M6:2249 — چون نماند خاک و بودش جف کند / خاک سازد بحر او چون کف کند

Translation: When dust remains no more, and its being has become barren, / Its Ocean makes it dust when it generates froth. Meaning: This verse speaks to the annihilation of myriad earthly existences within the singular Ocean of Truth, especially when these existences become detached from their roots and wither.

This verse is a continuation of a profound and fundamental discussion in the Masnavi regarding the fate of the "dry branch" and the mystery of divine predestination. As I've said before, Rumi grapples with the essential question of why some branches remain "moist" and verdant, while others become "dry" and barren. These are the kinds of questions that vex the poet and mystic, driving him back to the very roots of existence. This particular couplet paints a picture of the ultimate destiny of this "dust" – the multiplicities of the world and our individual existential determinations.

Rumi states: "چون نماند خاک و بودش جف کند" (When dust remains no more, and its being has become barren). This means that when these earthly forms and individual determinations become severed from their life-giving origin – like a branch that no longer receives sustenance from its root – they become "jaf"; dry, insipid, and devoid of vitality. This lifelessness and lack of vigor signify inherent perishability and gradual decay.

What happens in such a state? "خاک سازد بحر او چون کف کند" (Its Ocean makes it dust when it generates froth). That "Ocean," which is the absolute Ocean of Existence and Divine Unity, transforms this "dust" back into dust. This transformation into dust is not mere destruction, but rather a return to formlessness and annihilation within unity. It is precisely like the ocean that reabsorbs its foam, seemingly dissolving it. In truth, the essence of foam is nothing but the ocean's water, temporarily appearing in a distinct form.

This is the very "fire of unity" (ātesh-e tawhid) and "fire of oneness" (ātesh-e wahdat) of which I have spoken in earlier lectures. It is a fire that burns away both "imagination" (khiyal) and "reality" (haqiqat), tolerating no form of multiplicity. It is a fire that flares up within multiplicity, transfiguring all mental and objective determinations. This is the process of the cosmos being "kun fa-yakūn" (Be! and it is) – utterly transformed in the face of unity's manifestation. It is here that "كُلُّ شَيْءٍ هَالِكٌ إِلَّا وَجْهَهُ" (Everything is perishing except His Face) holds sway. Everything, not that it will die or will perish, but right now, at this very moment of presence, is perishing and annihilated; it possesses a contingent identity and is not self-subsisting. This annihilation is inherent in our essence, and this perishing is not an end, but the very truth of our multitudinous existence.

As I have previously indicated, Rumi, in such instances, refrains from engaging in theological debates of predestination versus free will, which can dampen the spirit. Yet, these few verses lead us to the profound depths of this monistic perspective, where multiplicities, if severed from their root, return to that singular root and are annihilated within it. This is not a complaint, but a narration of the destiny of all that has emerged from the ocean of unity and is destined to return to it.

Key takeaways

• Annihilation of Multiplicities: All that detaches from the singular Root of Being ultimately perishes in the absolute Ocean of Unity.
• Existential Barrenness: Separation from the life-giving Origin leads to a loss of vitality and gradual perishability.
• The Fire of Unity: Divine Unity consumes all imagination and multiplicity, not as destruction, but as a return to formlessness.
• Inherent Perishability: Every multitudinous being is not self-subsisting; it is perpetually perishing and annihilated in the Face of God.
• Analogy of Ocean Foam: Multiplicities are like sea foam, seemingly disappearing, yet intrinsically they are nothing but the truth of the singular Ocean.