M6:2891 — یار شب را روز مهجوری مده / جان قربت‌دیده را دوری مده

Translation: To the companion of the night, do not give the day of separation; To the soul that has seen closeness, do not give distance.

Meaning: Mowlana, in this couplet, implores God not to subject the seeker to the pain of separation after having granted the sweet taste of union. He emphasizes that the agony of distance following intimacy is far more devastating than any primal separation.

This couplet represents one of Mowlana's rarer, yet intensely explicit, prayers. Here, the servant implores God not to withdraw a blessing once bestowed, not to embitter a soul once sweetened by union. This fear of separation is a trembling familiar to all mystics, a dread that after traversing the spiritual path and reaching a certain station, one might stumble, losing all accumulated spiritual treasures. As Mowlana himself warns, "Be alert, for in the wind of self-sufficiency, a thousand harvests of obedience are not worth half a barley-corn." It is as if in such a state, "if a seeker has a hundred skills, they still need reliance on God."

Mowlana here clearly speaks from an experience of wiṣāl (union), yet concurrently expresses a palpable fear of hijrān (separation) after that union. The crucial point is that initial separation, the primal cutting from the reed-bed of eternity, is arduous; but separation following a taste of intimacy and presence is exponentially more bitter and soul-crushing. This pain, he declares, surpasses even death: "After You is death with pain and nekāl (punishment)." He stresses that this is especially true for "a separation that comes after union." For Mowlana, nothing in the world is more bitter than such hijrān. He expresses this sentiment in another ghazal: "O God, turn not this union into separation; make not the joyous ones of love lament... Break not the branch of the tree where Your bird nests, nor make the bird fly away. Nothing in the world is more bitter than separation; do whatever You wish, but do not that."

This couplet paints a picture of the dynamic relationship between the lover and the Divine Beloved, where divine grace is like rain that has planted a seed and nurtured a sapling. Now that the seed is planted and the sapling brought forth, do not let it wither or dry. Do not withhold the shade of Your grace and Your generous watering. The servant's soul, like the thriving greenery, needs this water of benevolence. And the one who has once seen Your face, "make them not unseen"—that is, do not close their eyes to Your vision. For seeing anything other than You, for the seeker, is like a "collar on the throat," suffocating; as "all that is other than God is void." In this couplet, Mowlana speaks from the position of a faithful and moral servant who has committed to heedfulness in his spiritual path, and in return, expects this heedfulness from the Beloved in the request for non-separation. This stance contrasts with some of Mowlana's other sayings where "the etiquette of love is entirely lack of etiquette"; yet in this context of supplication, reverence, and fidelity, the discourse flows in a different manner.

Key takeaways

• Do not lose the tasted union; the pain of separation after intimacy is more devastating than primal estrangement.
• The fear of stumbling and losing the experience of union is a constant concern for mystics, which Mowlana articulates.
• The seeker must attribute all acts of obedience and spiritual gains to God's grace, not to egoistic self-reliance.
• Once the seed of love is planted and the sapling of union has sprouted, it must be continuously watered with divine grace to prevent its wilting.
• Losing the vision of God, once tasted, is worse than death; for seeing anything other than God is a suffocating collar.
• This couplet reveals Mowlana's aspect as a faithful servant, imploring God for the continuation of grace and the preservation of union.