Wisdom and Jests of Joha, by Faouzi Skali: 70 spiritual tales
Faouzi Skali, Sagesses et facéties de Joha : 70 spiritual tales and their hidden message.
The stories of Joha, an unclassifiable character, at once eccentric, sage and buffoon, have been repeated and reinvented from generation to generation in the wake of a popular wisdom widely irrigated and inspired by the teachings of Sufism.
The same character goes under different names: Joha in the Maghreb, Goha in Egypt, then, in various declensions, the celebrated (Mullah) Nasruddin, from Turkey to the Far East.
The name “Joha” is used here generically, to encompass certain stories that have, with time and place, been attributed rather to one or another of his alter egos. In this, he is first of all the expression of a state of mind and of a form of humour with a particular flavour, which constitute a heritage common to all these figures.
Mirrors of our soul
In Sufism, meditation practices and spiritual exercises lead to a greater self-knowledge and, thereby, to a deepened understanding of human nature and its vicissitudes, which is never better expressed than in humorous fashion. It is through a salutary process of self-mockery that Joha invites us to become aware, by a mirror effect, of our illusions, our wanderings and our “sublime idiocies”. An endless resource of amusement, indeed!
He evokes certain spiritual (malamati) or ecstatic (majdhub) figures, who marked their time through behaviour that disconcerts and arouses perplexity, and whose effects are finally to goad souls and awaken minds.
It is over the successive strokes of these seventy lessons (chosen from a far vaster heritage), and of the commentaries we offer on them, that this strange and familiar figure takes shape. These stories, read and re-read, yield deeper, unexpected meanings over time. They can also quite simply settle in our memories, to come and subtly illuminate various situations of life at just the right moment.
I am trying here to bring a personal and free interpretation of Joha’s lessons. Following in this the Master’s footsteps, the trails thus opened are themselves calls to keep meditating, to keep ruminating these stories. They carry those pearls of wisdom that could not be at once better protected and transmitted than behind the masks of a gentle madness.
By their timeless aspects, Joha’s tales remain astonishingly topical. Like mirrors of our soul, they reflect our own vanity, our illusions, our wayward ways… Joha thereby represents a spiritual figure whose disconcerting attitude aims to arouse in us a perplexity, a salutary shock.
Faouzi Skali, doctor of anthropology, ethnology and religious sciences, is one of the greatest specialists in Sufism. In 2001, he was designated by the UN among the world personalities who have contributed to the dialogue of civilisations. He is the author of numerous works.
