Popular Narratives of Ǧalāloddīn Rumi’s Masnavi

Although Rumi and his Masnavi have been a favourite object of study, any occupation with his poetry has mostly concentrated on matters of style, language, and poetical imagery. Though Rumi’s employment of specific narrative materials to illustrate his ideas had been noted from the beginning, a comparative discussion of the sources and later versions of these tales has not attracted major attention. With some notable exceptions, most authors dealing with Rumi content themselves with a general reference to the method of ‘illustrating mystical ideas by way of tales’ as being a common trait of Sufi literature. However, an application of the methodical inventory of comparative folk narrative research to the narrative materials contained in Rumi’s Masnavi leads to a different appreciation. In order to permit a poignant conclusion, the present study is restricted to the roughly ten percent out of the Masnavi‘s total of more than 300 tales corresponding with international narrative types and motifs as outlined by the indexes of Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson. The selection given supplies the basic stock for a demonstration of the various origins Rumi drew his material from, as well as an evaluation of the Masnavi‘s mediating role in passing on traditional narrative in Iran and the neighbouring countries influenced by Persian literature.