God's toy

Until you made me sing, I was a monk.

You made me a rabble-rouser, a hopeless drunk.

I used to sit in prayer, so dignified;

Now I'm a toy that children toss aside.

#1891: From Rumi's Kolliyaat-e Shams-e Tabrizi

Search word: sing

I'm staying with the theme of singing which leads me to this verse which speaks of the great transformation in Rumi after he met Shams. He was a solid, upright citizen of the declining remnant of the Seljuk Turk Empire, around the central city of Konya. He was an Islamic scholar and jurist, and head of a madrassa (or religious school) inherited from his father. When he speaks of himself as a monk, I guess he means he just stuck to his own affairs and to his small circle of students. He didn't try to reach out and communicate with any larger crowd. When he sat in prayer, he was still and stern, probably much like a seated Buddha statue.

All this changed after Shams turned up. I don't think he literally became a "rabble-rouser", in the sense of addressing large crowds with fiery and persuasive language, stirring up great passions in an amassed audience. Rather, he achieved a similar effect by reaching out through his presence, through the voice of his poetry, and through the example of his gentle nature. Anatolia, at the time, was under pressure from the Mongols to the East and the Christian crusaders to the West. The Islamic fortress was weak and influences from outside would have passed through readily. This shows in Rumi's knowledge and understanding of Christian as well as of Buddhist and Hindu ideas. Within this political and dynastic turmoil, Rumi could see the things that bind humanity.

The last line of the quatrain refers to "a toy that children toss aside". I can only guess that this refers to a spinning top which is the impression one gets when witnessing the whirling dervish dance.

Whirling dervishes from Turkey @ smh.com.au