M6:2005 — گر نبودی با لبش نی را سمر / نی جهان را پر نکردی از شکر

Translation: Were the reed not a storyteller with His lips, / The reed would not have filled the world with sweetness. Meaning: This couplet asserts that any sound or sweetness emanating from the reed is solely a result of the breath blown into it from the reed-player's lips; without this intimate connection and communion with that primordial mouth, the reed would possess no voice of its own to fill the world with sweetness.

Mowlana, in this couplet, unequivocally highlights the genesis of the reed's soul-stirring breath. The key to comprehending this line lies in the word samar. I do not read it as thamar (fruit), but as samar (with 'sīn'), meaning storytelling, and specifically musāmarah (night-time conversation and companionship). Had the reed not engaged in such samar with the Player's lip, it would never have been able to fill the world with shakar (sweetness). The sweetness Mowlana speaks of here is not merely a literal taste, but the spiritual euphoria and profound delight that emanates from the reed's lament, nourishing the human soul. He remarks elsewhere, 'O sweet-voiced reed, / In your sound, the taste of sugar.' This synesthesia—perceiving the taste of sweetness in a sound—is emblematic of Mowlana's profound spiritual reception, pushing language to new frontiers for expressing trans-sensory experiences.

I interpret this as a reinforcement of what I have previously discussed regarding the metaphor of the ney (reed); the reed, as the hollow vessel of human existence, is merely a conduit for the transmission of divine grace. The breath a player blows into the reed is 'appropriate to the reed, not to the player' ('دم که مرد نایی اندر نای کرد / درخور نای است نه درخور مرد'); this implies that the vessel, though a conductor, also plays a role in shaping what is transmitted. But in this beyt, the focus shifts to the ultimate source: the primordial 'lab' (lip) from which the divine breath flows. This lip is the fount of all sweetness, delight, and ecstasy in existence. I am reminded of Hafez's exquisite line, 'Kiss the cup's lip, then offer it to the drunkards.' The intoxicating bliss of the drunkards comes not from the wine itself, but from the kiss the cup has received from the Beloved's lips. Similarly, it is this 'lab' that bestows upon the reed the capacity for storytelling and for scattering sweetness.

This couplet not only illuminates the spiritual source of the reed but also connects the roots of all human beauty and gnosis to that same primordial lip. What emanates from the mystic, though seemingly from them, is in reality a story heard from that Lip and subsequently transmitted. Without this vital connection, this perpetual 'conversation' with the Origin of Being, humanity too, like a silent reed, would possess no capacity to fill the world with any sweetness or sound.

Key takeaways

• The source of the reed's sweetness and soul-stirring melody is its connection to the Beloved's primordial lip, not the reed itself.
• The reed (or the mystic human) is not the ultimate source of grace but a conduit and 'storyteller' of the divine breath.
• The concept of 'sweetness' (shakar) here transcends mere taste, pointing to the spiritual delight and ecstasy originating from the divine source.
• Synesthesia in Mowlana's poetry, such as tasting sweetness in the reed's cry, serves as a tool to express mystical experiences beyond ordinary senses.
• Every beauty and meaning arising in the world originates from intimate companionship and dialogue with the divine source.