M6:2669 — نه به پنج آرام گیرد آن خمار / که در آن سرهاست نی پانصد هزار

Translation: Not by five will that longing be stilled, / Which is in those heads, not even five hundred thousand. Meaning: This verse conveys that the profound spiritual yearning of lovers far surpasses any prescribed quantity of worship or ritual, and cannot be satisfied by limited acts of devotion.

This verse appears in the context of the tale of the mouse and the frog in Book Six of the Masnavi, where the mouse complains about the infrequent and limited encounters with the frog. Mowlana then uses this as a bridge to discuss the condition of divine lovers, unfolding a profound discourse on the nature of worship and longing. Here, "five" (panj) unequivocally refers to the five daily prayers that God has enjoined upon His servants. These five prescribed times represent the minimum presence and remembrance expected from devotees; they are a "guide" (rahnamun), a sufficient starting point for the path. However, Mowlana immediately adds that "Not by five will that longing (khumar) be stilled / Which is in those heads." This "khumar" is not the hangover from earthly intoxications that seeks rest, but rather the insatiable thirst of an endless spiritual yearning; an existential craving that cannot be satisfied by any quantity of encounters or acts of worship. This thirst is akin to istasqa (dropsy or diabetes insipidus), a condition where one drinks incessantly but remains thirsty, and the very water that offers temporary relief ultimately contributes to one's demise. The soul of the lover is much the same: immersed in the ocean of union, yet perpetually thirsty and moving towards annihilation. This khumar resides "in those heads" (dar ān sarhāst), meaning in the depths of the lovers' souls. Mowlana emphatically states that this thirst will not be quelled by "five" nor by "five hundred thousand" times! This means that while performing five daily prayers is a starting point, a true lover spends their entire life in prayer and remembrance. As the Quran states, "lovers are in constant prayer (fī ṣalātin dāʾimūn)." Those who are perpetually in prayer are no longer bound by specific times. For such souls, formal prayer is merely one external form of "constant prayer." The advice, "Visit every other day to increase love (Zur ghibban tazdad hubban)," given to ordinary friends to prevent boredom from frequent visits, never applies to lovers. The nature of divine love is unitive. When one becomes one with the Beloved, boredom with oneself loses its meaning. How can one tire of one's own self? Mowlana says: "It is not the fish's duty to visit every other day / For without the sea, they have no life (ān seh jān)." Fish cannot leave the sea even for a day, for their very existence depends on it. So it is with the lover; the Beloved is their very ocean. In this school of thought, love is not one-sided; rather, "Love is dropsical, seeking the dropsical (ʿishq mustasqīst, mustasqī ṭalab)." This means that both the lover is thirsty for the Beloved, and the Beloved is thirsty for the lover. Unlike the school of thought of some poets who depict the Beloved as indifferent and cold, with the lover alone in their burning anguish, in Mowlana's view, both parties to this covenant burn in the fire of love, even if "the lover's love is with two hundred cries and laments / the Beloved's love is hidden and veiled (ʿishq-e maʿshūqān nehān ast o satīr)." This unending thirst, this boundless khumar, indicates a mutual presence and craving; it signifies that the path of return and union is possible, and this separation is not loneliness but part of a meaningful journey.

Key takeaways

• A lover's worship transcends fixed quantities and times; they are in perpetual remembrance of the Beloved.
• The lover's "khumar" (spiritual thirst) is an insatiable craving that no number of prescribed religious duties can quell.
• Mowlana uses the concept of istasqa (dropsy, pathological thirst) to illustrate the intensity of the lover's craving: water that sustains life yet also leads to annihilation.
• Unlike ordinary relationships where limited visits can foster affection, in divine love, constant presence and union are essential for existence.
• Love, in Mowlana's school, is reciprocal: both the lover seeks the Beloved, and the Beloved yearns for the lover.
• This continuous thirst signifies that separation is merely a phase in the journey towards union, not absolute abandonment or loneliness.