M1:2210 — تا گره با نی بود همراز نیست / همنشین آن لب و آواز نیست

Translation: As long as knots (gereh) remain in the reed, it cannot be a confidant (hamrāz); It cannot be a companion to that divine breath (dam) and song (āvāz).

Meaning: The reed, symbolizing the human soul, must be free of its inherent knots—representing attachments to past and future—to truly become a vessel for divine inspiration and to resonate with the breath of the Beloved.

Mowlana, in this profound verse, offers a potent image of spiritual journeying and the imperative of living in the present moment. I believe these lines emerge from Mowlana's dialogue with the old minstrel in the famous story from the first book of the Masnavi, where Mowlana challenges the minstrel's act of repentance, asking him: “When will you repent from this repentance?”

This is a foundational question: repentance that is merely a return to the past and regret for past sins is not true repentance. Mowlana speaks of a repentance that signifies “finding a new existence,” “donning a new garment,” and “discarding the old.” Such repentance requires not looking back. It is within this context that our verse appears, as Mowlana proclaims: “Set fire to both [past and future], for how long will you remain full of knots like the reed?” The 'both' here refers to past and future, signifying that one must burn these two to achieve liberation.

These 'knots' (gereh) that remain in the reed, in my interpretation, are the attachments and entanglements with the past (regrets, remorse, memories) and the future (hopes, fears, plans). As long as the reed is knotted, it cannot be a 'confidant' (hamrāz); it cannot fully contain and transmit the secrets of the divine breath. Secret-sharing demands openness and freedom from these 'knots.' A knot in the reed obstructs the passage of breath, preventing a pure and unadulterated sound from emerging. “It cannot be a companion to that divine breath and song” means that a knotted reed cannot truly resonate with the divine breath or fully play the song that arises from it, for the 'breath' requires a smooth, knot-free channel to perfect the melody of existence.

From Mowlana’s perspective, past and future are “obstacles on a person's path.” “Being in the past, or being concerned about the future,” both cast a veil over the present and hinder connection with the Divine. The Sufi, as Mowlana teaches, is an 'ibn al-waqt'—a child of the moment. They live in the now and avoid promises of 'tomorrow,' because for Mowlana, 'credit' (nasīya) is synonymous with 'nothingness' (nīstī). I have often contrasted this with Hafez, whose ghazals are full of 'yād bād' (remember that time) and longing for the past and memories of friends, whereas in Mowlana's Masnavi, there is no trace of such nostalgia; he is always in the 'present' and entirely discards the past, even when he recalls Shams, he quickly pulls himself out of that pit.

This verse, in essence, is an invitation to 'empty out' one's being. The reed must be emptied of all that constitutes its self—its knots and attachments—so that it may be filled with the divine breath. This emptying is not a deficiency but the very essence of perfection; for when the reed is emptied, it is no longer merely a reed, but becomes the tongue of God, the lips of God, and its sound becomes the song of God. This is the secret of formlessness that Mowlana repeatedly emphasizes: the world of forms arose from the formless, and humans must release their forms to unite with the formless.

Key takeaways

• Freedom from past and future is essential for connecting with ultimate reality; the 'knots' in the reed symbolize these temporal attachments.
• True repentance is not a return to the past, but a radical step into the present, creating a 'new existence'.
• The knot-free reed metaphorically represents a heart emptied of ego and human temporalities, ready to carry the divine 'breath and song'.
• Mowlana's philosophy of being an 'ibn al-waqt' (child of the moment): the Sufi lives in the now, postponing nothing for tomorrow.
• Silence regarding past memories and avoidance of nostalgia is the path to opening oneself to the present and experiencing unmediated presence.