Interpretation of the Tenth Rule of Love

Rule Number 10 — East, west, south, or north makes little difference. No matter what your destination, just be sure to make every journey a journey within. If you travel within, you’ll travel the whole wide world and beyond.

– Shams (to Self)

Context

This rule appears when Shams finally receives permission from Baba Zamaan (the Master at the Dervish Lodge) to begin his journey to Konya in order to meet Rumi. As Shams sets out on his journey, he remembers this rule.

This is where the rule manifests itself in the most meaningful way.

Interpretation within the story

As Shams begins his journey toward Konya, he is fully aware of the dangers that may arise along the way. This is the very reason Baba Zamaan had initially been reluctant to send him. Eventually, however, Baba Zamaan agreed, saying, “In the end we all belong to God, and to Him we shall return.”

By recalling this rule, Shams reminds himself that whatever experiences come during this journey, he must learn the inner lessons hidden within them. The real task is to understand the self through the outer world. If we are able to understand the self, we understand everything, because the outer world is simply an expansion of the inner self, while the inner self is an atomic reflection of the outer world.

Thus, even while travelling outwardly, Shams turns the journey into an inner voyage of self-realization.

Deeper interpretation beyond the story

Even if we look at this rule from a purely material perspective, it can still guide us greatly.

When we move into the outer world in pursuit of material goals, those efforts can still help us gain inner recognition. Our ambitions often reveal something about our inner state. For example, if someone seeks a position of high authority, it may indicate a lack of inner confidence, and the person hopes to fill that inner void through external power. If someone constantly seeks love outside, it may reflect a feeling of lovelessness within. The desire arises as an attempt to fill that emptiness.

In this way, every outer ambition can help us understand our inner self. Moreover, even after achieving all our material goals, we often find that a certain emptiness still remains. This itself indicates that true fulfillment is possible only through the realization of the divine or the realization of the self.

Therefore, every effort in the outer world can eventually lead us back to understanding ourselves. This is why the division between material life and spiritual life is not truly real. If we remain aware, even material pursuits can become tools for understanding the inner self.

The real difference lies more in temperament, such as the difference between introverted and extroverted natures. An extroverted person, like Shams, may first experience the world outwardly and then come to understand himself. An introverted person may follow the path expressed in the words of Jesus: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Gratitude.