M6:774 — گوید اندر نزع از جان آه مرگ / این زمان کردت ز خود آگاه مرگ

This couplet captures the tragic irony of a life spent in heedlessness. The section is a commentary on the Prophetic saying, “Die before you die,” which urges a voluntary, spiritual death to the ego before the involuntary, physical one arrives. Rumi has just described a person who for years ignored the drumbeat of mortality (M6:773). Now, in the throes of actual death (nazʿ), they finally cry out in recognition.

The cry, "Ah, Death!" is not just of pain, but of a sudden, shocking clarity. In that final moment, Death itself becomes the teacher, forcing an awareness that the person evaded their entire life. The second hemistich is a direct, almost accusatory, statement: this is the moment you finally see yourself for what you are. The tragedy is that this self-knowledge, the very goal of the spiritual path, arrives only when there is no time left to act upon it. The point is not to fear death, but to fear arriving at death unprepared and unawakened.