M6:1323 — هرچه خواهد خاطر تو وا مگیر / تا نگردد صبر و پرهیزت زحیر

Translation: Whatever your heart desires, do not withhold it from yourself, Lest your patience (ṣabr) and abstinence (parhīz) become an affliction (zahīr).

Meaning: In this verse, a physician advises a terminally ill patient to indulge in all their heart's desires without restraint. At this stage, virtues like patience and abstinence would not only be futile but would exacerbate suffering by becoming a new form of illness.

This verse emerges within the narrative of the Ailing Man and the Star-Bearing Physician. The skilled physician, after a thorough examination, discerns that the patient's recovery is beyond hope. This grim diagnosis prompts the physician to offer an unconventional, seemingly strange, counsel: "Whatever your heart desires, do it, / So that this ancient suffering may leave your body." This means, deny yourself no pleasure, let this lingering pain depart from your physical being.

The crux of understanding this beyt lies in the meaning of zahīr. Mowlana frequently employs this term, signifying not merely shortness of breath in a specific medical sense, but universally as illness, distress, or affliction. Thus, the physician's advice to the patient serves as a warning: even virtues and commendable traits like ṣabr (patience) and parhīz (abstinence), under specific circumstances, can transform into obstacles and new forms of suffering. In this dire situation, where healing is impossible and one is 'past the point of no return,' adhering to patience and self-restraint would itself become a source of additional pain and a type of zahīr. What is normally a virtue, at this particular stage, turns detrimental: "Know patience and abstinence to be harmful for this illness; / Whatever the heart desires, bring it forth."

This medical anecdote, however, carries deeper implications within Mowlana's wisdom. He alludes to a state for some individuals where destiny has been so sealed that the ordinary path of spiritual struggle and asceticism is no longer effective. In this context, Mowlana even allegorically references a Quranic verse, "Do what you will," to explain the ailing man's condition. This suggests that occasionally, a person reaches a point where conventional rules and restrictions lose their relevance. This is not a license for libertinism, but rather a precise diagnosis of an exceptional state where releasing futile constraints becomes an act of mercy.

This teaching is deeply connected to Mowlana's emphasis on the Sufi being an Ibn al-Waqt—a child of the present moment. The true Sufi lives in the 'now,' rather than clinging to the past or worrying about the future. For a patient with no path to recovery, accepting the present and abandoning futile struggles is a form of surrender and liberation that alleviates pain. In this sense, Mowlana, even within a seemingly bitter medical recommendation, opens a path towards freedom from suffering. For, even adherence to virtues, if it leads to adding to futile pain, runs contrary to the Masnavi's spirit of joy-giving and 'polishing of griefs' (jalāʾ al-aḥzān).

Key takeaways

• Even virtues can become sources of suffering or illness under specific, extreme conditions.
• In moments of ultimate helplessness, relinquishing constraints can be a path to alleviating distress.
• This verse highlights the importance of discerning exceptional situations where ordinary rules lose their validity.
• Releasing futile struggles can be an act of acceptance and mercy, connecting to the philosophy of living in the present moment.