Appear as you are

[daralmas...@gmail.com]

Finally tracked down the origins of this "Rumi quote," that couldn't
be found in the Masnavi or the Divan: "Be as you appear or appear as
you are." And the distinction between the two clauses was always
unclear. There is a calligraphy of it in Ottoman Turkish in the
Mevlana Museum in Konya, Turkey.

A Turkish scholar friend who teaches at a university in Konya recently
confirmed that it is not in Mevlana Rumi's works, but was composed in
Turkish by a Turkish commentator of Masnavi, and that the origin of
this particular quote is from the sayings attributed to Mevlana in the
collection of stories about his life written (in Persian) by Aflâkî
("Manâqibu 'l-`ârifîn").

The quote appears on the Internet as the last verse of a Turkish poem
(with each verse ending, "gibi ol": "Be like...") called the "Seven
Advices of Mevlana":

Be like a river in generosity and helping others
Be like the sun in compassion and remorse
Be like the night in covering the faults of others
Be like a dead person in anger and hatred
Be like the black earth in humility and modesty
Be like an ocean in loving tolerance
Either appear as you are or be as you appear
[Ya oldughun gibi görün, ya göründüghün gibi ol]

The origin of the last verse is from a story from Aflaki in which
Mevlana showed kindness toward a prostitute. After a prominent man
questioned the appropriateness of a great man such as Mevlana talking
kindly to such a person,

“Mowlânâ replied: That woman presently goes about with a single color
and she displays herself as she is without deception. If you’re a man,
you also do the same and abandon the quality of possessing two colors
(hypocrisy) so that your exterior becomes the same color as your
interior. If your exterior and interior do not become the same,
whatever you do is false and vain.”
--Aflâkî, “The Feats of the Knowers of God,“ translated by John
O’Kane, 2002, p. 384

farmûd ke: Hâliyâ ô dar yakî rangî mê-raw-ad, wujûd-râ chon-ân-ke hast
bê-zarq mê-nomây-ad. agar mard-î tô nêz chon-ân shaw, w-az dô-rangî
bêrûn ây, tâ Zâhir-e tô ham-rang-e bâTin shaw-ad. wa agar Zâhir wa
bâTin-e tô yak-sân na-shaw-ad, bâTil-o `âTil gard-ad.
--Aflâkî, 3:542, Vol. 1, p. 555

The key line appears in a 1959 Turkish translation:
“Bu kadin oldughlu gibi hareket ediyor ve oldughlu gibi riyasiz
görünüyor. Egher sen de erkeksen onun gibi ol.

"That woman is (inwardly) as she acts (outwardly), and she appears
(outwardly) as she is (inwardly) without hypocrisy. Even if you are a
man, be like her."

Ibrahim

[Iljas Baker]

I believe I have read something similar attributed to Hazrat Ali. Can anyone confirm or disconfirm this. Salaam, Iljas

[daralmas...@gmail.com]

Dear ljas,
Salâm,

You can also find the following on the Internet, attributed to Khwâja
Mu`înuddîn Cheshtî:
"Humility like the earth,
generosity like the river,
affection like the sun."

Or, in another form:
"The lover of God should be charitable like the river, generous like
the sun and hospitable like the earth."

Ibrahim

On May 16, 2:50 am, Iljas Baker <iljasba...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I believe I have read something similar attributed to Hazrat Ali. Can anyone
> confirm or disconfirm this. Salaam, Iljas
>

[Iljas Baker]

Dear Ibrahim,

I like these quotes but don't they convey something different from the original quote? 

"Be as you appear or appear as you are" seems, to me,  to be about making the inner and outer selves one; in other words about sincerity (ikhlas) and as such reflecting the Divine tawhid. Does that make sense?

Iljas