M6:534 — بعد در ماندن چه افسوس و چه آه / پیش از آن بایست این دود سیاه

Translation: After being caught, what is the use of sorrow and sigh? / Before that, this black smoke should have risen. Meaning: Rumi asserts that regret and lamentations are futile after a calamity strikes. One must feel anguish and seek remedy before falling into the trap of misfortune.

This couplet encapsulates a profound practical and spiritual wisdom. Rumi asserts with decisive clarity that lamentations and sighs after an event are utterly futile. That “black smoke,” which symbolizes anguish, regret, or the heart’s burning, must rise before one falls into the trap of greed and desire, not after. This is the essence of the ancient proverb: “The remedy for an event must be sought before its occurrence.” I believe this warning from Rumi is crucial not only for individual mistakes but also for understanding the entire path of spiritual journeying. You cannot surrender to your desires, lose your way, and then expect a miracle or beg for forgiveness with mere sighs of regret. No! The time for crying out and seeking a deliverer is precisely when “greed stirred and desire emerged.” In that initial moment, before the seed is sown and the snare is set, you must allow the “heat of your greed to become like ice”; you must, with vigilance, “drive away greed, O intelligent one.” Rumi illustrates this point with stories that leave no room for doubt. A clear example is the tale of the “heedless watchman.” This watchman fell asleep at night, and thieves carried away all the caravan’s possessions. The next day, when all was lost, he began to “shout and wail” and beat his drum. This is precisely what “after being caught, what is the use of sorrow and sigh?” means. His cries at that point were not only useless but mockable. The caravanners told him: “At that moment they showed a knife and a sword / saying ‘Be silent, or we shall kill you without mercy!’ / At that moment, out of fear, I sealed my mouth / Now I can shout as much as you wish!” This justification is utterly baseless; the watchman’s duty was to, even if he couldn’t fight, cry out and awaken the caravanners before the plunder occurred. This principle applies even to prayer. As Rumi quotes the jurists saying: “Ibkalī yā bakīyī yā sākilī / qabla hadmi al-basrati wa al-mawsilī” (Weep, O weeping one, O grieving one, before Basra and Mosul are destroyed!). Weep for union before perdition, not after the “storm of separation” has arrived. In one of his ghazals, Rumi expresses the same theme: “If you wish to kiss my grave / Kiss my face now, for I am still here.” Why wait until after death and annihilation to kiss my tombstone, when I am alive now and my face is before you? This is an explicit invitation to timely action and presence in the now. Thus, this couplet is not merely a moral admonition but a call to constant awakening and vigilance, so that before the trap of greed and desire ensnares us, we might, with the “black smoke” of our burning hearts, drive it away.

Key takeaways

• Regret and sorrow after a calamity are futile; timely action is the key to liberation.
• The “black smoke” symbolizes the heart’s burning and anguish that must arise before one succumbs to greed and desire.
• The true moment for crying out and seeking God’s help is the initial stirring of greed and passion.
• Insight and vigilance must prevent greed from taking hold, so one can escape misfortune’s trap.
• Through the story of the watchman and the proverb “before Basra is ruined,” Rumi emphasizes foresight and prevention.
• This couplet is an invitation to “be present in the now” and act before opportunities are lost, rather than lamenting the past.