M4:69 — خلق آبی را بود دریا چو باغ / خلق خاکی را بود آن مرگ و داغ

This couplet is the capstone of Rumi's argument about relativity, which he introduces a few verses earlier with the statement, "nothing in the world is absolutely evil; evil is relative" (M4:65). Using a powerful and simple natural image, he illustrates how the very same reality can be experienced in opposite ways.

For an aquatic creature (خلق آبی), whose essence is of the water, the sea is its natural home, a place of freedom and sustenance—a garden. For a terrestrial creature (خلق خاکی), whose nature is bound to the earth, that same sea is a terrifying, alien environment that brings only drowning and grief (مرگ و داغ).

The point extends the story of the lover who was chased by the night watchman. The watchman seemed like a poison, an enemy, but his pursuit inadvertently led the lover to the garden of his beloved. The 'poison' became a 'remedy' (تریاق). This beyt universalizes that principle: what constitutes a paradise or a hell, a poison or a medicine, is not inherent in the thing itself but is determined by the nature and capacity of the one experiencing it.