M6:60 — آن جهانست اصل این پرغم وثاق / وصل باشد اصل هر هجر و فراق

Translation: That world is the origin of this sorrow-filled abode; union is the root of every separation and parting. Meaning: This verse states a metaphysical principle: the spiritual world, free from sorrow, is the origin of this material world, which is full of grief. Furthermore, every experience of separation and longing in this world fundamentally stems from a primordial union that has been lost.

This verse, in its profound depth, articulates a fundamental principle in Rumi's worldview; a principle that begins with the formless (bī-rangī) and culminates in separation (firaq). In my understanding, Rumi states here that 'that world,' meaning the realm of the divine (lāhut) and the unseen, is a world of spaciousness and freedom from sorrow. In that exalted station, grief finds no entry; angels are never sad. This is a point Rumi elaborates upon repeatedly in the Masnavi, especially in Book One: sorrow is a product of nature and has no place beyond the natural realm.

Why is this world a 'sorrow-filled abode' (pur-gham vathāq)? Because the world of forms and colors is inherently a constricted world. Confinement and limitation, by their very nature, bring weariness. It is like a person cast into a narrow prison, who becomes depressed and sorrowful. But whenever we attain spaciousness and expansion, our hearts open, and this spiritual expansion is the result of the soul's spread into the higher realm. Rumi himself states that one must 'burn the house' (meaning this narrow, prison-like world) and reach the 'desert' (which is the vast, expansive plain of the higher spiritual world); this is the movement from body to soul.

The second, profoundly insightful point of the verse is that 'union is the root of every separation and parting.' This is a philosophical and existential principle asserting that if there had been no union from the very beginning, no separation would exist. Separation always presupposes a prior union. A tangible example is marriage and divorce; marriage (union) is the origin of every divorce (separation). This implies that we should not mistakenly believe separation is an eternal state, nor that we originated from nothingness; rather, our separation from the Origin speaks of a foundational union. This sorrow-filled world emanates from that sorrow-free world; just as form emerges from formlessness, and sorrow from no-sorrow. That expansive world, when it becomes more constricted, sorrow appears within it, and thus, form is carved out of formlessness, and sorrow from sorrowlessness.

Rumi further suggests that the essence of the human soul is 'beyond divisions' (varā-yi fasl-hā); that is, it transcends separations and differences. The soul is not of nature's essence; rather, its disposition is divine, aligned with unity and formlessness. Sufis have termed this 'spiritualization' (tarawwuhun) and 'corporealization' (tajassud). The more the human spirit becomes robust and dominates the body, the closer we draw to unity and formlessness, and conflict and strife dissipate. Prophets and saints do not quarrel among themselves, for they are all spirit; the realm of the soul knows no conflict. Conflict and contention belong to the realm of the body and the narrowness of materiality; hence, Paradise is the world of the spirit and soul, and Hell is the world of the body and contention. This verse lays the fundamental groundwork for this perspective, emphasizing that the return to the origin is a return to union and freedom from sorrow.

Key takeaways

• Sorrow in the material world stems from its constriction, whereas the spiritual realm is expansive and sorrow-free.
• Every separation (firaq) testifies to a primordial union (vasl); without union, there would be no separation.
• The colorless, sorrow-free 'other world' is the root and origin of this colorful, sorrow-filled world.
• Moving from body to soul implies a transition from constriction and division to spaciousness and unity.
• The virtuous and saints eschew conflict because their spirits have triumphed over their bodies, bringing them closer to the realm of unity.