Introduction
Nowadays, many people tend to explain present popularity of Rumi’s poetry in Western countries by sheer progressiveness of ideas, promoted by this poetry. However, the closer analysis of semantic motifs, contained in Rumi’s poems, prevent us from sticking to such point of view. And the reason for this is simple – the metaphysical essence of the message, Rumi strived to promote on his poetic works, can be summarized as follows: individual’s ability to attain happiness directly correspond to his or her willingness to suppress its existential ego down to nothing, because only this can qualify such individual for achieving “oneness” with God.
In its turn, this points out at this idea as the intellectual by-product of unmistakably Asiatic, “feminine” mentality, as opposed to European, “masculine” mentality. In his book “The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam”, Dr. Muhammad Iqbal provides us with the insight onto what differentiate Western perception of surrounding reality from Oriental (Muslim) one: “The ideal of the Greeks, was proportion, not infinity. The physical presentness of the finite with its well-defined limits alone absorbed the mind of the Greeks. In the history of Muslim culture, on the other hand, we find that both in the realms of pure intellect and religious psychology, by which term I mean higher Sufism, the ideal revealed is the possession and enjoyment of the Infinite.
In a culture, with such an attitude, the problem of space and time becomes a question of life and death” (Iqbal Ch. 5). Therefore, during the course of working on this paper, we will refer to Rumi’s Poem 14, and to his poetry in general, as to what it really is – a poetic sublimation of Oriental soul’s longing towards “infinity” for the purpose of attaining “oneness” with the divine, at the expense of loosing its existential individuality. Also, we will aim to expose this type of divinity’s perception as deriving out of the innermost depths of female psyche, regardless of whether it is being professed by men or women.
Main part
The very initial lines of Poem 14, reveal the fact that poet experiences a certain discomfort, while being put in position of exercising control over its own destiny, as sovereign individual:
“I was dead, came back to life
I wept, began to laugh” (Rumi)
Apparently, by saying it, author brings readers’ attention to the lack of emotional stability, on his part, since he appears as not being quite sure as to whether he needs to cherish his existence, or to “weep” over the fact of his birth. At this exact moment, Sumi gets to hear a voice in his head, which tells him that he is not mad, but simply someone who does not quite fit into the realm of physical existence:
“You are not mad, he said
You are not fit for this home” (Rumi)
These words can be interpreted as God’s insistence onto the fact that poet’s physical body serves as a jail for his soul. Such poet’s conversation with the “divine” leave no doubts as to Rumi’s spiritual affiliation with Semitic religious tradition, which refers to apparent objectiveness of physical realm as being nothing but a shadow of “kingdom of heaven”. In its turn, this explains why the most faithful practitioners of both: Islam and Christianity, are being traditionally known for their suicidal tendencies – at some point of their lives, they must have heard the “voice” inside of their heads, which was prompting them to consider “uniting with God” as the pathway to achieving happiness.
As history shows, only few enthusiasts of “monotheistic spirituality” were able to realize that the concept of “uniting with God”, is nothing but nicely sounding euphemism for the notion of death (this especially applies to the “lambs of God” of European descend). However, the conceptual context of Sumi’s poem implies that author was fully aware of the fact that his contemplations on the subject of divinity would eventually deprive him of his individuality. And, as a true spokesman for Oriental spirituality, he actually welcomes this process, by explicitly declaring its desire to submit to God’s will:
“I am not shaykh
Am not ahead
I am slave to your command” (Rumi)
Therefore, even though Sufism is often being discussed as a “progressive form of Islam”, in quoted part from Poem 14, the founder of this “Islamic heresy” himself actually sound as a typical Islamic fundamentalist, who actively strives to “unite with God”, while intending to take with him the lives of as many “infidels” as possible. From what we know about Rumi, as one of the most influential Oriental intellectuals, is that he never ceased praising the concept of love, as divinity’s most obvious manifestation.
However, even the reading of Poem 14 alone, provides us with the insight on poet’s outlook on love as being metaphysically “feminine” – that is, Rumi does not want to love and to be loved in return, but to be “dissolved” in God’s love, while experiencing a masochistic pleasure from having his individuality thoroughly destroyed, as a result of it being exposed to God’s individuality.
As we have mentioned earlier, Rumi’s perception of divinity is best characterized by its clearly defined monotheistic overtones, despite the fact that, throughout his life, poet strived to position himself as Islamic “Liberal”, solely preoccupied with the matters of “love”, as opposed to the matters of “faith”. And, as we are well aware of, Semitic “Gods” Jehovah and Allah demand a variety of “favors” from believers, in return for “loving” them. This is the reason why, despite Rumi’s religious “progressiveness”, in Poem 14, he refers to God as narcissist and jealous deity, who does not think that there can be anything wrong with him praising its own “virtues”:
“Do not go away, do not take offence
For I am coming towards you
Out of grace and kindness” (Rumi)
Rumi’s God might be “gracious” and “kind”, but he/she most definitely not unpretentious, which in its turn, makes us to doubt the sincerity of God’s claims as to the other virtuous traits of its character. This, however, does not dismay poet. In fact, he becomes even more excited, after having realized that his God most likely to treat him as a lowly servant, at best:
“You are the source of the rays of the sun
I am the shade beneath the willow tree
Since your rays fell upon my head
I’ve dropped and melted” (Rumi)
Apparently, Rumi tries to relate his experiences, while in the state of religious ecstasy. However, the fact that he used word “melted” allows us to conclude that such his ecstasy had similar subtleties with physiological ecstasy, experienced by women, during the course of lovemaking. In its turn, this strengthens our earlier thesis as to Rumi’s essentially feminine perception of divinity. In his famous book “Sex and Character”, Otto Weininger points out to the fact that individual’s ability to experience a prolonged religious or sexual ecstasy, directly relates to individual’s association with “femininity”, as such that implies the absence of a strong ego: “No woman ever believes herself to be anything but beautiful and desirable when she looks at herself in the glass…
What is the source of this form of vanity, peculiar to the female? It comes from the absence of an intelligible ego, the only begetter of a constant and positive sense of value; it is, in fact, that she is devoid of a sense of personal value” (Weininger, Ch. 10). Therefore, the fact that in his poem Rumi articulates his desire to fully submit to divine authority, to fly out of his body as “soul’s jail” and ultimately – to have his ego being “dissolved” in God’s love, simply indicates the fact that poet never possessed a strong individuality, in the first place. He should have been born a woman.
As we have mentioned earlier, in recent years, Rumi’s poetry has become especially popular among people who associate themselves with a so-called New Age philosophy. And, one does not have to hold a PhD in sociology to know that the overwhelming majority of “new-agers” consist of hysterical White females, who tend to think of men’s possession of a penis, as the proof of “criminally sexist” intentions, on their part. The following passage from Poem 14, sounds as if it was being written today, by one of New Age “sophisticate” adherents:
“I was Venus, I am the moon
I become celestial wheel
With countless levels” (Rumi)
Therefore, it will not be an exaggeration, to think of Rumi’s Poem 14 as such that provide us with a better understanding of a female psyche as being simultaneously both: religious and sensual. Moreover, Poem 14 also provides us with the insight on why the accumulation of material riches, represents a foremost priority for majority of citizens in Arab countries. Why do Saudi Arabia’s kings (big fans of Rumi’s poetry) rule their country as despots, while being obsessed with amassing the excessive luxuries?
Because they profess “feminine” existential values – the absence of strongly defined masculine ego, on their part, prompts them to seek an external confirmation of their objective worth, as individuals. Whereas, Rumi thought that he could not survive without “God’s love”, his contemporary fans also cannot imagine their existence as representing an ontological value of “thing in itself”. Also, this explains why, until comparatively recent times, the handful of European colonists were able to keep the whole Arab world in absolute subjection – those who adopt a feminine outlook on divine, will inevitably end up loosing their sovereignty, simply because it correspond to their subconscious anxieties.
Again and again, throughout the poem, Rumi expresses his sensation of utter happiness from being “touched by God”, which clearly bears the mark of psychotically induced euphoria:
“Heaven’s wheels thank angels, king, dominion –
Through His gifts and grace I am brightness, bounty!” (Rumi)
We can speculate long and hard as to what kind of weed Rumi has been smoking, before he had achieved a “divine awareness”, but there can be no doubt that somehow, this awareness has awakened poet’s deep-seated desire to be dominated. His acute sense of femininity had even prompted him to go as far as referring to himself as “moon”, while being perfectly aware of doctrinal inappropriateness of such comparison, because connotation “moon-sun” is nothing but an allegory for connotation “female-male”:
“You’ve made me, brightest moon!
Gaze into me and into yourself
For the traces of your smile
Have turned me to a field of laughing blossoms!” (Rumi).
If we apply a theory of psychoanalysis to explain Rumi’s perceptional inadequateness, it will appear that Poem 14 might be nothing short of an encoded account of the fact that, throughout his life, poet used to practice an “alternative sex-style”, while playing the role of “female”.
“Paper I touch to write you cries sweet thanks
For it feels your endless sugar in me” (Rumi)
Given the context of what has been said earlier in the paper, such our suggestion cannot be thought of as utterly improbable. As practice shows, the allegorical sounding of one’s openly expressed desire to be “filled with love”, might not be quite as allegorical as it appears. After all, it is not a secret that so-called “whirling dervishes” (practitioners of Rumi’s teachings), are often being persecuted in Muslim countries on the account of their homosexuality.
Conclusion
Thus, in order for us to summarize this paper’s main points, we will need to state the following: 1) Rumi’s Poem 14 cannot be discussed outside of our understanding of Semitic monotheism as such that promotes the “destruction of individuality”, as one of its main doctrinal tenets 2) Poem 14 exposes Rumi’s psychological anxieties as deriving out of conceptual inconsistency between poet’s mental femininity and his bodily masculinity 3) Poem 14 points out to the fact that individual’s acute sense of religiosity may very well be taken as an indication of his or her existential abnormality.
Bibliography:
Iqbal, Muhammad “The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam”. 2002. Witness – Pioneer. A Virtual Islamic Organization. Web.
Weininger, Otto “Sex and Character”. [1906] 2001. The Absolute. Web.