M1:129 — لاتکُلِفْنی فانّی فی الفَنا / کلَّت اَفْهامِی فلا اُحْصِی ثنا

Translation: Do not burden me, for I am in fanā (annihilation); My understandings have dulled, thus I cannot enumerate praise.

Meaning: Mowlana declares that due to his state of utter immersion in the Beloved's essence—a state of fanā (annihilation)—his faculties of comprehension and expression are dulled, rendering him unable to offer adequate praise.

In this verse, Mowlana, speaking in Arabic and from the pinnacle of fanā (annihilation), responds to an internal voice—his own soul—that asks him to praise the Divine. This response is deeply intertwined with our understanding of revelation and the mystic's station in the Masnavi. As I have indicated in previous lectures, Mowlana begins the Masnavi with the imperative «Bishnav» (Listen), as if positioning himself as the 'Tongue of God.' Yet here, in an intimate internal dialogue, he confesses an inability to render adequate praise. This is the crucial point: he is in the station of fanā.

I affirm with absolute certainty that fanā here does not mean non-existence, but rather dissolution into the Divine Being. When a spiritual wayfarer reaches this stage, no 'self' remains from which to reflect upon or offer praise. His understanding and perception—what Mowlana calls afhām (comprehensions)—no longer function as before; they become 'dulled,' losing their sharpness. This implies that ordinary language and human intellect, however elevated, are insufficient to express and enumerate the praise of the Divine. This precisely echoes the Prophet's supplication, «Subhānaka lā uhṣī thanā’an ʿalayk» (Glory be to You; I cannot enumerate Your praises adequately). Mowlana adopts this sentiment to articulate his own inner state.

The interlocutor in this scene is Mowlana's 'soul' (jān), recalling their long-standing 'right of companionship' (haqq-e suḥbat), urging him: «Az barā-ye ḥaqq-e suḥbat sālhā / Bāz gū ḥālī az ān khosh-ḥālhā» (For the sake of the right of companionship for years, recount some of those joyous states). But Mowlana's response is decisive: «Lā tukallifnī» (Do not burden me). This task, this duty, is impossible in this state. He tells his 'soul' that he has become so annihilated, so absorbed and dissolved in 'Shams'—a symbol of the Absolute Essence—that he can no longer speak about Him. How can one speak about something in which one has become completely immersed?

This inability to express is not mere humility; it stems from a profound existential experience. Mowlana further emphasizes in subsequent verses: «Har chī īshān guft ghayr-e mufīq / An takalluf yā tasalluf lā yalīq» (Whatever the unconscious one says, it is unfitting, whether it be forced or borrowed). And he asks: «Man chih gūyam yak ragam hoshīyār nīst / Sharḥ-e ān yārī kih ū rā yār nīst?» (What can I say when not a single vein of mine is conscious, to explain that Beloved who has no peer?). How can one speak about the Peerless One when the speaker himself is not present in himself?

This verse also stands in contrast to the 'soul's' insistence on being ibn al-waqt (son of the moment), a Sufi concept meaning to live in the present and not postpone action. The 'soul' tells Mowlana: «Qāla aṭʿimnī fa-innī jā’iʿ / Wa ʿajjil fa-l-waqtu sayf-un qāṭiʿ» (It said, 'Feed me, for I am hungry; and hasten, for time is a sharp sword'). But Mowlana, in the state of fanā, has transcended this rule. This is not out of idleness, but out of an inability to express and comprehend in a state of selflessness. This silence and inability are, in themselves, the pinnacle of speaking about truth; for some truths, as Wittgenstein suggested, cannot be stated, but only shown or experienced in silence. Here, Mowlana is not ignorant; rather, he has attained such knowledge that he is rendered speechless.

Key takeaways

• Fanā is the apex of absorption in the Beloved, not non-existence, where no 'self' remains to offer praise.
• In the state of fanā, ordinary understanding and expression cease; 'comprehensions' dull, and language is inadequate to enumerate praise.
• This inability to express echoes the Prophet's supplication: «Subhānaka lā uhṣī thanā’an ʿalayk» (I cannot enumerate Your praises adequately).
• At this pinnacle, Mowlana frees himself from the burden of speech: «Lā tukallifnī» (Do not burden me), as any word from the 'unconscious one' is unfitting.
• This verse shows Mowlana transcending the rule of being ibn al-waqt (son of the moment) at this stage; he is in a state of selflessness (bīkhudī).
• Silence and the inability to articulate become the highest form of expressing truths, as some truths are ineffable.