M6:1407 — صبر مه با شب منور داردش / صبر گل با خار اذفر داردش

Translation: The moon's patience with night keeps it luminous; The rose's patience with the thorn makes it fragrant. Meaning: This verse underscores the vital role of patience in transforming adversities into virtues, just as the moon shines despite the dark night, and the rose, despite its thorns, yields fragrance.

This verse, truly, is one of Rumi's most brilliant expressions regarding the virtue of patience and the role adversities play in our perfection. We commonly flee from difficulties, seeing them as obstacles to our happiness, yet Rumi here explicitly states that some of our 'enemies' are our 'necessary enemies;' meaning their existence is essential for our training, for strengthening our inner faculties.

To use Ghazali's expression in Iḥyāʾ al-ʿUlūm, if you wish to increase your patience, you must befriend a 'difficult companion,' for their harshness becomes your training ground for patience. Rumi expresses this meaning in a more poetic and profound way. He sees the moon shining in the heart of the night's darkness. The night, which seemingly hinders the moon's radiance, is in fact the very canvas for its luminosity. If there were no night, the moon's shining would hold no meaning. The moon, through its 'patience' with the night's darkness, not only remains unextinguished but stays 'luminous.' This patience is not a passive endurance; rather, it is an active phenomenon that preserves the moon's illuminating essence against the darkness.

Similarly, consider the rose. The rose is always accompanied by thorns. The thorn is not a nuisance or a trouble for the rose; rather, it is an inseparable part of its being. Rumi says that 'the rose's patience with the thorn makes it fragrant.' The word 'azfar' means intensely and sharply fragrant, a scent emanating from musk that fills the air. It is as if the rose's patience in proximity to the thorn gives rise to and enhances its alluring and sharp perfume. This thorn, in reality, is the rose's guardian, defending it from harm. But Rumi goes even further, stating that this coexistence and endurance make the rose's scent 'azfar.' This means that adversities and pains are not merely impediments to growth; they are themselves the creators of perfections and virtues that, in their absence, would never find an opportunity to emerge.

I believe this is the same meaning Rumi expresses elsewhere (D1:1000): "Am I complaining about the Soul of the soul? I am not a complainer; I am a narrator." Meaning, what appears to be a complaint or dissatisfaction is, in reality, a 'narration' of a necessary path. This separation from the 'neyestān' (reed-bed) and companionship with the 'thorn' is part of the soul's journey toward perfection. In this world, amidst the 'thorns' of suffering and affliction, and in the 'nights' of darkness and loss, one finds the opportunity to illuminate the 'moon' of one's being and make the 'rose' of one's nature 'azfar.' Patience here is not merely a moral virtue; rather, it is an existential principle and a necessary condition for flourishing. This is how Rumi, like Western existentialist philosophers who considered suffering an integral part of existence, arrives not at solitude and futility through suffering, but at a clear and purposeful path toward 'union' and perfection. This, in truth, is a 'light-souled' view of the world; not a lamentation, but an ode to existence.

Key takeaways

• Adversities are "necessary enemies" essential for our perfection and spiritual growth.
• Patience is not passive endurance but an active choice to maintain one's essential nature.
• The moon in the night and the rose with its thorn illustrate how adversities are grounds for virtues to emerge.
• Proximity to difficulties makes inherent virtues and perfections 'intensely fragrant' (azfar).
• This patience leads towards 'union,' transforming sufferings into meaningful experiences.
• Rumi's view of suffering is 'light-souled,' culminating in joy rather than lament.