M6:3120 — پس گلاب و آب بر رویش زدند / همرهان بر حالتش گریان شدند

Translation: Then they sprinkled rosewater and water on his face; His companions wept over his condition. Meaning: Upon hearing the news of the tax collector's death, a debtor fainted. His companions revived him with rosewater, all the while weeping at his profound state of unconsciousness.

In this verse and the ones that follow, Rumi alludes to a profound mystical experience undergone by the debtor upon hearing of the tax collector's death—his creditor. This reaction transcends a mere faint; Rumi himself explains that the man's soul ascended 'from the earthly carpet to the celestial throne,' embarking on a flight to the unseen world (ghayb) before returning half-alive to this realm. It is a genuine flight of the soul, a temporary exodus from the body and an experience of the hidden world, a phenomenon with a long history in our mystical literature.

I interpret this as a salient instance where Rumi emerges as a profound Neoplatonist. The pervasive thought woven throughout the Masnavi, namely the unity of existence (waḥdat al-wujūd) and union with the Creator, is allegorically expressed here, veiled in similitudes. The man's realization of the tax collector's death, a symbol of dependence and reliance upon 'creation' (makhluq), triggers a spiritual awakening. This event compels him to repent for placing his trust in the gifts of creation, severing his heart from worldly attachments. This moment of abandoning hope in anything other than God opens a gateway to the unseen world, causing the soul to take flight.

The companions' weeping over his state indicates their astonishment and profound emotion in the face of this extraordinary experience. They react with a purely human response to the man's unconsciousness, oblivious to the momentous journey his soul has undertaken. This flight of the soul is akin to beholding the beauty of Truth in the mirror of the world; as I have noted elsewhere, the cosmos is a mirror reflecting the Divine manifestation, and the debtor's experience is a direct vision of these manifestations, glimpsed beyond the veil of forms. Such states are preludes to the 'arrival' (wuṣūl) and 'certainty' (yaqīn) that the Masnavi itself promises, for it is only in this state of self-loss (bīkhwīshī) that one can transcend appearances and attain to reality.

Key takeaways

• The debtor's reaction transcends a mere physical faint; it's a flight of the soul to the unseen world.
• This experience symbolizes liberation from worldly attachments and reliance on creation, opening a gateway to spiritual awakening.
• Rumi, in this narrative, speaks in a Neoplatonic manner about the unity of existence and the soul's union with the Creator.
• The man's apparent unconsciousness is, in reality, a state of 'arrival' (wuṣūl) and inner gnosis.
• The companions' weeping signifies their astonishment at a state beyond their comprehension, while an inner spiritual journey unfolds.