M6:1975 — گشت آمن او ز خصمان و ز نیش / رفت و می‌پیچید در سودای خویش

Translation: He became safe from foes and their sting; / He went and became entangled in his own soudā (melancholia/passion). Meaning: Released from external threats, he turned inward, becoming absorbed and enmeshed in his own profound inner states of passion and longing.

This beyt appears at the conclusion of the “Treasure Map” story. A poor man, who pursued a mythical treasure based on a dubious map, and was consequently eyed by a greedy king, is finally released from the king’s avarice. Rumi states, “He became safe from foes and their sting,” meaning the poor man was secured from the king’s ill intentions and the harm of his greed. This safety was external, yet immediately after, Rumi guides him back to his inner world: “He went and became entangled in his own soudā.” As I have often emphasized, soudā in Rumi’s discourse holds a deeper meaning than mere melancholia or common depression, though it can indeed signify madness or passionate obsession. Here, soudā denotes a profound turning inward, an introspection rooted in a love that even welcomes sorrow and pain, for “my pain is from the Beloved, and the cure is also from Him.” This is an intricate and complex inner state, a spiritual and mental absorption characteristic of true lovers. Rumi immediately shifts from this poor man to the realm of lovers. He declares that this entanglement in one’s own soudā is the very essence of the lover’s journey. A lover who treads this path has “no other companion,” and “his own comforter is none other than himself.” This is the unique solitude Rumi speaks of, not as a lack of external aid, but as the impossibility of sharing the profound depth of such an experience. Like an animal licking its own wounds, the lover alone tends to the wounds of their love. “Love has no companion in its entanglement; / Its intimate confidant is nowhere to be found.” This conveys the ultimate solitude of the mystic; an experience that cannot be shared with another. Just as death is an experience one undergoes alone, love is a “partnership-burning” experience that tolerates no external participation. In these verses, through the voice of the poor man, Rumi is in fact revealing his own inner states and the deep convolutions of true lovers. He sees himself in this introspective soudā and “partnership-burning love,” which reason is incapable of comprehending, and for which no earthly medicine can offer guidance or cure.

Key takeaways

• Liberation from external bonds often marks the beginning of immersion in internal passions (soudā).
• Soudā in Rumi’s mystical poetry signifies a state of introspective love, not mere depression or melancholia.
• The true lover is ultimately alone in the depth of their experience; their comforter and healer is their own self.
• Love is “partnership-burning”; the profound depths of the lover’s experience cannot be shared, even amidst apparent companionship.