M6:1918 — یک فرح آن کز پس ششصد حجاب / گوش او بشنید از حضرت جواب

Translation: That was a joy, for after six hundred veils, His ear heard a reply from the Divine Presence. Meaning: This verse describes the ultimate joy of a mystic who, after overcoming countless obstacles and obscurities, receives a direct, unmediated response from God.

This verse presents a pure depiction of the highest states of ecstatic spiritual joy, a rapture that Mawlana frequently alludes to in the Masnavi and which he himself experienced. It speaks of a tremendous faraḥ (joy), not an ordinary or worldly happiness. This joy stems from a spiritual breakthrough: “His ear heard a reply from the Divine Presence.” In a profound mystical experience, the individual draws so close to the divine sanctum that they hear the Beloved’s call without mediation.

The number “six hundred” here carries no mathematical significance; rather, it signifies the countless veils and obstacles—layers of heedlessness, selfhood, worldliness, and even the veil of light itself—that are drawn between man and the Divine Presence. To hear a reply from the Divine after traversing all these veils is the zenith of success and union. The seeker, who felt as though their words were directed only at walls or lifeless nature, suddenly perceives themselves in communication with a living, conscious, and responsive Beloved. This, without doubt, is the greatest joy that can befall a human being.

Such ecstasy is not unlike what Imam Ali (PBUH) describes concerning the pious: “Were it not for their appointed term and divine preservation, the souls of God’s lovers would fly from their bodies.” The intensity of this divine rapture is such that it draws the mystic’s soul to the brink of flight, and only divine grace keeps them within the cage of the body.

It is noteworthy that this opening, this unlocking of the “sense of hearing,” does not remain isolated. Mawlana teaches elsewhere in the Masnavi that if one inner sense is unsealed, the other senses will follow suit into the transcendent realm. Just as if one sheep leaps over a stream, the whole flock will follow. Once the ear hears these unheard calls, hope awakens within the human that the eye too will behold the unseen vistas. And thus, not once or twice, but continuously and perpetually, humanity will be in “seeing, addressing, and hearing” communication with the higher world and the holy presence of Truth. This is an epistemological revolution that transforms the world from contraction and silence into expansion and dialogue—and that, in itself, is the supreme bliss.

Key takeaways

• Mystical joy arises from spiritual breakthrough and receiving a divine response, not from worldly pleasures.
• The “six hundred veils” symbolize the countless obstacles between the seeker and Truth, overcome through spiritual endeavor.
• Hearing the divine response brings a sense of direct and living communication with a conscious and responsive Beloved.
• The intensity of this joy is such that it nearly causes the soul to depart the body; only divine preservation holds the seeker in their physical form.
• The opening of one inner sense (like hearing) paves the way for other senses (like sight) to transcend into unseen realms.
• Following this breakthrough, a continuous and ongoing connection with the Divine Presence begins, leading to a profound cognitive transformation.