A Study of the Conditions and Benefits of Conversation and Companionship in Rumi's Masnavi

Molavi uses many associations in the Masnavi and goes from one subject to another. This has caused one of the most frequent and important mystical topics of the Masnavi, that is, "conversation and companionship" and the virtues of seekers and the benefits that Rumi enumerates for companionship with divine saints, to not be investigated very precisely. In this research, we are looking to investigate this issue by collecting scattered verses on the subject of conversing and companionship in the Masnavi and analyzing them based on the Masnavi itself, relying on intratextual signs and situational context. However, due to the fact that the review of six books of the Masnavi is beyond the scope of this article, only the first and second books are examined. Through this research, we found out that Rumi pursues a certain intellectual and meaningful unity and coherence in the matter of conversation and companionship of seekers with divine saints, despite the "chattering of words" and this is evident from the order of the discussions and the contents of the topic of conversation. Expressing the types of companionship and parting and mentioning several virtues such as patience and surrender, paying attention to the words of parents and acting on them, not holding grudges, continuous effort, expressing need and humility, avoiding the idea of ​​perfection, etc. for conversation and companionship of the seekers with the divines and also bringing many benefits of these companionships -such as transformation of the senses, freedom from appearance, freedom from the confusion of the way of progressing, freedom from the devil, breaking the lust and leaning, freedom from the world and worldly pleasures, freedom from the selfishness and machinations. It is indicative of this order and coherence of thought and meaning could be found in the Masnavi.