M6:2452 — بعد از ان ترسا در آمد در کلام / که مسیحم رو نمود اندر منام

Translation: After that, the Christian began to speak, That my Christ appeared to me in a dream (manām). Meaning: This verse begins the account of the Christian man, who claims that Jesus Christ appeared to him in a dream.

In this verse, Rumi, speaking through the Christian man, recounts his dream experience. Previously, the Jewish man had described his terrestrial encounter on Mount Sinai. Now, it is the Christian’s turn to speak of his ascent with Christ to the fourth heaven, where the sun resides and where, according to tradition, Christ dwells until his Second Coming. This contrast between celestial and terrestrial experiences highlights a crucial point in Rumi's poetics and our understanding of mysticism.

However, I must state with certainty that such experiences, though they may indeed reflect a genuine occurrence for the experiencer, do not qualify as 'mystical experiences' in the stringent, formless-seeking criteria of Rumi's authentic mysticism. This distinction, as I have often cited from Walter Terence Stace, is vital. Why? Because this dream is sūrat-dār (form-laden). That is, the Christian perceives Christ in the very form he had cultivated in his beliefs and mind prior to the dream. Truth, if it has manifested, has appeared within a limited and pre-determined قالب (template).

True mysticism and genuine mystical experiences, for Rumi, must be bī-sūrat (formless); they must transcend the constraints of doctrines, schools, and specific religious persuasions. In such a state, the seeker apprehends something beyond their mental constructs; something that evokes Rumi's own line: "My state will be seen if your ear becomes an eye" (Divan-e Shams). The bī-sūratī from which all forms arise—like water that takes the shape of its vessel yet is formless itself, or light that is colorless yet reveals all colors—is the ultimate goal of Rumi's mysticism. Even in anecdotes, such as the one about the late ʿĀshiq Asadali Nokhodaki, where a Christian is healed through seeing Christ, it demonstrates that a spiritual force and truth are at work, but the form in which that truth appears depends on the capacity and belief of the experiencer.

Rumi teaches us that to truly 'listen' to the reed's lament, we must cultivate formless ears and a mind that transcends pre-conceptions. This verse, seemingly a simple story, implicitly contains a deeper invitation to reflect on the nature of spiritual experience and the necessity of passing from sūrat (form) to ḥaqīqat (reality).

Key takeaways

• The Christian's spiritual experience (seeing Christ in a dream) is sūrat-dār (form-laden), not bī-sūrat (formless); thus, it is not a pure mystical experience by Rumi's standards.
• A form-laden experience reveals truth within a pre-determined framework, shaped by the individual's existing beliefs.
• True mysticism, as understood by Rumi, transcends specific doctrines and aims for a formless apprehension of realities.
• Rumi invites his readers to listen to the reed's song with formless ears and a mind unburdened by preconceptions.