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Undertoad · 06-16-2003, 02:22 PM

I didn't take rumi's advice and look it up in an encyclopedia. I looked it up in the dictionary. Just now.

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=dervish

For the record then, all of the definitions given:

<li>A member of any of various Muslim ascetic orders, some of which perform whirling dances and vigorous chanting as acts of ecstatic devotion.

<li>One that possesses abundant, often frenzied energy.

<li>Word History: The word dervish calls to mind the phrases howling dervish and whirling dervish. Certainly there are dervishes whose religious exercises include making loud howling noises or whirling rapidly to induce a dizzy, mystical state. But a dervish is really the Muslim equivalent of a monk or friar, for the Persian word darvsh, the ultimate source of dervish, means “religious mendicant.” The word is first recorded in English in 1585.

<li>One of the fanatical followers of the Mahdi, in the Sudan.

<li>A Turkish or Persian monk, especially one who professes extreme poverty and leads an austere life.

<li>An ascetic Muslim monk; a member of an order noted for devotional exercises involving bodily movements

So there it is, and rumi, oh dear, none of them mention the word "student". I won't rub it in too hard though, because I'm a nice guy.

06-16-2003, 02:22 PM	#24
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	I didn't take rumi's advice and look it up in an encyclopedia. I looked it up in the dictionary. Just now. http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=dervish For the record then, all of the definitions given: <li>A member of any of various Muslim ascetic orders, some of which perform whirling dances and vigorous chanting as acts of ecstatic devotion. <li>One that possesses abundant, often frenzied energy. <li>Word History: The word dervish calls to mind the phrases howling dervish and whirling dervish. Certainly there are dervishes whose religious exercises include making loud howling noises or whirling rapidly to induce a dizzy, mystical state. But a dervish is really the Muslim equivalent of a monk or friar, for the Persian word darvsh, the ultimate source of dervish, means “religious mendicant.” The word is first recorded in English in 1585. <li>One of the fanatical followers of the Mahdi, in the Sudan. <li>A Turkish or Persian monk, especially one who professes extreme poverty and leads an austere life. <li>An ascetic Muslim monk; a member of an order noted for devotional exercises involving bodily movements So there it is, and rumi, oh dear, none of them mention the word "student". I won't rub it in too hard though, because I'm a nice guy.