnavi

In Book 3 of Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, the gathering of afflicted people at the monastery of Jesus serves as a profound allegory for the seeker's relationship with a spiritual master. Rumi describes how the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed would gather at dawn, hoping to be cured by Jesus's miraculous breath. However, once healed, they would hastily depart in joy, quickly forgetting the source of their cure. Rumi sharply criticizes this ingratitude, urging the spiritual seeker to remain steadfast at the threshold of the enlightened guide. To emphasize this necessity, he employs the metaphor of a loyal dog, advising the seeker to hold fast to the "first door" where they received spiritual nourishment and to never abandon it. Just as fidelity is the defining mark of a dog, Rumi insists that the disciple must remain fastened "like a ring" to the master's door, maintaining constant devotion and never rebelling against their spiritual benefactor.

The Metaphor of the Monastery of Jesus and Spiritual Fidelity in the Masnavi

In Book 2 of Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, within the narrative of the Prophet Muhammad visiting a dying companion, Rumi underscores the absolute necessity of maintaining close proximity to spiritual masters (*awliyā'*). He warns that becoming "distant from the presence of the saints" is tantamount to becoming "distant from God." Rumi elevates these enlightened guides by referring to them metaphorically as "kings," asserting that if separation from ordinary companions causes grief, isolation from the saints brings profound spiritual detriment. Consequently, he issues a direct imperative to "seek the shadow of the kings at every moment." Rumi promises that by dedicating both one's travels and stillness to seeking this transformative presence, the seeker will be elevated to a spiritual state "better than the sun."

The Imperative of Seeking the Presence of Saints in the Masnavi

In Book Three, Section 87 of the *Masnavi*, Rumi uses the Quranic narrative of Moses seeking Khidr as an analogy for Daquqi's search for the hidden saints (awliya). Rumi emphasizes that even Moses, despite his exalted status as a law-giving prophet who spoke directly to God (*Kalimullah*), humbled himself, abandoned self-conceit (*khud-bini*), and left his followers to seek Khidr's esoteric wisdom (*'ilm al-ladunni*). This illustrates the fundamental Sufi teaching that formal, exoteric knowledge and high spiritual rank are insufficient without the guidance of a master possessing hidden divine insight. The story serves as a profound lesson in spiritual humility and the absolute necessity of seeking a spiritual guide (*Pir*).

Moses's Quest for Khidr as a Model for Seeking Esoteric Knowledge

In Book 1 of the *Masnavi*, Rumi warns against the spiritual peril of following false guides or charlatans. He explains that spiritually impoverished seekers often fall prey to these pretenders because they lack the inner light necessary for true discernment. Using the metaphor of a visually impaired person unable to distinguish between genuine eye medicine and ordinary stones, Rumi illustrates how naive disciples mistake outward eloquence and feigned piety for true divine realization, rendering them unable to tell the difference between superficial imitation and genuine spiritual growth.

The Danger of False Spiritual Guides and Blind Disciples in the Masnavi

In Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, the Prophet Muhammad delivers a profound discourse on the necessity of spiritual intermediaries for seekers who cannot yet bear the direct light of the Divine. Rumi illustrates this concept using astronomical metaphors, comparing the Prophet's companions to guiding "stars" and the prophet or saint to the "moon." Just as the moon receives light from the sun and reflects it in a gentler, more endurable form for those in darkness, spiritual guides transmit overwhelming divine revelation in a capacity that ordinary human souls can tolerate. Rumi further uses the medical metaphor of mixing "honey and vinegar" to describe how spiritual teachings are intentionally blended with worldly or relatable forms to cure the spiritually ailing. Once the seeker's heart is purified and "freed from illness," they can eventually dispense with these intermediaries and experience unmediated communion with God.

The Metaphor of Spiritual Intermediaries as the Moon and Stars in the Masnavi

In Book 3 of Jalaluddin Rumi's Masnavi, the ancient Greek physician Galen is employed as a metaphor for worldly intellect and material expertise. Rumi explains that practitioners of empirical sciences often cling desperately to the physical world because their specific skills—such as curing bodily ailments—are only applicable in the material realm. In the spiritual afterlife, these worldly proficiencies hold no currency, rendering experts like Galen completely equal to common people. This metaphor is used to underscore the limitations of purely material knowledge and the danger of investing solely in skills that lack spiritual endurance.

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