SOURCE: Gholam Hosein Yousofi, "Mawlavi as a Storyteller," in The Scholar and the Saint: Studies in Commemoration of Abu'l-Rayhan al-Biruni and Jalal al-Din al-Rumi, edited by Peter J. Chelkowski, New York University Press, 1975, pp. 287-306.

In the following essay, Yousofi describes Rumi's storytelling—with its use of dialogue, anecdotes, short and expressive descriptions, creation of characters, and humor—as an art, asserting that he presents "a true picture of human beings and their different characteristics in various instances."

Stories have always been attractive to all of mankind. Most people enjoy novels, short stories, plays, scenarios, biographies, etc., in prose as well as in poetry. The authors of stories are, in fact, great discoverers of human character and everybody, particularly the common people, are so impressed by their work. Besides, any idea, including its most subtle points, can be understood better through stories, which make it possible for the...