The Heart Is Not Made Peaceful By Lying Speech
Mathnawi II: 2733-2736
2733 He said, "The Prophet (Muhammad) has given a sign: he has
established the touchstone1 for (discerning the difference between)
counterfeit coins and good (ones)
He has said, "A lie is (the source of) uneasy doubt in (people's)
hearts." And he (also) said, "Truth is (the source of) a (feeling of)
joyful peace."2
2735 The heart is not made peaceful by lying speech, (just as)
water and oil3 do not ignite (lamp) light.
2736 (But) there is peace for the heart in words of truth. Truths are
the seeds of the snare for (the tranquillity of) the heart."4
--From "The Mathnawî-yé Ma`nawî" [Rhymed Couplets of
Deep Spiritual Meaning] of Jalaluddin Rumi.
Translated from the Persian by Ibrahim Gamard (with
gratitude for R. A. Nicholson's 1926 British translation)
© Ibrahim Gamard (translation, footnotes, & transliteration)
First published on "Sunlight" (yahoogroups.com), 6/13/02
Notes on the text, with line number:
1(2733) touchstone: a type of stone which, when rubbed against true
gold, changes to a particular color -- therefore used by assayers of
gold.
2(2734) a (feeling of) joyful peace: "Fa [= Anqaravi] cites the
Hadíth: da` má yuríbuka ilá má lá yuríbuka, fa-inna 'l-Sidqa
Tuma'nín-un wa-inna 'l-kidhba rayb-un." (Nicholson,
Commentary) See also Mathnawi VI:2576-79 for a similar
passage.
3(2735) water and oil: "used metaphorically in the sense of 'mere
varnish', 'deceit', as at IV 346" [= translated by Nicholson:
"abandon water and oil (specious varnish)"]." (Nicholson,
Commentary)
4(2736) the seeds of the snare for (the tranquillity of) the heart:
Nicholson translated, "the bait that entraps the heart."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2733 goft payghâmbar neshânê dâda-ast
qalb-o nêkô-râ miHak be-n'hâda-ast
gofta-ast al-kiZbu rayb-un fi 'l-qulûb
goft aS-Sidqu Tuma'nîn-un Tarûb
2735 del na-y-ârâm-ad ze-goftâr-é dorôgh
âb-o rawghan hêch na-f'rôz-ad forôgh
2736 dar HadîS-é râst ârâm-é del-ast
râstî-hâ dâna-yé dâm-é del-ast
(mathnawi meter: XoXX XoXX XoX)
