Rumi's wisdom cuts deeper than simple negativity-avoidance; he's naming a particular kind of person—not merely critical voices, but those who actively work to diminish your vitality. The Greek root of "disease" reminds us he means literal dis-ease, the body's state of unrest, suggesting that certain relationships don't just wound the spirit but physically compromise us. When you find yourself drained after time with someone who specializes in criticism or control, your shoulders tighter, your breath shallower, you're witnessing exactly what Rumi describes—a gravitational pull toward entropy rather than growth. The radical part is his permission to simply *ignore* rather than fix, convince, or save such people; some relationships aren't meant to be healed but released.