Analysis of Return Verses in the Interpretation Tales of the First Book of Masnavi

In the Masnavi, Rumi often interrupts his storytelling to insert mystical commentary, then signals a return to the narrative with phrases like "This speech has no end..."—termed "return verses." These verses act as structural pivots that link the outer story to inner esoteric meanings. By analyzing return verses in the first book of the Masnavi through content analysis, the research shows that Rumi uses these moments to introduce key words and combinations that expand mystical concepts and guide the audience toward the story's deeper message. The return verses reveal Rumi's creativity in shaping the reader's mystical experience and highlight the main purposes of his discourse.

Study at a glance

Abstract

While narrating the stories of Masnavi, Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī in many cases ignores their narration and avoids expressing esoteric knowledge. After explaining the multiple mystical themes and announcing a return to the appearance of the original story, he uses the phrase "This speech has no end..." and similar expressions, which act as a verse of the return and reversal of the stories of Masnavi. What links all these stories in a unified text is shown in some of the key words of the aforementioned phrase, which are helpful in explaining the mystical details of the Masnavi. The main purpose of the research is to analyze the "return verses" and the main role of their words in drawing the audience's attention to the message of the story, as well as to examine how the form and content of Rūmī's thought can be explained on the basis of the "return verses". This research was conducted using the method of content analysis and with regard to the stories of the first book of the Masnavi. Studies show that Rumi, using "return verses" and at the intersection of the inner and outer aspects of the story, establishes words, terms, and combinations that play a decisive role in discovering and expanding mystical concepts in that verbal situation. The care in this meaning highlights some of the main purposes of the speech and reveals Rumi's meaning-making creativity in accessing the reader's deeper foundations of mystical experience.