M6:2234 — آتشین است این نشان کوته کنم / بر فقیر و گنج و احوالش زنم

Translation: This sign (discourse) is fiery; I will shorten it, / And revert to the poor man, the treasure, and his circumstances. Meaning: Rumi explicitly states his intention to cut short a profound and potentially unsettling theological discussion, choosing instead to return to a previously introduced narrative.

This couplet is a brilliant moment of Rumi's self-awareness, where he deliberately pulls the reins of his discourse and refrains from expanding upon a profound philosophical discussion. When he says, "This sign (discourse) is fiery," he refers to the complex and burning issue of divine decree and destiny that he had touched upon earlier: why are some branches 'wet' and others 'dry'? Why are blessings unequally distributed? These are questions that lead any serious thinker to probe the very roots of creation and divine predestination.

I strongly believe that Rumi experiences a 'spiritual contraction' (qabḍ-i rūḥī) here. He fears that delving into these treacherous theological waters, discussing determinism and fate, might extinguish the spiritual motivation he has kindled in his audience through 'dance and ecstasy' and the 'fire of love.' Rumi does not wish for his listeners to feel ensnared in the cruel grip of destiny and cease their spiritual striving; hence, he declares, "I will shorten it." This is a strategic retreat to preserve the spiritual fervor that is the very mission of the Masnavi. He states that it is better to temporarily free himself from this debate and return to the unfinished story of the 'poor man and the treasure.'

Yet, Rumi cannot entirely escape this fire. Immediately in the next couplet, he speaks of a deeper flame: "Behold the soul's fire, from which imagination burns." This fire no longer merely consumes a sapling; it reduces our imagination, thought, and all our conceptual frameworks to ashes. This is the 'fire of Divine Unity' (Ātash-i Tawḥīd); a fire that, once ignited, leaves no room for multiplicity (kathrat). Our minds are creators of multiplicity; they derive dozens of concepts from a 'table,' attribute multiple qualities to 'God,' and generate countless identities for 'ourselves.' As stated in sayings attributed to Imam Ali (a): "Knowledge was a point, the ignorant multiplied it" — meaning true gnosis was singular, but those seeking knowledge fragmented it into myriad details.

This fire consumes our intellect and conceptual frameworks because these are all instruments of multiplicity. True 'vision' (ruʾyat), in Rumi's and mystics' terms, is to perceive 'Unity' (Tawḥīd) and 'Oneness' (waḥdat); to see the totality and unity of a thing without dissolving into its various facets. This is beyond the grasp of our 'intellect' (ʿaql) and is achieved only through the experience of unity and annihilation in the Divine.

Rumi connects this concept to the noble Quranic verse, "Everything is perishing except His Face/Essence" (Quran 28:88). Everything is 'perishing,' meaning it is not that it will perish, but that it is 'now,' in its very essence, non-existent and ephemeral; its existence is not self-subsistent but stems from the 'Face of God' (wajh-Allāh). As Rumi himself says about love: "Does love have a back, after all? / It is all face, from top to bottom." Love, too, is entirely 'Face' because it emanates from the Divine Essence. This verse is a Quranic expression of the same Unity, whose fire obliterates every multiplicity. He illustrates this by the example of the 'alif' in 'Bismillāh,' which is omitted in writing but present in pronunciation, demonstrating how annihilation and non-existence reside in unity, and how multiplicities are dissolved within it.

Key takeaways

• Rumi deliberately avoids complex and potentially discouraging discussions on divine destiny to preserve the spiritual motivation of his audience.
• The phrase "This sign is fiery" conveys the intensity and profundity of the topics Rumi abstains from, reflecting his own deep engagement with them.
• Returning to the story of the 'poor man and the treasure' is a tactical shift to maintain the Masnavi's positive and constructive spiritual atmosphere.
• Even with this avoidance, Rumi cannot entirely escape the 'fire of the soul,' an intense metaphor for Divine Unity and the oneness of existence.
• The 'fire of Unity' burns away concepts, imagination, and mental multiplicities to allow for the vision of Oneness, a process beyond intellectual grasp.
• Referencing the Quranic verse "Everything is perishing except His Face" signifies the intrinsic ephemerality of all things save God's Essence and the triumph of Unity over multiplicity.