M6:2246 — تا بود دارو ندارد او عمل / چونک شد فانی کند دفع علل

Translation: As long as it (the remedy or being) persists in its distinct existence, it remains ineffective. Only when it undergoes annihilation (fanā), does it eliminate the causes (of ailments). Meaning: This couplet asserts that true efficacy and the removal of root causes stem not from the persistence of a thing's manifest form, but rather from its dissolution into a higher state of non-being, where its true power to heal and resolve problems becomes apparent.

This profound couplet illuminates a fundamental concept in Islamic mysticism: fanā (annihilation) and tawḥīd (unity). Here, Rumi unequivocally states that true efficacy and action only become possible after transcending individual existence and reaching a state of non-being and annihilation.

I interpret this as what Rumi himself calls the 'fire of the soul' (ātash-i jān) or the 'fire of unity' (ātash-i tawḥīd) elsewhere: 'You've seen fire that burns every sapling / See the fire of the soul that burns even imagination'. This fire consumes not only trees and physical forms but also imagination, thought, intellect, and all our conceptual frameworks and mental multiplicities. 'Neither imagination nor reality has sanctuary / From such a fire that has flared from the soul'. The 'ailments' (ʿilal) that the 'medicine' removes after fanā are precisely these multiplicities, dualities, and mental contradictions that veil the Singular Truth.

The logic of this couplet is fully illuminated by a Quranic verse from Surah Al-Qasas: 'Everything will perish except His Face' (kullu shayʾin hālikun illā wajhahū). Rumi doesn't state that everything will perish, but rather, 'everything is perishing' (kullu shayʾin hālikun); meaning, everything, even as it exists now, is simultaneously in a state of annihilation. The existence of created beings is contingent and dependent, not intrinsic and independent. As the Sufis have said, 'The Sufi is one who was not'. The true darwīsh (dervish) is one who consciously apprehends their intrinsic poverty (faqr) and inherent perishing (halākat) and surrenders to it.

This couplet teaches us that any being, any 'medicine,' as long as it prides itself on its self-existence and insists on its separate being, remains ineffective. True action arises from the effacement of this individuation and the attainment of unity. Rumi illustrates this point with the unparalleled example of the 'alif in Bism'. In writing 'Bismillāh', the 'alif' of the word 'ism' (name) is omitted and concealed within 'Bism'. 'That alif is hidden in Bism / It exists in Bism, and yet it is not in Bism'. The 'alif' undergoes fanā, but its meaning persists, and in this concealment, the immense power of 'Bismillāh' emerges. This example is a precise allegory for 'As long as it exists, it has no effect / Only when it becomes annihilated, does it remove ailments'. That is, when the 'medicine' loses its independent identity (like the 'alif' in 'Bism') and becomes annihilated in a more comprehensive existence, only then can it remove the 'ailments' (which are the multiplicities and veils) and accomplish the act of healing. This is the unitary architecture of the cosmos, which Rumi elucidates throughout the Masnavi in the language of poetry and narrative.

Key takeaways

• True action and the eradication of root causes are only possible through the annihilation of individual existence and the attainment of non-being.
• The concept of fanā in the Masnavi is not absolute non-existence, but a transition from contingent being to absolute Being, joining tawḥīd.
• Rumi's 'fire of the soul' or 'fire of unity' is the force that consumes imagination, intellect, and mental multiplicities (the 'causes' of problems).
• Every existing thing, even in its presence, is simultaneously perishing and undergoing annihilation; its existence is dependent and non-independent.
• The example of the 'alif in Bism' illustrates how apparent effacement can pave the way for the manifestation of inner effect and truth.