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Part 3, Chapter 16
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Forty Rules of Love, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Love and Spirituality
Connections Across Distance and Time
Appearances vs. Reality
Storytelling and Truth
Summary
Analysis
Sultan Walad. Konya, September 4, 1245. Sultan Walad, Aladdin’s older brother, has always worried about him and thinks his temper is only getting worse. Aladdin complains to Sultan Walad one day that Rumi seems to have thrown aside all his responsibilities lately, and people are gossiping that Rumi has been manipulated by Shams, a heretic. Sultan Walad accuses Aladdin of overreacting, but this only makes Aladdin defensive.
While Aladdin is impatient and doesn’t understand Shams and Rumi, Sultan Walad acts more judiciously. Sultan Walad cares less about the gossip from people in town about his father, instead supporting Shams due to the deep spiritual relationship he has with Rumi. Aladdin’s obsession with external appearances leads him down the wrong spiritual path.
Active
Themes
Aladdin wonders if the Assassins sent Shams to Rumi to kill him. They are a sect famous for killing influential people, right in public. Sultan Walad finds it highly unlikely that Shams has any connection to the Assassins, who are a dying sect anyway. He encourages Aladdin to ignore rumors her hears. He recommends that Aladdin tries to see the good in Shams, and when Sultan Walad and Aladdin hug, Sultan Walad thinks he has convinced Aladdin—although he will realize later that he was naïve to think this.
Active
Themes
