A Comparative Study of the Concept of Tolerance in Lessing and Rumi with Particular Focus on Nathan the Wise and The Grape Story

This article studies the concept of tolerance in the works of Lessing and Rumi. Forthis purpose, we have compared Nathan the Wise and The Grape Story from theperspective of the American School of Comparative Literature with the help ofdescriptive – analytical method and through content analysis. Both thinkers believethat differences among people are superficial rather than fundamental. All peopleseek the truth. They maintain that problems such as war stems from the fact that thefollowers of different religions are not familiar with each other’s beliefs. Theysuggest that the solution to this crisis is tolerance. Lessing explicitly talks aboutthree divine religions and stresses tolerance in the followers of these religions inNathan the Wise, while Rumi expresses his beliefs in The Grape Story implicitly andesoterically. He requests tolerance from all humanity. Indeed both writers try topromote tolerance and to understand other religious beliefs in an attempt to bringpeace to the world.