Page 66 - The Book of Rumi

Zolnoun in the Hospital

he great Egyptian Sufi Zolnoun had apparently gone insane. His
Tunbounded excitability had become disturbing to everyone close to
him. Yet his devotees were tolerant and put up with his increasingly unbear-
able behavior, until it reached a point that he truly became quite insufferable.
When his fi ery madness became contagious and affected the behavior of the
citizens he regularly came across, it became evident to his friends and devotees
that Zolnoun had to be admitted to a sanatorium.
Although, truthfully, the great Sufi could have easily controlled and
repressed his impulsive behavior and avoided being taken forcefully to a
prison-like hospital, he refused to submit to the will of those around him,
who simply did not possess his depth of insight. Zolnoun, who had literally
been driven to insanity by the sheer number of people who surrounded him
at all times, was in fact thrilled to fi nd peace and quiet at last in the hospital.
He spent his days silently reading and studying his favorite texts, happy to be
left to his own devices. However, his peaceful state did not last long, and soon
those of his followers who considered themselves his close friends and com-
panions could not bear his absence any longer and decided to pay him a visit.
Zolnoun was sitting peacefully in the garden of the sanatorium reading
when he saw these men he knew approaching. In the blink of an eye, the calm
and composed Zolnoun of the past weeks was transformed into a screaming
and cursing madman. His friends were not at fi rst too concerned, as they
believed they’d already seen him in this insane state and thought nothing of it.
The old Sufi , however, noticed that his usual ranting was no longer work-
ing and decided to test his so-called friends even further. He began to run
around the garden spitting and cursing, gathering up rocks and sticks and
hurling them at the men. At fi rst they thought that this frantic behavior could
not continue for long, but they soon discovered that Zolnoun, although feeble
looking, was indeed stronger and more energetic than even they, who were still
young men.

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