Explainig the Concept of “Negligence” in Two Anecdotes from Masnavi, Based on Albert Ellis’s Rational-Emotive Theory

Contemporary psychology emphasizes the principle that underestimating oneself will lead to the person’s negligence; the person will consider themselves to be shiftless and maladroit, and the habit of underestimating themselves will develop in their mind. People with such views and thoughts cannot make the most of their abilities and experiences. They will look for transient kinds of pleasure in order to reach their short-term goals and such delusive outlook will cause them problems which will influence their whole lives. Molavī, a great Iranian poet and mystic, has presented an exact paradigm of pure human nature and identity, dealing with logical and illogical principles of manners in his works which belong to centuries before science of psychology was formed.
Albert Ellis believes that human causes disturbance and deprives oneself from benefiting from a calm life by their own thoughts and attitude toward their surroundings. He thinks that human intrinsically has biological, exceptional and powerful tendencies to think and act in a specific way which might be logical or illogical. However, in his opinion, human has an intense readiness for illogical and irrational thinking. This article analyzes two anecdotes from Molavī’s Masnavi, using Albert Ellis’s ideas.