The story of the tailor and the Turk in Book Six of the Masnavi serves as a Sufi allegory for how worldly delusions and pleasures distract the soul, leading to the loss of spiritual life. The Turk represents the gullible seeker or idler who is overconfident in his own self-control, while the tailor represents the deceitful world (or the ego) that uses amusement and jokes (representing worldly desires) to blind the seeker (shutting the Turk's eyes in laughter). Each fit of laughter allows the tailor to steal pieces of the satin, representing the precious moments of one's life. Ultimately, the seeker's life is wasted on frivolous amusement, leaving them with a 'tight coat' or a spiritually impoverished state.

The Allegory of the Tailor and the Turk in the Masnavi

## The Sufi Critique of Frivolous Laughter as Spiritual Delusion

In Persian Sufi literature, frivolous or heedless laughter (khandeh-ye harzeh) is viewed not merely as a social impropriety, but as a symptom of deep spiritual delusion and ignorance of mortality.

### Key Themes:
1. **Distraction from Heedfulness (Yaqzah):** Sufis emphasize constant awareness of one's spiritual state and the brevity of earthly life. Frivolous laughter is seen as a state of ghaflah (forgetfulness), where a person is oblivious to the depletion of their precious time on Earth.
2. **The Contrast with Spiritual Sorrow:** True intellect (aql) is associated with an understanding of human suffering and the ultimate return to God. Thus, the wise are characterized by a solemn, reflective attitude rather than worldly mirth.
3. **The Thief of Life:** Time is constantly cutting away at one's lifespan. Laughter acts as a sensory distraction that blinds the individual to this loss, allowing worldly temptations (oft...

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## Original content
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خندهٔ هرزه کار غمر بود 
خندهٔ برق را چه عمر بود
بیخ عمرت زمانه برکنده 
چون همه ابلهان تو و خنده
آنکه را لحد و حفره کنده بود 
مر ورا خود چه جای خنده بود
مکن ای دوست در سرای عمل 
عقل را خرج در غرور امل
نه چو مردی نماند بوی و گار 
پس تو انگار مردی آن بگذار
ماه نو پر و بال تو برکند 
پس تو بر مه مخند بر خود خند
هر شبی کان زمانه بر تو شمرد 
روز از زندگانی تو ببرد
در رخ ماه نو کسی خندد 
که ازو سود مزد بربندد
پس تو باری چرا نگریی خون 
کت ازو جان کمست و دام افزون
غافلان خفته زیرکان نالان 
خر به نالش سزاتر از پالان
عاقلان را چو روز معلوم است 
که شب و روز غافلان شوم است
سال چون مرحله است و مه فرسنگ 
روز و شب کام زخم و عرصهٔ تنگ
چون به منزل رسید مرد از راه 
از ره رفته پس شود آگاه
باز پس خود نیاید آنچه گذشت 
درج اعمار تو زمان بنوشت
با تو صد درج در ناسفته 
خانه پر دزد و تو خوشک خفته
عمر کوته چو عمر مور و مگس 
امل افزون ز عمر ده کرگس
در ره دین شده قلیل عمل 
بهر دنیا شده طویل امل
محلی کان اجل نهد چه بود 
املی کان ز حل دهد چه بود
که بود غافل از قضای اجل 
کوته اندیشهٔ دراز امل
نخرند از برای سود و زیان 
تب لرزه بنسیه کفشگران
خلقی از عمر خود شده معزول 
تو بدین عمر مختصر مشغول
تو همی رنج دل به جان بخری 
خشمت آید چو گویمت که خری
با قناعت کش ار کشی غم و رنج 
ورنه بگذر ز عقل و عشق الفنج

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## English translation
Frivolous laughter is the act of the ignorant;
What lifespan does the lightning's laugh possess?
Time has uprooted the foundation of your life;
Yet, like all fools, you are absorbed in laughter.
He for whom the grave and pit have been dug,
What place does he have for laughter?
Do not, O friend, in the house of action,
Spend your intellect on the deception of hope.
Is it not that when one dies, neither scent nor trace remains?
So consider yourself dead, and abandon that.
The new moon plucks your feathers and wings;
So do not laugh at the moon, laugh at yourself.
Every night that time counts against you,
Takes away a day from your life.
Only he laughs in the face of the new moon,
Who secures the profit of a reward from it.
So why, then, do you not weep blood?
Since through it your soul decreases and the snare increases.
The heedless are asleep, the clever are lamenting;
The donkey is more deserving of groaning than the packsaddle.
To the wise, it is as clear as day,
That the day and night of the heedless are ominous.
The year is like a stage, and the month a parasang;
Day and night are the jaws of a wound and a narrow field.
When a man reaches his destination from the road,
He then becomes aware of the path he has traveled.
What has passed will never return;
Time has rolled up the scroll of your life.
With you are a hundred unpierced pearls in the casket;
The house is full of thieves, and you are fast asleep.
A life as short as an ant's and a fly's;
But hopes longer than the lives of ten vultures.
In the path of religion, short on action;
For the sake of the world, long on hope.
The place that death sets, what is it?
The hope that gives release, what is it?
Who is oblivious to the decree of death?
The short-sighted one with long hopes.
They do not buy, for the sake of profit and loss,
Shivering fever on credit, the shoemakers.
A multitude has been dismissed from their lives;
And you are preoccupied with this brief life.
You buy the pain of the heart with your soul;
You get angry when I say that you are a donkey.
Bear it with contentment if you bear sorrow and pain;
Otherwise, leave behind intellect and acquire love.

بخش ۱ - در بیهوده خندیدن / Section 1 - On Frivolous Laughter

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Source URL: https://ganjoor.net/

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## Original content
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ترک خندیدن گرفت از داستان 
چشم تنگش گشت بسته آن زمان
پاره ای دزدید و کردش زیر ران 
از جز حق از همه احیا نهان
حق همی دید آن ولی ستارخوست 
لیک چون از حد بری غماز اوست
ترک را از لذت افسانه اش 
رفت از دل دعوی پیشانه اش
اطلس چه دعوی چه رهن چی 
ترک سرمستست در لاغ اچی
لابه کردش ترک کز بهر خدا 
لاغ می گو که مرا شد مغتذا
گفت لاغی خندمینی آن دغا 
که فتاد از قهقهه او بر قفا
پاره ای اطلس سبک بر نیفه زد 
ترک غافل خوش مضاحک می مزد
هم چنین بار سوم ترک خطا 
گفت لاغی گوی از بهر خدا
گفت لاغی خندمین تر زان دو بار 
کرد او این ترک را کلی شکار
چشم بسته عقل جسته مولهه 
مست ترک مدعی از قهقهه
پس سوم بار از قبا دزدید شاخ 
که ز خنده ش یافت میدان فراخ
چون چهارم بار آن ترک خطا 
لاغ از آن استا همی کرد اقتضا
رحم آمد بر وی آن استاد را 
کرد در باقی فن و بیداد را
گفت مولع گشت این مفتون درین 
بی خبر کین چه خسارست و غبین
بوسه افشان کرد بر استاد او 
که بمن بهر خدا افسانه گو
ای فسانه گشته و محو از وجود 
چند افسانه بخواهی آزمود
خندمین تر از تو هیچ افسانه نیست 
بر لب گور خراب خویش ایست
ای فرو رفته به گور جهل و شک 
چند جویی لاغ و دستان فلک
تا بکی نوشی تو عشوهٔ این جهان 
که نه عقلت ماند بر قانون نه جان
لاغ این چرخ ندیم کرد و مرد 
آب روی صد هزاران چون تو برد
می درد می دوزد این درزی عام 
جامهٔ صدسالگان طفل خام
لاغ او گر باغها را داد داد 
چون دی آمد داده را بر باد داد
پیره طفلان شسته پیشش بهر کد 
تا به سعد و نحس او لاغی کند

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## English translation
The Turk began to laugh at the tale,
His narrow eyes shut tight at that time.
He stole a piece and hid it under his thigh,
Hidden from all living beings except God.
God saw it, but He is the Veiler of sins;
Yet when you exceed the limit, He exposes you.
From the delight of the tale, the Turk
Forgot his former claims from his heart.
What satin? What claim? What pledge?
The Turk is intoxicated by the jokes of his brother.
The Turk begged him, 'For God's sake,
Tell jokes, for they have become my nourishment.'
That cheat told a joke so funny
That from guffawing he fell on his back.
He swiftly tucked a piece of satin into his waistband;
The heedless Turk happily savored the jokes.
Thus, for the third time, the erring Turk
Said, 'Tell a joke for God's sake.'
He told a joke funnier than the first two;
He made this Turk entirely his prey.
Eyes shut, reason gone, bewildered,
The boastful Turk was drunk with guffawing.
Then for the third time he stole a piece from the coat,
For through his laughter, he found an open field.
When for the fourth time that erring Turk
Demanded a joke from that master,
The master took pity on him
And abandoned the rest of his trickery and injustice.
He said, 'This infatuated man has become addicted to this,
Unaware of what a loss and fraud this is.'
He showered kisses upon his master,
Saying, 'For God's sake, tell me a tale.'
O you who have become a tale and erased from existence!
How many tales will you wish to experience?
There is no tale more laughable than you;
Stand at the edge of your own ruined grave!
O you sunk in the grave of ignorance and doubt,
How long will you seek the jokes and tricks of the heavens?
How long will you drink the deception of this world,
Which leaves neither your reason nor your soul in order?
The jokes of this heaven, the companion of pain and grief,
Have washed away the honor of hundreds of thousands like you.
It tears and sews, this common tailor,
The garments of centenarians and raw infants alike.
If its joke gave justice to the gardens,
When December came, it cast what it gave to the wind.
Old infants sit before it to beg,
So that through its fortune and misfortune it may play a joke.

دفتر ششم - بخش ۵۶ - مضاحک گفتن درزی و ترک را از قوت خنده بسته شدن دو چشم تنگ او و فرصت یافتن درزی / Book Six - Section 56 - The Tailor Telling Jokes and the Turk's Narrow Eyes Shutting from the Force of Laughter, and the Tailor Finding an Opportunity

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The Sufi Critique of Frivolous Laughter as Spiritual Delusion

Key Themes:

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