M6:589 — رو بخسپ ای جان که نگذاریم ما / که کسی از خواب بجهاند ترا

Translation: Go to sleep, O soul, for we shall not allow Anyone to startle you from your slumber. Meaning: This couplet, voiced by a tempting force or a discerning Beloved, tells the drowsy seeker to remain in sleep, implying that the seeker lacks the readiness for awakening and thus no one will rouse them.

Listen, this couplet unveils one of Rumi's most profound insights into the struggle between wakefulness and heedlessness, and the essential readiness required on the path of love. We can approach this utterance from two perspectives, both ultimately converging on a singular truth.

First, one may perceive it as the voice of temptation and delusion, precisely that 'nurse of obsession' (dāyeh-ye vasvās) of whom Rumi speaks earlier. This obsession appears as a kindly nurse, saying: 'Sleep, O soul, we shall not allow anyone to rouse you from this sweet slumber.' This temptation is an invitation to heedlessness and procrastination, to remain stagnant in ignorance. Here, Rumi immediately contrasts it with the Beloved's call to awakening: "But you yourself should uproot yourself from the sleep / Like a thirsty one who hears the sound of water." How can a thirsty person, hearing the call of water, remain asleep? This phrase, "Go to sleep," thus functions as an implicit challenge: if you are truly thirsty, this temptation will hold no sway over you.

Second, and more profoundly, these words can emanate from the Beloved Himself or from God. This is a 'test.' If the lover truly awaits union, they will never fall asleep. To slumber in such a state signifies a lack of genuine thirst and an unpreparedness for the encounter. Rumi illuminates this truth with the delightful tale of the lover and the walnuts. A lover sits up at night, awaiting the Beloved, but eventually succumbs to sleep. The Beloved arrives, finds him slumbering, places some walnuts in his pocket, and departs. This signifies: 'You are still a child, you should play with walnuts; the time for true love has not yet arrived.' In this sense, "We shall not allow / Anyone to startle you from your slumber" is neither a threat nor a protection, but a statement of fact: if you are not thirsty and prepared yourself, no external awakener will be able to rouse you, and the Beloved's presence will not be perceived without your complete inner vigilance.

Rumi demonstrates here that true awakening must well up from within; it is you who must 'uproot yourself from the sleep.' One who seeks awakening and union must possess an absolute readiness for the encounter. If you are truly thirsty, the sound of water will not only awaken you but will also partly quench your thirst. However, if sleep overcomes you, it means you are still in the infancy of love and, instead of union, you deserve to play with walnuts. This couplet is not a complaint about the current state of affairs, but a precise narrative of the spiritual condition of seekers, delivered in a tone that, though seemingly stern, is in essence an invitation to awakening and perfection.

Key takeaways

• The invitation to sleep can be a temptation to avoid spiritual awakening.
• Indifference to the divine call signals a lack of true readiness on the path of love.
• True awakening must originate from within the seeker, not from external forces.
• If the lover is asleep at the moment of encounter, they have not yet reached the maturity of love.
• Being present in the moment (ibn al-waqt) is a fundamental condition of spiritual journeying.