Reading “the Story of the Poet” in Mathnawī in Terms of Patronage

Abstract

In this article, a parable (which will be called as the Poet’s Parable from now on due to its subject) in the fourth volume of Mawlānā Muhammad Jalāl al-dīn Rūmī’s (d. 672/1273) Mathnawī, which consists of approximately twenty-five thousand seven hundred couplets will be discussed in terms of patronage. While reading and evaluating the story in terms of patronage, the commentary of Ahmed Avni Konuk (1868-1938), who annotated the entire Mathnawī will be used. The poet we encounter in the Poet’s Parable is a person who keeps his hopes for the world high, and therefore he faces with sadness and grief. However, Allah is the one who bestows freely. Narrowing hope down to worldly goods is not in accordance with Allah’s consent. Complying with the desires of not only the patrimonial ruler and but also the royal court and always being in expectation can harm the poet. It is a known fact that some poets yearn to achieve a worldly desire, such as obtaining better positions and make efforts to achieve this goal. When the desires do not come true, sadness will follow it. In this article, we will try to examine “the Story of the Poet” both in terms of patronage and Sufism. The proposition arisen during this study is as follows: “There is always a contradiction between our desires and the reality. This contradiction usually ends up with sadness. The one (“the poet” in this case) who cannot control his/her desires is doomed to blame his/her superior (“the vizier” according to the story) and be unhappy.” When the story is read, it will be seen that as long as the poet is willing to wait for blessings from man instead of God, he eventually will become disappointed.

Keywords

• mathnawī
• parable
• poet
• patron
• patronage