M6:1615 — خندهٔ او گریه‌ها انگیخته / آب رویش آب روها ریخته

Translation: His laughter has stirred up tears; / The beauty of his face has spilled reputations. Meaning: This verse illustrates how the Beloved's laughter and captivating presence provoke the lover's tears and expose their hidden affections, stripping away their conventional dignity.

This verse is one of Rumi's magnificent formulations, beautifully and profoundly illustrating the paradoxes inherent in the world of love. Following the preceding lines where I likened the Beloved to an unwavering mountain and the lover to a trembling leaf, I now further elaborate on this inverse, yet profoundly true, relationship. The Beloved's constancy (qarār), their serene composure, is precisely what stirs the lover's restlessness (bi-qarārī). In this realm of love, an apparent opposite emerges from the very heart of its antithesis, a phenomenon that is both comprehensible and realized.

The Beloved's laughter, in its wake, unleashes a flood of tears from the lover. This laughter not only elicits weeping but, as I state, "his ābrū has spilled reputations (ābrūhā)"; meaning the captivating beauty of the Beloved's face strips the lover of their conventional dignity and exposes their hidden secrets. This is that blessed disgrace which draws the lover out from behind the veil of self, making them known as a lover among all. Sa'di aptly captured this sentiment: "At night I weep softly, hoping my secret remains hidden / Yet to every ear in the world, my hidden cry has reached." This thrilling exposure and revelation of secrets is the direct outcome of the Beloved's radiant presence.

And all of these—these laughs and tears, these acts of coquetry and expressions of need, these states of constancy and restlessness—all these "hows and whats" (chūn o chegūnehā) of the phenomenal world, ripple like foam upon the "formless sea" (daryā-ye bi-chūn) of true love. The utterly simple, quality-less existence of that ultimate reality serves as the ground for the emergence of these contradictory forms and accidents. Formless love, in its encounter with the lover, assumes various guises: sometimes laughter, sometimes tears, sometimes coyness, sometimes yearning. This expression by Mowlana, transcending the dry philosophical terms of agency and receptivity, demonstrates how in the world of love, these antitheses are not only possible but logical and actualized, rooted as they are in a simple, formless truth. This, I contend, is the depth of Rumi's insight on this matter.

Key takeaways

• Love encompasses apparent contradictions, such as laughter and tears, or constancy and restlessness.
• The Beloved's radiance exposes the lover's hidden secrets and strips away their conventional reputation.
• This 'spilling of reputation' is not a condemnation, but a blessed manifestation and exposure on the path of love.
• All forms and qualities of love are like foam upon the boundless, quality-less sea of ultimate love.
• Mowlana uses human examples to elucidate how formless love operates and manifests in contradictory forms.