M2:3272 — لب ببسته مست در بیع و شری / مشتری بی حد که الله اشتری

This beyt appears in a section discussing the nature of true knowledge versus imitative knowledge. Rumi contrasts 'imitative knowledge' (ʿilm-e taqlīdī), which is merely for show and sale, with 'investigative knowledge' (ʿilm-e taḥqīqī), which is sought for its own sake and for God. The preceding couplet states that God is the buyer of investigative knowledge, and its market is always thriving.

Here, Rumi uses the powerful image of a mystic who is 'drunk' (مست) – intoxicated with divine love and insight – and therefore 'with lips sealed' (لب ببسته). This silence is not ignorance but a profound absorption that transcends verbal expression. Such a person is engaged in a 'buying and selling' (بیع و شری) not of worldly goods, but of spiritual truths. The 'boundless buyers' (مشتری بی حد) are not human patrons but the Divine itself, as indicated by the Arabic phrase 'Allah ishtara' (الله اشتری), meaning 'God has bought.' This is an allusion to Quran 9:111, where God buys the souls and possessions of believers in exchange for Paradise. Thus, the true seeker offers their very being and inner knowledge to God, who is the only worthy and infinite buyer.

The 'silence' (خاموش) here echoes Rumi's own poetic signature and his belief that some truths are ineffable. The 'intoxication' signifies a state of divine rapture where conventional understanding and expression are transcended. The 'transaction' is a metaphor for the spiritual path, where one surrenders the self to gain divine proximity and knowledge.