M6:4163 — پر سر مقطوع اگر صد خندق است / پیش درد من مزاح مطلق است

Translation: Should a hundred trenches be filled with severed heads, / Before my pain, it is an absolute jest.

Meaning: A lover consumed by the intense agony of longing considers any threat of death or bloodshed utterly trivial and amusing in comparison.

This verse, undoubtedly, is spoken from the mouth of a fearless lover who, in absolute rapture and frenzy, mocks any threat or danger to life. Rumi speaks here of "my pain," but this is not a pain that leads to despair or collapse; rather, it is the agony of longing, so searing and intense that it makes every other suffering, in comparison, appear as an "absolute jest."

You see, the ordinary human flees from death, fears a severed head, and by the dictates of reason and scripture, does not cast themselves into destruction. But the lover has a different story. For them, death is an "opening of a door" (fath-e bāb) towards union. As Rumi says in the tale of the Prophet's uncle: one for whom life itself is a form of peril is addressed by the Quranic verse, "Do not cast yourselves with your own hands into destruction." But one for whom dying is an "opening of a door" is addressed by "Hasten to forgiveness from your Lord." The lover of this verse is, without doubt, of the second kind. They do not see death as destruction; rather, they see it as a bridge to the Beloved.

In this state, speaking of "patience" becomes meaningless. As the impatient lover declares: "My patience died the night love was born; it passed away, may you, the present ones, live long!" This means that patience no longer has a place in my breast; the fire of love has taken its place. Admonishments, counsels, and terrifying warnings are, for this lover, like "striking cold iron"; useless and ineffective. This is no longer a state that can be understood by a calculating, prudent intellect.

Here, the lover no longer conceals their love out of fear or dread. "Now I hoist my banner in the open field" (man alam aknun be sahra mīzanam) — they openly raise the flag of their love and resolve their will: "Either my head is cast, or I see the face of the Idol" (yā sarandāzī va yā rūy-e sanam). This means either I lose my head on this path and attain union, or I will see the face of my Beloved. Their destination is clear, and no trench full of severed heads, no scene of death and annihilation, can turn them away from this path. Their pain is so profound and so singular that any other pain appears insignificant in its presence, bordering on a jest. This is the ultimate manifestation of the fearlessness and detachment of the true lover.

Key takeaways

• The pain of the lover's longing is so profound that all external suffering and mortal danger are deemed a jest.
• For the true lover, death is not destruction but an "opening of a door" (fath-e bāb) and a path towards union.
• The genuine lover transcends the realm of patience and prudence; rational warnings have no effect on them.
• The fervor of love removes all veils, and the lover no longer fears revealing the truth of their heart.
• The lover's sole purpose is union, rendering everything else insignificant in comparison to this ultimate goal.