A Message to Garcia and Mevlânâ Jalaluddin Rumi

Dear readers! I wanted to share with you the essay “A Message to Garcia”, which we were given to read in our student years and were even handed to carry with us, and a story from the Masnavi of Mevlânâ.

“A Message to Garcia”, written by Elbert Hubbard in 1899, is an essay expressing the value of individual initiative and integrity that has drawn wide interest in the business world and in military circles.

In 1898, while the Cuban War of Independence was under way, the United States (US) was on the brink of a possible war with Spain. US President William McKinley wanted information about the Spanish forces in Cuba and about the army of the Cuban General Calixto García, who was fighting Spain in Cuba.  To that end, the President decided to send a message to General García.

The President asked Colonel Arthur Wagner, head of the US Government’s Bureau of Military Information: “Where can I find a man who will carry a message to García?”

Colonel Wagner recommended a young lieutenant named Andrew S. Rowan.

The young Rowan, who received the message in early 1898, delivered it to General García after a gruelling journey.

When Rowan set out, all he had was a scrap of information that General García was in eastern Cuba. If captured during the journey, he risked being killed by a Spanish firing squad.

Setting out nevertheless, Rowan crossed by boat to Jamaica and reported his arrival to the United States by telegraph. Then, travelling across open country, through jungle, over mountains and in a closed railway wagon, he succeeded in delivering the message to General García. 

Rowan knew how difficult the mission was when he set out. Yet he took the message and delivered it to the person it was meant for without asking those who had assigned him the ordinary questions that might come to mind, such as “Who is García? How do I reach him? Is there anyone to help me? How long will the journey take? Will I be promoted if I succeed? …”. 

What is meant here is a person’s use of his own initiative, setting aside his personal interests, making a personal sacrifice by risking his life, and his determination and integrity in accomplishing the task.

Today the private sector and the bureaucracy need Lieutenant Rowans badly. Those who are authorised and responsible for things running smoothly want to be sure of the self-sufficiency and know-how of the people they assign tasks to. In this context, individual competence and merit come to the fore.

Mevlânâ, too, turned a similar subject into a story in the Masnavi, as follows.

The Sultan had chosen a slave named Ayaz from among all his men and valued him so highly that he did not show even his hundred viziers a tenth of the esteem and worth Ayaz had gained (Rûmî, 1273: Vol. 2, lines 1045-1050).

The Beys around the Sultan were so jealous of Ayaz that, boiling over with envy, they finally began to reproach even the Sultan, saying:

This Ayaz of yours does not have the sense of thirty men, so how can he take the robe money of thirty Beys?

The Sultan went out hunting in the mountains and plains with thirty Beys. Seeing a caravan in the distance, he said to one of the Beys: “Go and ask which city that caravan is coming from.”

The Bey went, asked and came back, saying: “It is coming from Rey.” When the Sultan asked, “And where is it going?”, the Bey was dumbfounded. He said to another Bey: “Go, noble sir, and find out where it is going!”

He too went and came back and informed the Sultan: “It is going to Yemen.” When the Sultan asked, “What is its load?”, he could not answer either. The Sultan said to another Bey: “Come on, you go and find out what its load is.”

The Bey went and came back, and when he said, “All kinds of goods, but mostly bowls from Rey”, the Sultan asked, “When did it leave Rey?” That Bey could not answer the question either.

Thus all thirty, indeed more, of the Beys proved helpless and wanting.

Then the Sultan turned to the Beys and said: “One day I tested my Ayaz alone. Where is that caravan coming from? Go and find out, I said. He went and asked about everything. Without any order from me, he told me the whole state of the caravan, just as it was, point by point. What these thirty Beys could learn in thirty trips, he learned all at once and came back.” (Rûmî, 1273: Vol. 6, lines 385-400)

In this story Mevlânâ emphasises the importance of merit in state service. Esteem, office and salaries should be given to truly competent people, not merely because they are someone’s relative or acquaintance. When this is not ensured, state authority degenerates and the person in power is also exposed to criticism.

In today’s world of business and bureaucracy, more than ever, there is a need for people who will carry ‘A Message to Garcia’ and for prudent, true statesmen like Ayaz. Competent and effective people with qualities worthy of appreciation like these, rising to offices and positions befitting their merits, will have a positive effect on both the nation’s prosperity and society’s quality of life.