“Why the rush? Stay,” Shams said. ” You seem to have come here to ask something. Perhaps I could be of help.”
I saw no reason not to share
it with him. “Well, there is this verse in the Qur’an that I find a bit
hard to understand,” I said tentatively.
Shams murmured, as if talking
to himself, “The Qur’an is like a shy bride. She’ll open her veil only
if she sees that the onlooker is soft and compassionate at heart.” Then
he squared his shoulders and asked, “Which verse is it?”
“Al-Nisa,” I said. “There
are some parts in it where men are said to be superior to women. It
even says men can beat their wives….”
“Is that so?” Shams asked
with such exaggerated interest that I couldn’t be sure whether he was
serious or teasing me. After a momentary silence, he broke into a soft
smile and out of memory recited the verse.
“Men are the maintainers of
women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because
they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient,
guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose
part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the
sleeping-laces and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way
against them; surely Allah is High, Great.”
When he finished, Shams closed his eyes and recited the same verse, this time in a different translation.
Men are the support of women
as God gives some more means than others, and because they spend of
their wealth (to provide for them). So women who are virtuous are
obedient to God and guard the hidden as God has guarded it. As for
women you feel are averse, talk to them suasively; then leave them alone
in bed (without molesting them) and go to bed with them (when they are
willing). If they open out to you, do not seek an excuse for blaming
them. Surely God is sublime and great.
“Do you see any difference between the two?” Shams asked.
“Yes I do,” I said. “Their
whole texture is different. The former sounds as if it gives consent to
married men to beat their wives, whereas the latter advises them to
simply walk away. I think that is a big difference. Why is that?”
“Why is that? Why is that?”
Shams echoed several times, as if enjoying the question. “Tell me
something, Kimya. Have you ever gone swimming in a river?”
I nodded as a childhood
memory returned to me. The cold, thirst-quenching streams of the Taurus
Mountains crossed my mind. Of the younger girl who had spent many
happy afternoons in those streams with her sister and her friends, there
was now little left behind. I turned my face away as I didn’t want
Shams to see the tears in my eyes.
“When you look at a river
from a distance, Kimya, you might think there is only one watercourse.
But if you dive into the water, you’ll realize there is more than one
river. The river conceals various currents, all of them flowing in
harmony and yet completely separate from one another.”
Upon saying that, Shams of Tabriz
approached me and held my chin between his two fingers, forcing me to
look directly into his deep, dark, soulful eyes. My heart skipped a
beat. I couldn’t even breathe.
“The Qur’an is a gushing
river,” he said. “Those who look at if from a distance see only one
river. But for those swimming in it, there are four currents. Like
different types of fish, some of us swim closer to the surface while
some others swim in deep waters down below.”
“I’m afraid I don’t understand.” I said, although I was beginning to.
“Those who like to swim close
to the surface are content with the outer meaning of the Qur’an. Many
people are like that. They take the verses too literally. No wonder
when they read a verse like the Nisa, they arrive at the conclusion that
men are held superior to women. Because that is exactly what they want
to see.”
“How about the other currents?” I asked.
Shams sighed softly, and I couldn’t help noticing his mouth, as mysterious and inviting as a secret garden.
“There are three more
currents. The second one is deeper than the first, but still close to
the surface. As your awareness expands, so does your grasp of the
Qur’an. But for that to happen you need to take the plunge.”
Listening to him, I felt both empty and fulfilled at the same time.
“What happens when you take the plunge?” I asked cautiously.
“The third undercurrent is
the esoteric, batini, reading. If you read the Nisa with your inner eye
open, you’ll see that the verse is not about women and menbut about
womanhood and manhood. And each and every one of us, including you and
me, has both femininity and masculinity in us, in varying degress and
shades. Only when we learn to embrace both can we attain harmonious
Oneness.”
“Are you telling me that I have manliness inside me?”
“Oh, yes, definitely. And I have a female side, too.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “And Rumi? How about him?”
Shams smiled fleetingly. “Every man has a degree of womanliness inside.”
“Even the ones who are manly men?”
“Especially those, my dear,”
Shams said, garnishing his words with a wink and dropping his voice to a
whisper, as if sharing a secret.
I stifled a giggle, feeling
like a littler girl. That was the impact of having Shams so close. He
was a strange man, his voice oddly charming, his hands lithe ad
muscular, and his stare like a crease of sunlight, making everything
that it fell upon look more intense and alive. Next to him I felt my
youth in all its fullness, and yet somewhere inside me a maternal
instinct sprawled, exuding the thick, milky scent of motherhood. I
wanted to protect him. How or from what I could not tell.
The Forty Rules of Love ~ Elif Shafak.
