M6:2737 — موش تن زان ریسمان بازش کشد / چند تلخی زین کشش جان می‌چشد

Translation: The body's mouse pulls the soul back by that rope; How much bitterness the soul tastes from this tug.

Meaning: This verse illustrates the soul imprisoned by the body: the body, likened to a mouse, ties the soul with a rope of material needs, hindering its flight towards the spiritual realm, a perpetual tug-of-war that leaves the soul bitter.

Here, I perceive a profound depiction of the soul-body struggle that Rumi so masterfully illustrates. The allegory of the mouse and the frog, a recurring motif in the Mathnawi, explicitly represents the body and the soul, and this particular verse, to my mind, captures the essence of this allegory. Our soul, which Rumi elsewhere calls the 'frog-soul in the water' (choghoz-e jān dar āb), inherently belongs to the realm of pure knowledge, the vast sea of spiritual realities. It is a being of flight, weightless by nature. Yet, the body, this 'mouse of the body' (mūsh-e tan), incessantly drags it down to earth with the rope of material needs and attachments.

This constant tug from the body inflicts nothing but bitterness and anguish upon the soul. It is the very chain that prevents the spirit from reveling in the oceanic bliss of the divine realm. The soul yearns to be immersed in its 'unconscious sleep' (khwāb-e bihōshī), to be lost in celestial dreams, to leap from the cage of clay, and to soar lightly in the space of meaning. But the body's mouse repeatedly awakens it from this slumber, demanding nourishment, rest, and labor, thus trapping it anew. This is the 'snare of clay' (dām-e khāk) that ensnares us, much like the mythical ʿAnqā.

Rumi states elsewhere: 'All heaviness and lassitude come from the body / The soul, from lightness, is all in flight.' Indeed, the soul naturally inclines towards lightness and ascent; every burden and weariness stems from the corporeal. This verse vividly articulates the soul's eternal alienation in this world, the separation from its true homeland, about which Rumi so eloquently narrates. We are but guests in this world; our true home lies elsewhere.

This perspective stands in stark contrast to the approach of some other great poets, such as Hafez. Hafez sometimes becomes so absorbed in the beloved's locks that his 'wandering heart decides not to return from that long journey to its homeland'—finding home, as it were, right there. But in Rumi's school, whoever strays from their origin will undoubtedly seek to return to the time of reunion. The body's pull is a constant reminder to the soul that its eternal abode is not here. Even Sheikh Bahāʾī interpreted 'Love of homeland is part of faith' as referring to the love of our primary, celestial homeland, not an attachment to the mundane earth and water. This bitterness of the tug, in essence, serves as a mirror, reflecting the soul's separation from its 'homeland' and urging its liberation from the 'body's snare'.

Key takeaways

• The body acts as a weight or rope, hindering the soul's flight towards higher realms.
• The soul, by its very nature, is light and belongs to the spiritual sea of realities, not trapped by earthly concerns.
• The physical body's constant tug and demands are the source of the soul's perpetual bitterness and suffering in this world.
• Rumi presents this verse within the mouse and frog allegory, symbolizing the struggle between spirit and matter.
• The bitterness arising from the body's pull serves as a reminder of the soul's exile and separation from its true homeland.