In Book Five of the *Masnavi*, Rumi uses the famous metaphor of the human body as a guest-house (*mehman-khane*) to teach equanimity and spiritual hospitality toward all thoughts and feelings.

Key aspects of this metaphor include:
- **The Body as a Guest-House:** The physical and psychological self is a temporary dwelling where emotions and thoughts, arriving from the unseen world (*ghayb*), are transient guests.
- **Spiritual Hospitality:** The seeker or gnostic (*arif*) should welcome every guest with warmth and a cheerful face, mimicking the legendary hospitality of Abraham (*Khalil*), who welcomed both friend and foe.
- **The Transience of Grief:** Joy and sorrow are fleeting. Seemingly difficult emotions should not be viewed as permanent burdens, as they soon return to non-existence, often clearing the way for new divine blessings.

The Metaphor of the Human Body as a Guest House in the Masnavi

### Overview
In Book Five of the Masnavi, Rumi presents a story of an unexpected guest who arrives at a home. While the husband welcomes him warmly, the wife complains that the continuous rain has trapped the guest inside, lamenting that he has remained on their necks (a Persian idiom for becoming a persistent burden).

### Spiritual Significance
This narrative serves as the literal foundation for Rumi's subsequent allegories of the human body as a guest-house (Sections 155 and 157). The wife's resentment towards the guest represents the common human tendency to resist unwanted thoughts, griefs, and trials. Rumi uses the story to emphasize that just as a host must patiently endure a guest's presence, the spiritual seeker should welcome all experiences and thoughts as purposeful visitations from the unseen world.

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## Original content
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آن یکی را بیگهان آمد قنق 
ساخت او را هم چو طوق اندر عنق
خوان کشید او را کرامتها نمود 
آن شب اندر کوی ایشان سور بود
مرد زن را گفت پنهانی سخن 
که امشب ای خاتون دو جامه خواب کن
پستر ما را بگستر سوی در 
بهر مهمان گستر آن سوی دگر
گفت زن خدمت کنم شادی کنم 
سمع و طاعه ای دو چشم روشنم
هر دو پستر گسترید و رفت زن 
سوی ختنه سور کرد آنجا وطن
ماند مهمان عزیز و شوهرش 
نقل بنهادند از خشک و ترش
در سمر گفتند هر دو منتجب 
سرگذشت نیک و بد تا نیم شب
بعد از آن مهمان ز خواب و از سمر 
شد در آن پستر که بد آن سوی در
شوهر از خجلت بدو چیزی نگفت 
که ترا این سوست ای جان جای خفت
که برای خواب تو ای بوالکرم 
پستر آن سوی دگر افکنده ام
آن قراری که به زن او داده بود 
گشت مبدل و آن طرف مهمان غنود
آن شب آنجا سخت باران در گرفت 
کز غلیظی ابرشان آمد شگفت
زن بیامد بر گمان آنک شو 
سوی در خفتست و آن سو آن عمو
رفت عریان در لحاف آن دم عروس 
داد مهمان را به رغبت چند بوس
گفت می ترسیدم ای مرد کلان 
خود همان آمد همان آمد همان
مرد مهمان را گل و باران نشاند 
بر تو چون صابون سلطانی بماند
اندرین باران و گل او کی رود 
بر سر و جان تو او تاوان شود
زود مهمان جست و گفت این زن بهل 
موزه دارم غم ندارم من ز گل
من روان گشتم شما را خیر باد 
در سفر یک دم مبادا روح شاد
تا که زوتر جانب معدن رود 
کین خوشی اندر سفر ره زن شود
زن پشیمان شد از آن گفتار سرد 
چون رمید و رفت آن مهمان فرد
زن بسی گفتش که آخر ای امیر 
گر مزاحی کردم از طیبت مگیر
سجده و زاری زن سودی نداشت 
رفت و ایشان را در آن حسرت گذاشت
جامه ازرق کرد زان پس مرد و زن 
صورتش دیدند شمعی بی لگن
می شد و صحرا ز نور شمع مرد 
چون بهشت از ظلمت شب گشته فرد
کرد مهمان خانه خانه خویش را 
از غم و از خجلت این ماجرا
در درون هر دو از راه نهان 
هر زمان گفتی خیال میهمان
که منم یار خضر صد گنج و جود 
می فشاندم لیک روزیتان نبود

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## English translation
A certain man had a guest arrive late and unseasonably;
He welcomed him warmly, holding him like a collar around his neck.
He spread the table and showed him much honor and hospitality;
That night there was a festive gathering in their neighborhood.
The husband spoke to his wife in secret, saying:
'O lady, prepare two beds tonight.
Spread our bedding toward the door,
And spread the other bedding on the opposite side for our guest.'
The woman said, 'I shall serve with joy;
Hearing and obeying, O light of my eyes!'
They spread both beds, and then the wife departed
To the circumcision feast and took up her abode there.
The dear guest and the husband remained behind;
They set out refreshments, both dry and moist.
In chosen conversation, they both spoke
Of past events, good and bad, until midnight.
Thereafter, the guest, weary from sleep and talk,
Went into that bedding which was toward the door.
The husband, out of bashfulness, said nothing to him,
To say: 'O dear soul, your place of sleep is on this side,
And for your comfort, O generous one,
I have laid the other bed on the opposite side.'
The arrangement that he had made with his wife
Was reversed, and the guest slumbered in that spot.
That night, a severe rain set in there,
Such that they were astonished by the thickness of the clouds.
The wife returned, on the assumption that her husband
Was sleeping near the door, and the guest on the other side.
The bride slipped naked under the quilt at that moment,
And eagerly gave the guest several kisses.
She said, 'I was afraid, O great man,
And indeed, it has happened, it has happened!
The mud and rain have detained the guest;
He has stuck to you like imperial soap!
In this rain and mud, when will he ever leave?
He will become a burden on your head and soul.'
The guest quickly leaped up and said, 'Let go of this, O woman,
I have boots, and I have no fear of the mud!
I am on my way; farewell to you!
May a soul never be happy during travel,
Save that it may return more quickly to the source (mine),
For this ease on the journey acts as a highwayman.'
The woman repented of those cold words,
When that solitary guest fled and departed.
The woman pleaded much, saying, 'After all, O prince,
If I made a jest, do not take it in ill part!'
The woman's prostration and lamentation availed nothing;
He departed and left them in that regret.
The husband and wife clothed themselves in blue (mourning) thereafter;
They saw his form as a candle without a candlestick.
He was going, and the desert was illuminated by the light of the candle,
Like paradise set apart from the darkness of the night.
The guest turned his home into his true home,
Free of the grief and shame of this affair.
Within both of them, through a hidden path,
At every moment, the image of the guest would say:
'I am the companion of Khidr, possessing a hundred treasures of bounty;
I was scattering them, but it was not your destiny.'

دفتر پنجم - بخش ۱۵۶ - حکایت آن مهمان کی زن خداوند خانه گفت کی باران فرو گرفت و مهمان در گردن ما ماند / Book Five - Section 156 - The Story of That Guest of Whom the Mistress of the House Said, 'The Rain Has set in and the Guest Has Remained on Our Necks'

Root URL: https://ganjoor.net/
Source URL: https://ganjoor.net/

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