M6:1782 — او پس از تو زاد و از تو بگذرید / تو چنین خشکی ز سودای ثرید

Translation: It (the beard or outward maturity) was born after you and surpassed you; yet you remain so dry, due to the craving for stew (worldly desires). Meaning: This verse admonishes an individual who, despite advanced age and apparent worldly experience, has allowed their heart to remain spiritually stagnant and dry because of attachment to material gains, while even their physical signs of aging, like a white beard, have outpaced their inner growth.

In this verse, Rumi, with a sharp tone and through a symbolic narrative, critiques those who have lived long lives and accumulated vast experiences, yet their hearts remain devoid of any spiritual transformation or ripeness. This beyt is part of an anecdote where Rumi (portraying himself as the 'arif' or gnostic) asks an old Christian monk: "Are you older, or is your beard?" The monk replies that he was born twenty years before his beard appeared. Rumi then admonishes him, stating that his beard grew after him, and in its old age, by turning white, it reached an outward perfection and surpassed him; yet, the monk himself has remained raw and unchanged.

"It" (او) in the first hemistich symbolizes maturity and transformation, referring to the white beard or even to the passage of time and life's lessons. This "it" has grown and surpassed the person, but "you" (تو), representing the inner and spiritual being of the human, have remained stagnant. Rumi later states, "Your ill nature has not changed, it has not become goodly (وُشت)" reflecting this lack of inner shift.

"Dryness" (خشکی) in this beyt is a metaphor for the absence of spiritual vitality, spiritual stagnation, and a lack of inner transformation. An individual afflicted by this condition has spent years in the "oven of time" (تنور روزگار) and life's events, yet remains "raw dough" (خمیر خام). Rumi famously says elsewhere in this context: "You are both dough and clayey earth / Even if you spent a lifetime in the Azeri oven." Meaning, despite having endured the fires of life's trials and tribulations, you remain unbaked and unripe.

The primary cause of this "dryness" is the "craving for tharid" (سودای ثرید). "Tharid" refers to a stew or bread soaked in broth, here symbolizing worldly possessions and attachments. One whose heart is captivated by this "craving for tharid" – whose entire concern is directed towards food, drink, and material pleasures – is prevented from spiritual perfections and remains "dry" and unfruitful in this pursuit. This attachment to the world inhibits inner "effervescence" (جوشیدن) and becoming "half-cooked" (ترک‌جوش, a term Rumi uses to describe a state of inner zeal or partial transformation).

This critique is, in essence, an extension of Rumi's perspective that urges us to "read the tales of lovers" (فسانه عشق‌بازان) and let the heart effervesce with love, rather than merely collecting "rare stories" (نوادر داستان) or engaging in fruitless worldly pursuits over a "long period" (عهد مدید). The "craving for tharid" stands in stark contrast to "love"; one leads to dryness and stagnation, while the other leads to vitality and dynamism. Rumi comments, "You have boiled much in this long age / Yet you have not even become half-cooked, oh dried meat!" This beyt serves as a warning to all who merely experience life without learning from it, and who fail to take steps on the path of inner transformation – those who have "witnessed justice and judgment" for a lifetime, yet remain "more unripe than the unseen ones."

Key takeaways

• Outward maturity and the passage of time do not necessarily lead to spiritual ripeness.
• Intense attachment to worldly possessions (the craving for tharīd) is a primary obstacle to inner transformation and growth.
• Failure to learn from life's lessons and the repetition of errors lead to spiritual "dryness" and stagnation.
• Rumi contrasts the dryness of the heart with the effervescence of love and passionate devotion.
• One can spend a lifetime in the "oven of events" and still remain "raw dough," never truly becoming baked or wise.