The Psychosomatic Diagnosis and the 'Thorn in the Heart' Metaphor
In Jalaluddin Rumi's Masnavi, the divine physician employs a meticulous, psychosomatic diagnostic method to uncover the exact cause of the handmaiden's hidden lovesickness. Recognizing that her ailment is not a physical disease, he clears the room to ensure privacy and continuously monitors her pulse while guiding her to recount her past. Rumi illustrates the difficulty of identifying such hidden emotional afflictions through the metaphor of a 'thorn in the heart.' Just as locating a tiny physical thorn in the foot requires careful probing with a needle, discovering the invisible thorn of spiritual or emotional affliction demands the delicate, patient expertise of a spiritual master. By observing the handmaiden's physiological reactions—specifically her leaping pulse and changing complexion at the mention of the city of Samarkand—the physician successfully pinpoints the hidden object of her desire.
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The Psychosomatic Diagnosis and the 'Thorn in the Heart' Metaphor
دفتر اول - بخش ۸ - دریافتن آن ولی رنج را و عرض کردن رنج او را پیش پادشاه / Book 1 - Section 8 - That Saint Discovering the Pain and Presenting It Before the King
دفتر چهارم - بخش ۶۷ - دریافتن طبیبان الهی امراض دین و دل را در سیمای مرید و بیگانه و لحن گفتار او و رنگ چشم او و بی این همه نیز از راه دل کی انهم جواسیس القلوب فجالسوهم بالصدق / Book Four - Section 67 - The divine physicians perceiving the ailments of religion and the heart in the countenance of the disciple and the stranger, and his tone of speech, and the color of his eyes, and without all these, also by way of the heart, for 'verily they are the spies of hearts, so sit with them in truth'
دفتر اول - بخش ۷ - خلوت طلبیدن آن ولی از پادشاه جهت دریافتن رنج کنیزک / Book One - Section 7 - That Saint Seeking Privacy from the King to Discover the Slave Girl's Illness
The Distinction Between Physical and Spiritual Medicine in the Masnavi