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The Prophet's Benevolent Jesting and the Permissibility of Humor in Jami's Baharestan
This prose section of Jami's Baharestan gathers anecdotes in which the Prophet employs gentle, playful humor. He tells an aged woman that old women will not enter Paradise, and when she weeps, reassures her that God will restore the faithful to youth before admitting them to the garden. He likewise teases a woman of the Ansar that her husband has whiteness in his eye, playing on the fact that every eye naturally contains white. The accompanying verses defend such jesting as permissible by both reason and religion, likening a heart weighed down by unbroken solemnity to a rusted mirror that lightheartedness can polish. The section develops the theme that measured, kindly humor is not a moral fault but a means of consoling the sorrowful and refreshing the spirit.
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Humanities
Literature
Persian Literature Prerequisite Course