M6:206 — زین دو ره گرچه به جز تو عزم نیست / لیک هرگز رزم هم‌چون بزم نیست

Translation: Though from these two paths, there is no resolve but You, / Yet battle is never like a feast. Meaning: Rumi laments the arduousness of choice, stating that even when both paths ultimately lead to God, the struggle of decision-making is a torment, far from the ease and joy of union or a clear path.

Here, Rumi, in this verse and those preceding it, laments and cries out to God regarding the 'two branches of choice' (do shākhe ikhtiyār) and the indecision it engenders in the human soul. Free will, or ikhtiyār, is in itself a virtue, even the distinguishing feature between humans and other animals. Yet, this great treasure comes with grave and 'bone-breaking' consequences (sahmgin o ostekhan-shekan) that can trap a person in perplexing dilemmas; dilemmas where one's ultimate felicity or misery depends on difficult choices. This is why Rumi uses the phrase 'vicious choices' (ikhtiyārāt-e khabith); not to imply that choice itself is vicious, but rather that choice has the potential to lead to vice, and it is this potentiality that torments the soul.

I find that Rumi, in this verse, expresses the depth of his pain from this internal struggle. He states: 'Though from these two paths, there is no resolve but You' (zīn do rah garche be joz to azm nīst). This means that even if he is caught between two choices, his ultimate destination and desire is none but God, and his true intention is solely directed towards the Divine. Even with this ultimate certainty, the very act of choosing between these two paths is a complete 'soul-rending' effort (jūn kandane). Rumi illuminates this state with the metaphor of 'battle' (razm) and 'feast' (bazm). Razm signifies the constant internal conflict and struggle that afflicts a human being during the act of choosing. This state can never attain the peace, ease, and union of a bazm. A bazm is a gathering of union and joy; a state where doubts are resolved and the path has become unambiguous. Rumi yearns for such an untroubled feast and laments the arduous battle of free will.

This lament of Rumi's can be likened to the desire of extremist Sufis who wished to be like angels—virtuous but without free will. Such a wish undoubtedly arises from the biting pain of choice's most destructive consequences. God offered the 'trust' (amānat) of free will to the heavens and the earth, and they refused to bear it, as stated in the Quran: 'They feared to bear it' (ashfaqn an yahmilnahā); yet humanity accepted this trust. This very acceptance has transformed humanity into a 'soul-rending' creature on the path of choice. Rumi here yearns for a singular 'straight path' (ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm) that would deliver him from this 'soul-burning indecision and bewilderment' (taraddod o tahayyur-e jānsuz).

Key takeaways

• Free will, while a divine gift distinguishing humanity, is also a source of internal struggle and the agony of decision-making.
• Life's dilemmas, even with the knowledge that their ultimate direction is towards God, constitute a 'soul-rending' internal battle.
• Rumi yearns for the ease of 'feast' (union and clarity), contrasting it with the 'battle' of choice and indecision.
• Rumi's plea to be freed from free will echoes the heavens' and earth's fear of bearing the divine trust (amānat).
• This verse suggests that the mystic's perfection is not necessarily in strengthening free will, but sometimes in wishing to transcend it for a state of divine unity and needlessness.