M6:738 — بی‌حجابت باید آن ای ذو لباب / مرگ را بگزین و بر دران حجاب

This couplet is the core command in a section explaining the Prophetic saying, “Die before you die.” Rumi addresses the reader as a dhū lubāb (one of deep insight), implying that this is a truth for those ready to grasp the essence of things, not just the surface.

The “That” which must be seen “without a veil” is the ultimate spiritual Reality, which the preceding verses call the “sun of the world.” The primary obstacle to this direct vision is the ḥijāb, or veil. Rumi identifies this veil with the constructed self, the ego (manī), which he has just described as a mere reflection that one mistakes for an enemy.

The act of “choosing death,” therefore, is not about physical demise. As the very next verse clarifies, it is a “death of transformation” (marg-e tabdīlī), a voluntary dismantling of the ego-self. By choosing this inner death, one actively tears the veil, allowing for an unveiled, direct perception of the Real.