M6:3666 — این طرق را مخلصی یک خانه است / این هزاران سنبل از یک دانه است

Translation: For these paths, salvation is a single home; These thousands of hyacinths are from one seed.

Meaning: Rumi asserts that despite the apparent multiplicity of paths and phenomena, all ultimately lead to a singular, unified truth. All this diversity springs from one primordial root and essence.

In this couplet and similar verses, Rumi articulates a pivotal principle of his philosophy and mysticism: 'unity within multiplicity' and 'multiplicity within unity.' He states that though many paths and methods appear distinct, their ultimate, salvific destination is 'a single home.' And though we observe thousands of diverse and beautiful phenomena (like hyacinths), the existential root of all is 'one seed.' This profound statement encapsulates the essence of the Masnavi's message: 'Our Masnavi is a shop of unity; whatever you see other than unity is an idol.'

I firmly believe that Rumi, throughout the entire Masnavi, has but one central message; he expresses this single truth in various garbs and forms, through thousands of tales and allegories. He himself declares: 'If there are a hundred books, they contain but one chapter / A hundred directions, but their intention is a single mihrab (sanctuary).' This indicates that all apparent multiplicities in the Masnavi are merely manifestations of a single underlying reality. For Rumi, this multiplicity is not a source of confusion, but rather a window through which to observe the unity behind the veil.

This unity, in Rumi's terms, is attained through 'love' (ʿishq). He asserts: 'Love is the unifier.' A human being devoid of love finds their 'consciousness wandering in a hundred directions, their thoughts scattered in a hundred ways; they are a fragmented soul.' But love 'granted unity to a hundred thousand particles,' leading the individual from fragmentation to integration and singularity.

To elucidate this point, Rumi offers delightful analogies. One of the most charming is the metaphor of 'foods': 'The diversity of a hundred thousand foods / All are one thing in essence.' When you are satiated by one type of food, you are in effect satiated by all foods; it is as if all that multiplicity of dishes was, in reality, a single entity. He continues: 'In hunger, you were cross-eyed then / Who saw one thing as a hundred thousand.' This means that our 'cross-eyed' (ahwal) or double vision is what leads us to perceive sheer multiplicity in the world. But when we become 'satiated'—that is, when we grasp the truth of unity—this double vision disappears, and we behold the singularity behind the plural forms. The Masnavi's precise purpose is to cure this ahwali, to lift the veil from our eyes so that we may perceive the single truth.

This couplet is one of the rare instances in the Masnavi where Rumi explicitly refers back to the beginning of the work (in the verses preceding this couplet, he states: 'The mention of exception and layered caution / Was stated at the beginning of the Masnavi'). Although Rumi is typically like a river that flows forward and does not return to the past, he occasionally references his earlier statements to emphasize the importance of a principle. This itself underscores the foundational status of the concept of 'unity' in Rumi's worldview—a truth that we must bear in mind throughout the entire Masnavi, in every story and analogy.

Key takeaways

• Apparent Multiplicity, Inner Unity: All paths and phenomena ultimately converge upon a single principle and truth.
• Unity as the Masnavi's Core Message: Rumi believes the entire Masnavi speaks one word: unity; anything else is an idol and a distraction.
• Love as the Unifying Force: Love liberates the scattered human soul from the multiplicity of consciousness and leads it to singularity.
• Cross-Eyed Perception (Ahwali) as the Source of Multiplicity: Perceiving sheer multiplicity in the world is a sign of our inner defect or 'double vision,' not an external reality.
• Eternal Content, Not Historical: Rumi emphasizes eternal and universal principles like unity, rather than dwelling on historical details or daily events.