Monday, January 01, 2007

Something to widen a child's eyes

There are a large number of miracles attributed to the Sufi mystic and poet Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī (1207 - 1273) whose tomb can be found in the Turkish city of Konya.

"Mevlana gölde bir su yaratığının yaşadığını ve her yıl bir insanı ya da bir hayvanı alıp su altına gittiğini duymuş. Görmek için göle gitmiş. Mevlana soyunmadan suya girmiş, su yaratığını karaya cıkarmış. Yüzü insana, ayakları ayınınkine benzeyen canavar herkesin anlayacağı dille yakında bir genci öldürdüğünü ama tövbe ettiğini söyleyip af dilemiş. Mevlana onu bağışlamış, canavar da suya dalıp kaybolmuş."

Rumi has heard that a monstrous creature dwells in a lake and that every year it captures a man or an animal and drags it down to the depths. So he goes to the lake with his companions to investigate. He enters the water fully clothed and brings the creature to dry land. The monster, whose face is like a human's but whose legs are like a bear's, confesses in a language understood by all that he has recently killed a young boy but promises never to do it again and appeals for forgiveness. Rumi pardons him and the monster dives back into the water and vanishes from sight.

from Ariflerin Menkıbeleri (16th century), although I sourced it from the THY Turkish Airlines in-flight magazine. A beautiful miniature from Topkapı Palace which illustrates this scene will appear as soon as I can scan it.