M6:2688 — در شبان‌روزی وظیفهٔ چاشتگاه / راتبه کردی وصال ای نیک‌خواه

Translation: O well-wisher, in the day and night, you made union (waṣl) my appointed allowance (rātiba) only at mid-morning (chāshtgāh). Meaning: The lover expresses dissatisfaction, lamenting that the Beloved has rationed their union to a mere daily allowance, available only for a brief period each day.

This verse, uttered by an impatient lover, teaches us that the yearning for union is not a predetermined or limited affair, but a boundless thirst. In the Masnavi, these words come from the mouth of an enamored mouse, pleading with a frog (a symbol for the Beloved). Yet, Rumi, as is his wont, bridges this animal narrative to the realm of absolute divine love. Here, it is no longer mouse and frog, but the absolute Lover standing before the Eternal Beloved.

I discern here that the lover complains that the Beloved has designated union, or waṣl, as a mere “rātiba”—a fixed allowance, a continuous duty—and that, only at “chāshtgāh”—a specific, short period during the day. It is as if union were a commodity to be rationed, granted to the lover only for a designated time and in a prescribed measure. This expression, in itself, signifies the lover's restlessness and impatience, for he cannot be content with this restricted “chāshtgāh” and this limited “rātiba.”

I have previously noted that true love and authentic waṣl transcend concepts and mental divisions. When one frees oneself from the “conceptualization factory” of the mind, one attains a direct, pre-conceptual encounter with truths. This verse, in allegorical language, reflects precisely this desire for unconditional, timeless, and boundless union. The lover does not wish to experience union in the form of a “chāshtgāh duty”; he seeks ceaseless, non-spatial union.

Further in these verses, Rumi speaks of the lover's insatiable thirst. He describes himself with “five hundred dropsies” (pānsad estesqā) and “ox-hunger” (jūʿ al-baqar), metaphors for an unending thirst and hunger. It is here that the Beloved, who is Absolute Being, must extend His general grace (lutf-i ʿām) beyond any ration or duty. Rumi, in a wondrous analogy, states: “The sun shines upon impurities (hadath-hā); its light suffers no harm thereby.” This general divine grace, like the sun, shines upon pure and impure, ugly and beautiful, even upon “impurities” (filth and waste), drying them, turning them into fuel, and ultimately transforming them into light and heat in the bathhouse furnace. This divine alchemy is the manifestation of that “general grace” which seeks no justification (sanad namī-jūyad); that is, it does not consider worthiness or unworthiness. This is precisely what the lover demands: a Beloved whose general grace is reasonless and selfless; why, then, should He limit and condition union to a specific time for His lover?

This verse, in essence, is a cry for liberation from any constraint or restriction in the realm of love. The lover declares: I am not content with this one instance or this one mid-morning, for the essence of love is boundlessness, and any demarcation within it contradicts the boundless nature of the Beloved and the lover's infinite thirst. This supplication stems from the depths of the soul, seeking to be immersed in the endless ocean of union rather than accepting a scheduled encounter. In my view, this indicates Rumi's message that love should not be postponed or limited, just as he himself says: “If you are to kiss my dust, then kiss my face now, for I am still the same.”

Key takeaways

• The lover's lament over temporary and restricted union reveals an infinite thirst.
• Designating union as a 'mid-morning duty' contradicts the boundless nature of love.
• Instead of accepting rationed union, the lover yearns for immersion in its endless ocean.
• This verse critiques the conceptualization and confinement of union to mental and temporal frameworks.
• Rumi asserts divine grace transcends all merit or specific time; thus, union should be equally unconstrained.