Phallocentric Esotericism in a Tale from Jalal al-Din Rumi�s Masnavi
By Mahdi Tourage
"The Masnavi-yi Ma�navi, the Mystical Epic of the great thirteenth century Persian mystic Jalal al-Din Rumi (d. 1273), contains explicit sexual images and bawdy tales that seem to have posed a problem for readers, commentators, and interpreters alike. When these �pornographic� tales are not completely overlooked, scholars view them as lacking mystical signi?cance and as disrupting the mystical ?ow of the text. This paper is an assessment of Rumi�s modes of communicating esoteric secrets in a virtually unexplored bawdy tale in the Masnavi, the Tale of the Prankster who Donned the Veil and Sat among the Women during a Religious Gathering (5:3325 �3350). I will begin with a survey of the established readings of the Masnavi in which the presence of the bawdy tales has been noted. In order to situate Rumi�s bawdy tales in their historical context, a discussion of the instances and purposes of bawdy material in medieval Persian literature will follow."
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