M6:602 — گردکانی چندش اندر جیب کرد / که تو طفلی گیر این می‌باز نرد

Translation: He placed a few walnuts in his pocket, Saying, "You are a child; take these and play backgammon."

Meaning: The Beloved gave walnuts to a lover who had fallen asleep from impatience, signaling that he was still a mere child on the path of love and should busy himself with childish games.

This verse recounts a deeply symbolic and insightful story of a lover who, in anticipation of union with the Beloved, grows restless and eventually falls asleep. When the Beloved arrives at the lover's chamber and finds him slumbering, a few walnuts are placed in his pocket, accompanied by a telling hint: "You are a child; take these and play backgammon." This narrative in the Masnavi serves as a profound critique of those who claim to be lovers yet are unprepared for a true encounter with the Beloved.

I interpret this incident thus: the walnuts symbolize childish games and superficial attachments. By this act, the Beloved unequivocally communicates to the lover that he remains at a spiritual infancy; his passion is raw and unrefined, lacking the wakefulness and vigilance essential for true union. This is the moment of wesāl (union), not merely the promise of it. At such a juncture, falling asleep signifies a lack of spiritual maturity and the dominance of the lower self (nafs) over the elevated spiritual state (hāl). This is an ta'dīb (amorous discipline), not an ṭard (rejection).

However, Mowlana immediately distinguishes himself from such a lover. He does not suggest, "We are all like this." No, he portrays himself as the del-e bikhāb (sleepless heart) and the ḥaras bar bām (watchman on the roof). Later in the story, he states:

O sleepless heart, we are safe from this; As watchmen, we beat on the rooftop.

This couplet marks Mowlana's clear separation from the symbolic sleeping lover. He asserts himself as the pāsbān (guardian) and negahbān (custodian) of the covenant of love, whose eyes are never overcome by sleep. He declares, gardukān-e mā dar īn maṭḥan shekast (our walnuts were crushed in this mill), meaning that all childish games and superficial attachments have been ground down and obliterated in the mill of love's trials and tribulations. I take this as proof of Mowlana's wafādārī (fidelity) and sincerity to the path of love.

The path of love demands absolute bīdārī (wakefulness) and hushyārī (vigilance). In this journey, the slightest heedlessness or impatience signifies a lack of iste'dād (capacity) and pokhtagī (maturity). This verse reminds us that, for Mowlana, true love is not a fleeting amusement but a moshāhede-ye dā'emī (constant observation) and an cheshm-e bāz (open eye) toward truth. A lover who falls asleep on this path has not yet traversed the marāteb (stages) of love. This failure stems not from the Beloved's sostī (weakness), but from the lover's own kāstī (deficiency). Indeed, the lover himself, upon waking, declares: "Our King is all sincerity and faithfulness; whatever befalls us, that too is from us." This is the khwishtan-shenāsī (self-knowledge) that Mowlana frequently emphasizes: whatever happens to us is a reflection of ourselves, not a shortcoming on the part of the Divine Beloved.

Key takeaways

• Union with the Beloved is reserved for wakeful and patient lovers.
• Impatience and slumber on the path of love signify spiritual infancy and unreadiness for the grandeur of union.
• Walnuts here symbolize childish games and trivial attachments that hinder the lover's perfection.
• Mowlana distinguishes himself from such a lover, emphasizing his 'sleepless heart' and 'shattered walnuts'.
• The path of love is a serious one, crushing all heedlessness and worldly attachments in its 'mill'.