M6:909 — او همی‌گرداندم بر گرد سر / نه به زیر آرام دارم نه زبر

Translation: He keeps turning me around and around my head; I have no rest below, nor above. Meaning: This verse describes the lover's state of utter surrender to love, where the Beloved spins them without volition, leaving them with no stability, neither on the ground nor in the heavens, in a state of absolute restlessness and rapture.

I read these verses from the sixth book of the Masnavi, situated within a fiery narrative of Bilal and Hilal's love and sacrifice. Mowlana utters them in the atmosphere of Nowruz, yet their profound depth transcends the superficiality of a mere occasion. This beyt is a vivid and tangible depiction of the lover's state in the grasp of overwhelming love. Mowlana here states with utmost clarity: "Love is conquering, and I am conquered by love." The conquering nature of love signifies its absolute dominance over the lover. The lover no longer possesses agency, like a "blade of straw" before a "strong wind," unaware of where they shall fall.

The phrase "He keeps turning me around and around my head" signifies the pinnacle of disempowerment and surrender. A lover who has entirely given their being to the Beloved no longer holds the reins of their self. "Turning around one's head" implies both bewilderment and being spun in a vortex whose center and axis is the Beloved. This turning not only brings external restlessness but also eradicates inner peace. "I have no rest below, nor above" means there is no stability in the earthly realm, nor in the celestial. One finds no solace in this world nor the next. The lover is in a state beyond both worlds, in the placelessness and timelessness of love. This is the stage of self-effacement where the lover is freed from the constraints of time and space.

Mowlana confirms this state in subsequent verses: "Lovers have fallen into a swift flood / They have surrendered their hearts to the decree of love." This means the lover not only gives themselves to the waters but is also content with the fate and decree of love. They are no longer complaining, but narrating this flood and this restlessness. This restlessness is itself tranquility, for it is in the Beloved's abode. Here, Mowlana "narrates" (hikāyat), he does not "complain" (shikāyat). This restlessness is not a complaint about the current situation; rather, it is a description of a unitive state in which the lover has become so close to the Beloved that their entire identity has dissolved into His. This is the very "effacement" (maḥw) that he refers to elsewhere as "effacement is needed, not grammar." To be effaced in the Beloved's existence means to lose oneself and come under His governance. Here, there is no "loneliness" (tanhā'ī); rather, in the peak of "separation" (judā'ī) from oneself, one has reached "connection" (ittiṣāl).

The image of the "millstone in its circuit," which Mowlana introduces immediately after this beyt, is illuminating. The millstone turns day and night, wailing, but this turning and wailing are solely due to the consent and motive force of another. The stone itself has no will of its own. This stone is the helpless existence of the lover, set in motion by the Beloved's hand, and this very motion has become their life and being. This restless dance is not out of compulsion, but from the lover's free will and heartfelt consent, having deemed themselves nothing before the Beloved's will.

Key takeaways

• Absolute surrender to the Beloved's will and the annihilation of agency in love form the core of this verse.
• The lover's restlessness is not a complaint, but a sign of the Beloved's active and direct presence in their being.
• In this state, the lover is liberated from the confines of time and space, residing in the placelessness and timelessness of love.
• This external restlessness is not in conflict with the inner peace derived from union with the Beloved; rather, it is identical to it.
• The lover's lack of control is a manifestation of 'effacement' in the Beloved's essence and liberation from the individual 'self'.