M6:3602 — قاطع الاسباب و لشکرهای مرگ / هم‌چو دی آید به قطع شاخ و برگ

Translation: The severer of all means and the armies of death, Come like winter to cut off branches and leaves. Meaning: This verse conveys that death, and forces akin to it, arrive like a merciless winter, severing all external connections and dependencies, leaving nothing behind. Only a spring born of the Beloved's countenance can rescue the soul from this barrenness.

This profound verse speaks explicitly of the nature of death and forces akin to it, naming it the "severer of causes" and the "armies of death." I perceive death, in Rumi's words, as arriving like dey (winter), with its onslaught, uprooting all branches and leaves of life, hopes, and external attachments, casting them into autumn. In this imagery, none of the worldly means, causes, or earthly connections possess the power to resist this assault; all threads are severed and undone.

However, the crucial point in understanding this verse is its inseparable connection to the subsequent line, which I consider its completion: "No spring in the world can aid them / Except for the spring of the Beloved's face in the soul." Here, Rumi speaks of a redeemer. No external "spring" and no worldly helper can save a person from this decisive winter and autumn, "except for a spring that one has already prepared within one's soul." And this spring, I must emphasize, arises from "the vision of the Beloved's face." Therefore, this verse is not merely an illustration of annihilation; it is an image of the necessity of securing refuge from within, a refuge that stems from the contemplation of divine beauty.

It is for this very reason that Rumi calls the world and worldly life Dār al-Ghurūr – the abode of deceit and delusion. Why deceit? Because at the moment of death, or yawm al-ʿubūr (the day of passing), this world and all its attachments withdraw their support, leaving humanity alone. In that moment, all those who "previously vied from right and left / Promising to pluck away your pain, plucked nothing." That is, all the promises of assistance and comforting vows from others prove empty; they are powerless to help. This is the very truth to which the Quran alludes: "And you have certainly come to Us alone, as We created you the first time." You will appear before Us alone, just as you were created alone. On that day, all fabricated illusions and attachments will "vanish from them, all that they had invented"; they will disappear and offer no aid.

I liken this situation to the Christian metaphor that "everyone must carry their own cross." On that day, there are no kinsmen, no companions, no supporters, and no "connections"; each person is responsible for their own deeds. This solitude is not the existentialist loneliness of abandonment, but the solitude of individual responsibility in the divine presence. It is the inevitable and shared destiny of us all.

Rumi compares this deceptive nature of reliance on others and the liberation from it to a Quranic story about Satan. Satan invites humanity to disbelief and promises help: "Like Satan when he says to man, 'Disbelieve!'..." But as soon as man steps onto the path of disbelief and falls into the pit, Satan flees, saying, "I fear God; leave me alone!" This trickery of Satan, and this abandonment in the moment of danger, is exactly what Dār al-Ghurūr does to us. Therefore, one must connect the heart to a source that never dries up: "When your heart is joined to that Aden (paradise), then speak, fear not to be empty." This is the very meaning of the command "Qul" (Say!) to the Prophet: "The command 'Qul' came to him, 'O truthful one, it will not diminish; say, 'This is a sea!'" Only what emanates from the sea of the Beloved's soul is not subject to the severing of causes and will not wither with the winter of death.

Key takeaways

• Death is the severer of all external connections and worldly causes; no external means can resist its power.
• This verse not only speaks of annihilation but emphasizes the necessity of cultivating an inner refuge, akin to the "spring of the Beloved's face."
• The world is Dār al-Ghurūr (the abode of deceit), as all its attachments and promises prove empty at the moment of death.
• On the Day of Reckoning, each individual stands alone with their deeds; no external helper will be present to offer salvation (yawm al-ʿubūr).
• Only connection to the inexhaustible inner source of truth (Aden, the Sea) can liberate one from this severance of causes.