M6:615 — ای ببسته خواب جان از جادوی / سخت‌دل یارا که در عالم توی

Translation: O you who have bound the soul's sleep with your sorcery, O hard-hearted Beloved, who are the only one in the world!

Meaning: The lover addresses the Beloved, asserting that through their 'magic,' they have stolen the soul's sleep, leaving it in eternal restlessness; and such a hard-hearted Beloved is unique in all creation.

In this verse, Rumi speaks from a position of utter frankness and audacity towards the Beloved, a stance that signifies the collapse of all social, and even personal, "namus" (reputation, conventional propriety). Prior to this beyt, Rumi speaks of "becoming naked" (ʿuryān shudan) and "casting off form to become pure soul" (naqsh bgozāram, sarāsar jān shavam). It is as if he intends to shed not only the body's garment but also the awareness of the body itself, to convey the most unmediated discourse with his Beloved. This signifies absolute annihilation (fanā) before the Beloved.

I firmly maintain that shame and modesty are among humanity's most fundamental moral traits; a shameless person is the most immoral of individuals. However, Rumi here points to a deeper truth: in the "etiquette of love" (ādāb-i ʿāshiqī), there should be no veil of shame or modesty between the lover and the Beloved. Love is the "enemy of shame and thought" (ʿadu-ye sharm o andīshe), tearing down the curtains of modesty to allow for complete "mubāsaṭat"—uninhibited speech. Addressing the Beloved as "hard-hearted Beloved" (sakht-del yārā) is precisely an instance of tearing down these veils. Such a statement, from the perspective of reason (ʿaql), might be deemed a "false claim" (lāf-i dorūgh), as Hafez eloquently stated: "A lover's boast, and yet a complaint of the Beloved—what a false claim of love!" Yet, in the realm of love, even a complaint (gileh) is a sign of ultimate intimacy and yearning, where the lover shares everything, bitter or sweet, with the Beloved.

The phrase "O you who have bound the soul's sleep with your sorcery" (Ey babaste khāb-e jān az jāduy) carries profound subtlety. "Az jāduy" means 'by means of the Beloved's sorcery.' The Beloved, through this magic, has "bound" (basteh) the "soul's sleep" (khāb-e jān). This does not imply inducing sleep in the soul but rather preventing the soul from sleeping. It means the Beloved does not allow the soul to find ease or tranquility, but constantly keeps it in restlessness, yearning, and wakefulness. This "sleep-binding" (khwāb-bandī), contrary to its literal appearance, is a sign of the Beloved's constant presence in the lover's life—a presence that does not allow the soul to be oblivious or at peace for a moment. The soul can no longer sleep, for the Beloved holds it awake with invisible threads of longing. This is precisely where "patience" (ṣabr) dies in the face of "love" (ʿishq); as Rumi states elsewhere, "My patience died the night love was born." In the domain of love, patience is futile, for love "strangles its throat" (guluyash rā mī-feshārad) and suffocates it.

"O hard-hearted Beloved, who are the only one in the world!" (Sakht-del yārā ke dar ʿālam tu-yī) is the pinnacle of this candid expression. The lover calls the Beloved "hard-hearted," but immediately acknowledges their singularity and unparalleled nature in the world. This acknowledgment of uniqueness both justifies the Beloved's harshness and implies that the lover has no recourse but surrender; for in all the world, there is no other refuge, and the Beloved is the sole sovereign of heart and soul. This manner of address, in essence, demonstrates that love remedies human selfishness and self-centeredness, guiding the individual towards "emptying oneself" (az khod tehī shudan) and ultimately, towards annihilation in the Beloved. This is the great lesson that love, even metaphorical love, can impart: preparation for complete annihilation before the Divine Truth.

Key takeaways

• True love necessitates shedding all conventional veils of propriety, shame, and modesty.
• Addressing the Beloved uninhibitedly, even with the epithet 'hard-hearted,' signifies the pinnacle of intimacy and the lover's annihilation.
• The Beloved's 'binding the soul's sleep' means keeping the lover's soul eternally restless in longing, not putting it to slumber.
• Love is the remedy for selfishness and egocentrism, guiding the seeker towards self-emptying and complete annihilation.
• In the realm of love, there is no place for patience; love 'strangles the throat of patience' and eliminates it.
• The Beloved's singularity in the world serves as the reason for the lover's absolute surrender, as there is no refuge but Him.