Abstract:
Indeed, the element of suspense in Rumi's stories is so artistic that it never induces a state of passivity in the reader, but rather compels them to seek out subtle devices to continue the story until its end. One way to recognize the artistic dimensions of the Masnavi is to enter the world of the structure of the stories in this book and recognize the main techniques of Rumi's storytelling. One of these techniques is the use of the element of suspense and anticipation. The main effort of this article is to show, through the structural comparison of several tales, how the quantity and quality of the presence of this element is in Rumi's stories. In this article, we conclude that suspense in Rumi's stories is achieved in four ways: 1- By addressing meanings and concepts that interrupt the direct narration of the story. 2- Through the inclusion of numerous allusions. 3- Through the inclusion of interlinked tales whose presence in the middle of the story was not pre-calculated at all and have entered the middle of the main story solely through Rumi's free associations and for the purpose of creating wonder, variety, and changing the reader's taste. 4- By removing his own presence as a narrator and entrusting the flow of narration to the characters of the story.
Machine summary:
By examining the constituent elements of these three narrations, several noteworthy points can be inferred: A: The main character in the narration of Asrar al-Tawhid is Sheikh Abu Said Abi al-Khayr, who in the narration of Musibat-nama turns into a secondary character through the presence of the "helpless old man," and in the Masnavi narration, gives his place to Umar.
By choosing two contrasting characters, Umar and the lute-playing old man, as the main characters of the story, and moving the setting of the events to the city of Yathrib, where in that era no sound other than the sound of Islam could surely be heard, Rumi draws a strange triangle that possesses perfect narrative harmony and, in terms of content, is an appropriate expression for nurturing Rumi's deep thoughts and reflecting his free-thinking and broad-mindedness.
Then he leaves it and proceeds to narrate the life of the Sufis of the Abu Said khanqah, and at the end of this section, by including the following verses, he connects the second part of the narration to its first part: شيخ آن زر داد خادم را و گفت#در فلان مسجد فلان پيرى بخفت با ربابى زير سر پيرى نكوست#اين زر او را ده كه اين زر آن اوست (Musibat-nama: 341) But Rumi's narration of this story is fundamentally different from what is in Asrar al-Tawhid, which Forouzanfar has read as the source of Rumi's lute-playing old man story; it appears completely different and is only shared with Attar's narration in the beginning of the narration.
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