M6:2675 — روز بر شب عاشقست و مضطرست / چون ببینی شب برو عاشق‌ترست

Translation: Day is a lover of night, and restless for it; Yet if you observe closely, night is even more in love with day.

Meaning: This verse illustrates the reciprocal and mutual love between the lover and the Beloved, emphasizing that the Beloved's love, though often concealed, is deeper and more profound than the lover's apparent yearning.

In Rumi's school of thought, love is an utterly reciprocal and mutual phenomenon, sharply contrasting with many poetic and mystical traditions that portray the Beloved as self-sufficient and indifferent to the lover. The notion that the lover yearns while the Beloved remains aloof, or that the lover burns while the Beloved is untouched, has no place in Rumi's lexicon. He explicitly rejects this approach.

I firmly believe that Rumi holds that both lover and Beloved are of the same essence, and the perfection of lovers lies in attaining the station of the Beloved. Love stands on two feet; there is both a lover's love and a Beloved's love. The distinction lies in expression: the lover's love is manifest with 'two hundred cries and lamentations,' while 'the Beloved's love is hidden and veiled.' The Beloved is also a lover of their lover, but does not reveal their passion. Both are lovers of each other, and both carry this sacred trust of love; it is not the case that one is full of love and the other empty, one a player in the field and the other an indifferent spectator.

To elucidate this truth, Rumi employs the analogy of day and night. He says: 'Day is a lover of night, and restless for it; / Yet if you observe closely, night is even more in love with day.' Day, with all its brilliance and visibility, is infatuated with night and yearns restlessly for its union. However, if one looks deeper, one realizes that night, in its silence and concealment, harbors a far greater love for day. This example vividly illustrates the hidden yet profound love of the Divine Beloved for the human lover; a love that may not be overtly proclaimed, but whose intensity and authenticity surpass all others. This point is beautifully reflected in the local folk verse: 'Sweet is love from both sides, / For one-sided love brings only pain. / If Majnun's heart was distraught, / Layli's heart was even more so.' This is a lesson for true and sincere loves, not for superficial and carnal affections.

This perspective culminates in the perfect unity of lover and Beloved. Where Rumi states: 'In the Beloved's heart, all is lover; / In Azra's heart, Vameq always dwells,' he refers to a famous story of mutual love. He clarifies that 'In the lover's heart, there is nothing but the Beloved; / Between them, there is no separating or separated thing.' Love, that alchemical miracle, unites two hearts, two humans, two souls so profoundly that they can no longer be called two. This is not a simple synthesis, but a union that merges their individual identities into a singular existence.

This union is 'an attachment without modality or measure'; meaning it cannot be confined within rational or philosophical categories, nor can a quality be expressed for it. It is an experience that the lover perceives in the depth of their being. For this very reason, separation (firaq), even if outward and temporary, is so bitter and soul-crushing; for separation from something with which one has become one entails a suffering deeper than any other. Nevertheless, it must be understood that in this school, true separation between the real lover and Beloved never occurs, for the unity of hearts is enduring—unless no union ever took place in the first instance, or its foundation was weak. The very bitterness of separation testifies to the depth of this intrinsic unity.

Key takeaways

• Contrary to many poets, Rumi views love as a profoundly reciprocal and mutual phenomenon, rejecting the notion of an indifferent Beloved.
• The Beloved's love may remain hidden (like night), but it is often deeper and more intense than the lover's overt passion (like day).
• The analogy of day and night symbolizes this mutual yearning for union, where even the 'Beloved' harbors a greater thirst.
• Love acts as an alchemy leading to a perfect and unconditioned unity between lover and Beloved, a unity that transcends rational comprehension.
• In Rumi's perspective, apparent separation cannot rupture the true unity of hearts; rather, the bitterness of separation itself testifies to the depth of this intrinsic union.