When Pride Meets Love: Rumi’s Tale of the Hodja (Divan-e-Kabir, Verse 18) A cautionary parable on pride, fate, and the purifying fire of Love In this powerful passage from Rumi’s Divan-e-Kabir (Verse 18) , we witness a timeless lesson about pride, arrogance, and the humbling power of Divine Love. Rumi tells the story of a hodja (religious teacher) who mocked lovers and walked with arrogance, only to be struck down by fate and transformed by Love itself. It is a reminder that wealth, status, and applause are illusions— only God’s Love endures. This verse speaks not just to Sufis and seekers of the spiritual path, but to anyone struggling with ego, loss, or the search for true meaning. Divan-e-Kabir • Verse 18 Chat hodja's[7] feet got stuck in the mud In our neighborhood. Let me tell you his story. Do you remember the proverb, "The eye becomes blind when fate comes?" He used to boast cruelly, ...