Saturday, May 14, 2005

an earring revisited

I've just finished watching (on DVD) Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ. I couldn't help noticing, in an early scene in which Jesus sits among men waiting their turn to enjoy the services of the prostitute Mary Magdalene, that one of the waiting men was wearing a simple circular gold earring. Assuming some reasonable research was done on how men of the time might dress and adorn themselves, this would suggest that a ring for the ear might be a plausible adornment for a male in Rumi's time and it's entirely possible that Shams did wear one. In that case, this morning's verse would refer to Shams whom Rumi did regard as a teacher infinitely more enlightened that he himself was. I daresay there are portraits, whether visual or verbal, that would confirm this but I don't have access to one right now. So this must remain a possibility only.
Come to me, oh! warrior king!
Come and tell me tales of war.
Courage there is and selflessness
You fight, I know, for greater good.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home