M1:1645 — گر تو این انبان ز نان خالی کنی / پر ز گوهرهای اجلالی کنی

Translation: If you empty this sack [your belly] of bread, You will fill it with glorious [divine] jewels.

Meaning: Rumi states that by diminishing attachment to physical desires and abstaining from gluttony and material pleasures (symbolized as the 'sack of bread'), one can fill the inner self with spiritual insights and gnosis (symbolized as 'glorious jewels').

This verse articulates a fundamental teaching within the tariqat (the spiritual path) and mystical journey, which is the link between the 'ruining of the body' and the 'flourishing of the soul.' We possess two types of senses: the 'worldly sense' (حس دنیا), which is a ladder to this world, discerning sweet from bitter; and the 'religious sense' (حس دین), a ladder to the heavens, discerning truth from falsehood, and certainty from doubt. The health of the worldly sense is sought from a physician (طبیب), achieved through nurturing and caring for the body. However, the health of the religious sense must be sought from the 'Beloved' (حبیب) or God's saints, and this sense is attained through the 'ruining of the body,' meaning ascetic practices and giving less importance to the material desires of the flesh. Rumi unequivocally considers this 'sack' to be the 'belly's sack' (انبان شکم), asserting that by keeping it empty, the other 'sack' of our being—the soul—will be filled with 'glorious jewels' (گوهرهای اجلالی), which are the manifestations of divine majesty and beauty.

This is a well-established principle among mystics and Sufis: 'Keep your inside empty of food, so that you may see the light of gnosis within it.' As Imam Ali famously stated, 'al-baṭnah tadhab al-fiṭnah' (gluttony leads to dullness of intellect). Of course, this asceticism must not be taken to extremes that lead to a 'deficiency of intellect,' as Ghazali rightly points out that 'a saint of God is not deficient in intellect.' Yet, the principle of reducing physical needs to open the inner eye is undeniable; as recorded in Rumi's purported dying counsel: 'ʿalaykum bi-qillat ṭaʿām wa qillat manām wa qillat kalām' (less food, less sleep, less talk). These, along with solitude and remembrance, are said to 'complete the incomplete of the world.'

This teaching falls within the domain of tariqat; that is, a path where the seeker's efforts are rewarded, and there is an expectation of a positive outcome. Rumi promises the seeker that this initial 'ruining' (curtailing of egoistic desires) is a constructive destruction, akin to someone demolishing a house to find a treasure and then using that treasure to build an even better house, or a surgeon cutting the skin to remove an arrow and then new skin growing back, or a fortress destroyed in battle only to be rebuilt with a hundred better towers and walls. This is not a 'calculating' approach to spiritual journey, but rather, it is the nature of the stages of tariqat to assure the seeker that they will not suffer loss but will rather gain 'glorious jewels' here and now. This differs from pure ʿasheqi (devotion), which is the station of ultimate truth (ḥaqīqat). In pure love, 'blessed is the gambler who lost all he had, with nothing left but the desire for another gamble.' There, profit and loss, promise and threat, are no longer relevant; the act of gambling itself and being in the fire of love are paramount. But in tariqat, just as Hafez speaks of the Pir-e Moghan who fulfills the promises of the Sheikh (shariat) 'in cash,' Rumi, in this verse, promises an unfolding and spiritual flourishing and the attainment of 'glorious jewels' in exchange for the body's 'ruining.' These glorious jewels are not merely an otherworldly reward, but rather the light of gnosis and spiritual joy bestowed upon the seeker in this very life.

Key takeaways

• By reducing material attachments and abstaining from gluttony, the soul becomes filled with divine gnosis and spiritual insights.
• The health of physical senses comes from a physician and bodily care, but the health of inner (religious) senses comes from a spiritual guide (habib) and from the 'ruining of the body' (ascetic practice).
• The 'belly's sack' must be emptied for the 'soul's sack' to be filled with glorious jewels, which are manifestations of divine beauty and majesty.
• Asceticism and the reduction of carnal desires constitute a 'constructive destruction' that leads to spiritual flourishing and perfection.
• This teaching belongs to tariqat, where the seeker's efforts yield immediate spiritual rewards in this world, unlike absolute love ('asheqi) where no reward is sought.