M6:976 — پس بماند آب و گل بی آن نگار / گردد آن دیوار بی مه دیووار

Translation: Then water-and-clay remains without that Beloved-form, / And that wall, moonless, becomes like a demon. Meaning: This verse asserts that when the reflection of true beauty or divine love withdraws from any transient thing, that thing reveals its inherent worthlessness and ugliness.

This verse is deeply intertwined with the preceding ones, which delve into the distinction between true and metaphorical love, and authentic versus borrowed beauty. Here, Rumi alludes to a profound existential and mystical principle, rooted in the thought of our ancients: the principle of the conservation of light and beauty. This principle, unlike our modern laws of conservation of matter and energy, posits that light and beauty do not perish, but rather return to their source and origin.

Rumi emphasizes that true love is that which belongs to the boundless Beloved, God Himself. This love is 'love' in the fullest sense of the word. However, love directed towards limited and finite beloveds, though we may apply the word 'love' to it, is in fact 'metaphorical' (majāzī). This metaphorical quality does not imply falsehood; rather, it signifies that such love is a reflection, an emanation of the original meaning projected from the true source. Rumi contends that the 'metaphorical' is indeed the truth, but applied in a different context; it is like a reflection of the original meaning.

Prior to this verse, Rumi contrasts 'gilded beauty' (ḥusn-i zarandūd) with the 'gold mine' (kān-i zar). Gilded beauty is that which has a veneer of gold; once this veneer is removed, the underlying smoke and darkness are revealed. By analogy, earthly beauties are similar. Our physical bodies, our 'water-and-clay' (āb-o gil), possess an alluring exterior, but this beauty is merely a reflection from the hidden soul that shines upon it. When that soul or that divine 'Beloved-form' (negār) departs from this earthly vessel, the 'body remains rotten, disgraced, and evil' (jism mānd ganda o ruswā o bad).

Similarly, Rumi employs the simile of moonlight on a wall: 'Moonlight returns to the moon itself / Its reflection leaves the black wall.' In the present verse, Rumi states that once the moon's light returns to its source, the moon itself, the wall that was illuminated by its reflection reverts to its original darkness and ugliness. Indeed, 'water-and-clay' and 'wall' are both symbols of transient, corporeal objects in this world, whose beauty and value are borrowed. 'That Beloved-form' (ān negār) and 'moon' (mah) are symbols of eternal, everlasting beauty and light, which impart reality to earthly things. This verse explicitly demonstrates the consequence of this borrowed beauty and light departing: finite objects become valueless and 'demon-like' (dīv-vār). In the wall becoming 'demon-like,' there is a beautiful rhetorical device where Rumi plays on the words dīvār (wall) and dīv (demon) to heighten the sense of ugliness and dread. This poem offers a lesson in tawḥīd-i afʿālī (unity of divine acts) and tawḥīd-i jamālī (unity of divine beauty); that every beauty and perfection in the world is a manifestation of divine beauty, and without that source, nothing possesses true originality.

Key takeaways

• Worldly beauties are borrowed, originating from the eternal 'Beloved-form'; without it, the physical body ('water-and-clay') remains worthless.
• Rumi uses the ancient principle of the 'conservation of light and beauty' to explain the difference between true love (for the boundless) and metaphorical love (for the finite).
• This verse illustrates the consequence of withdrawing divine light from transient beings, much like a wall that becomes 'demon-like' without moonlight.
• The 'metaphorical' nature of love does not imply its falsehood, but rather its reflective quality, emanating from the original, true source.
• The term 'demon-like' (dīv-vār) is a literary device to convey ultimate ugliness and repulsiveness, revealed in the absence of true beauty.