M6:982 — عاشق و معشوق مرده ز اضطراب / مانده ماهی رفته زان گرداب آب

Translation: The lover and the beloved died from distress, Like a fish left behind when the whirlpool's water departed. Meaning: This verse describes the painful end of ephemeral or superficial love, where the vanishing of the transient beloved leaves both the lover and the beloved in a state of utter bewilderment and existential void.

This verse portrays the tragic outcome of loves built on flimsy, inauthentic foundations. Rumi employs the analogy of qalb (قلب), a word signifying both 'heart' and 'a counterfeit coin that has been gilded'. When the zar (زر), meaning the true gold and original manifestation, returns to its kān-e lāmakan (کان لامکان), its placeless mine, what remains? Nothing but profound distress and bewilderment for the lover and the beloved who had entrusted their hearts to a transient allure. This is where Rumi decisively draws the line between the majāz (مجاز), the metaphorical or virtual, and the ḥaqīqat (حقیقت), the real or ultimate. Just as moonlight withdraws from a dark wall, leaving the wall to its inherent gloom, or electroplated gold returns to its true mine, revealing the base copper beneath; so too in virtual loves, a beloved founded on transience will one day vanish from the stage of existence. This disappearance not only removes the beloved but also leaves the lover in a state of ultimate perplexity and aimlessness. The lover and beloved here do not merely lose their souls but are left dead from distress (murda ze iztirāb). This 'death' is not physical demise, but an existential void, a loss of meaning and vitality in their lives. They are like a fish whose magnificent whirlpool of water has suddenly dried up, abandoning them in a desert of aridity and nothingness. This bewilderment and restlessness is a sign of deeper roots embedded in Rumi's Tawḥīd-e Af'ālī (توحید افعالی), the unity of acts: all that exists is from Him and returns to Him. Any attachment save to Him ultimately leads to such distress and perdition. Rumi does not intend to say that love is inherently bad; rather, he seeks to show that true love is that which guides one to the kān-e zar-e lāyazāl (کان زر لایزال), the inexhaustible mine of gold, and the khūrshīd-e kamāl (خورشید کمال), the sun of perfection. Earthly loves, if they do not serve as a bridge to that ultimate Reality, are like gilded counterfeits that eventually fade, leaving behind nothing but regret and anxiety. True seers direct their gaze towards the mine itself, not towards a gilded coin that is destined to perish.

Key takeaways

• Virtual and transient loves inevitably lead to distress and bewilderment.
• The Real (gold) returns to its ultimate Source (placeless mine), exposing the ephemeral (counterfeit coin).
• This 'death from distress' signifies an existential void and loss of meaning, not physical demise.
• Attachment to anything other than Absolute Reality results in aimlessness and emptiness.
• Rumi clearly distinguishes between love for the perishable and love for the eternal.