M6:1372 — چون امیدت لاست زو پرهیز چیست / با انیس طمع خود استیز چیست

Translation: Since your hope is bound to lā (non-existence/that which is not), what is this avoidance of it? Why contend with lā, which is the very companion of your desire?

Meaning: Rumi highlights a paradox: humans consistently seek and strive for things that do not yet exist, yet they recoil from the concept of non-existence or spiritual annihilation, despite their deepest desires being rooted in the 'not-yet'.

I have often emphasized in my lectures that Mowlana employs a "subtle trick" (لطائف‌الحیل) to guide us from one concept to a deeper one. This couplet is a prime example of such a stratagem. With exquisite subtlety, he challenges the audience: You who are constantly in pursuit of non-existence, why do you shy away from it?

Let us reflect deeply: Every artisan, every entrepreneur, every seeker of knowledge, is in pursuit of that which is not. The builder seeks unbuilt land, the carpenter seeks a house without a door, the water-carrier seeks a jug without water, and the hunter lies in wait for prey not yet captured. In Mowlana’s words: "At the time of the hunt, their attack was towards non-existence." All of these, in essence, are rushing towards "absence" (ʿadam), towards that which has not yet entered the realm of being, to create or acquire it. "You have cast the hook of your heart into the sea of lā" (non-existence), hoping to fish from that sea.

Yet, these very same humans, these seekers of non-existence, when the term "absence" takes on another meaning—such as death, or Sufi poverty, or annihilation in God (fana)—immediately turn away and flee. Mowlana confronts us with this resolute question: "Since your hope is bound to lā, what is this avoidance of it? Why contend with lā, which is the very companion of your desire?" How can it be that non-existence has been the intimate companion of your desires, but now you have turned against it and wage war? This lā and "non-existence" from which you recoil is the very same absence upon which your daily life is built.

Here, Mowlana constructs an invisible bridge. He moves from "absence" in the sense of things not yet present but capable of creation, to "absence" in the sense of mystical non-being and annihilation in the Divine. He posits that you are unconsciously accepting the principle that being arises from non-being, and every desire first begins in the realm of non-existence. Why, then, do you fear that greater non-existence which is the path to absolute Being? This is a fundamental inversion of perception that has entrapped us.

Our eyes are veiled by the magic of the world and "the enchanting art of the Divine" (sihr-e sanʿat-e ilāhi). We call "abundance" (barg, possessions, blessings) "death" (marg), and "death" (which is inwardly the gateway to being) "abundance." That is, we perceive existence as non-existence, and non-existence as existence. This is the great heedlessness (ghaflat) of which Mowlana speaks. Our desires, instead of seeking liberation from the well, have become content to remain at its bottom. This couplet invites us to lift the veil of this enchantment and see that our true hope lies in a non-existence that leads to absolute Being.

Key takeaways

• Humans constantly pursue what is not yet existent to bring it into being, yet they recoil from the concept of 'non-existence.'
• Rumi, through a 'subtle trick,' links everyday non-existence (what is not yet) with mystical non-existence (fana).
• The lā (non-existence) is an intimate companion to our deepest desires and aspirations.
• A pervasive 'cosmic illusion' causes us to perceive existence as non-existence and vice versa.
• True hope lies in embracing the non-existence that leads to absolute Being, rather than fleeing from it.