M1:418 — خفته آن باشد که او از هر خیال / دارد اومید و کند با او مَقال

Translation: Asleep is he who, from every phantom, Holds hope and converses with it.

Meaning: This verse defines a state of being 'asleep while awake': it describes someone who places their hopes in every fleeting fantasy and engages in dialogue with it, thereby losing touch with true reality.

This verse, in Rumi's intellectual framework, offers a profound definition of 'sleep in wakefulness.' I believe that true slumber is not merely closing our eyes and being oblivious to the external world, but rather keeping our eyes open while our heart and soul remain captive to fantasies and delusions. Rumi calls these captives of khiyāl (imagination/fantasy) 'asleep,' for they place their hopes in every mental image and converse with every passing thought.

The term khiyāl holds a pivotal position and carries immense semantic weight in Rumi's thought. This verse tells us how a person can become infatuated with khiyāl: it is like seeing a demon in a dream as a beautiful nymph and lying with it, only to realize upon waking that there was no reality to it—what occurred was merely a deceptive apparition. This explicit sexual example, which Rumi articulates with frankness, is the most vivid illustration of human enchantment with unreal manifestations. In this state, a person expends the capital of their life and soul in pursuit of that which is ultimately 'nothing.'

Of course, the scope of khiyāl for Rumi is not limited solely to personal illusions. As I have previously indicated, Rumi considers khiyāl as a stage among the stages of existence: from the 'connected imagination' (khiyāl-i muttaṣil) within our psyche to the 'separated imagination' (khiyāl-i munfaṣil) where the realm of angels and governing souls resides, and even beyond to bi-ṣūratī (formlessness). These realms, as they ascend, become more expansive, and the impossibilities of the material world become possible in the realm of khiyāl, and the impossibilities of khiyāl in the realm of bi-ṣūratī. However, the point is that even these exalted stages of khiyāl, if taken as the ultimate goal and destination, can become veils on the path, preventing one from attaining union with absolute reality. This world of forms, even imaginary forms, is always 'narrower than non-being' (tang-tar āmad az ʿadam), because it clothes formlessness and colorlessness in a garment.

Thus, when Rumi says, 'Asleep is he who, from every phantom, holds hope and converses with it,' he warns us that even in spiritual realms and inner perceptions, we might become attached to shadows and grow oblivious to the origin. This slumber is a type of heedlessness in which a person does not look up to see the real bird in the sky, but instead keeps their gaze fixed downwards, on the bird's shadow on the ground, wasting their life in the pursuit of a shadow. This infatuation with khiyāl obstructs the spiritual journey and prevents one from finding 'the way of travel' to the 'above' and to their true Origin.

Key takeaways

• 'Sleep in wakefulness' is imprisonment within the realm of fantasies (khiyāl).
• The 'asleep' individual places hope in every fleeting illusion and converses with it, wasting their life.
• Khiyāl functions as a deceptive shadow of reality, capable of obscuring the truth from one's sight.
• Investing in futile fantasies is an unproductive expenditure of one's vital energy and time.
• True awakening signifies liberation from the shackles of illusion and a return to one's fundamental truth and origin.