M6:1539 — گرچه کشت این قوم را حق بارها / ریخت بهر خونبها انبارها

Translation: Though God killed this folk repeatedly, He poured out ample recompense for their blood.

Meaning: Mawlana asserts that seekers on the path of truth undergo numerous mystical deaths, annihilating their ego and self; yet, for each of these sacrifices, God has stored immeasurable rewards and compensations for them.

Mawlana here speaks of Sufi annihilation, a concept fundamentally different from natural death. When he refers to "this folk" (قوم), he means the seekers on the path of Truth, those who sacrifice their souls for the Beloved. This dying is not a singular event but occurs repeatedly, each time opening a door to a new form of life. As I have elucidated before, physical, natural death happens once and signifies an end; but Sufi death is a voluntary, repetitive dying to the self, from which the seeker gains "a hundred new souls" from the Divine.

I have elaborated on this in the story of the Ghazi and his lower self (nafs) in Book Five of the Masnavi. There, the Ghazi confronts his nafs, and the nafs cries out: "Here in this cloister, you kill me a hundred times a day. Go, kill me once and be done with it!" This confession by the nafs itself testifies to the multitude of annihilations a true seeker experiences. Each of these deaths brings innumerable rewards. Mawlana calls these rewards "blood money" (خون‌بها), meaning the compensation God gives for the blood shed by the lover. Since this shedding of blood occurs repeatedly, God also stores "warehouses" (انبارها) of blood money for them. This recompense echoes the Quranic promise: "Indeed, God has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties, in exchange for which they will have Paradise," and the description of Paradise where there are "things no eye has seen, no ear has heard, nor has it ever crossed the heart of man."

Mawlana illustrates this phenomenon by alluding to the Prophet Jirjis (Saint George), who was repeatedly killed and resurrected. This narrative symbolizes the renewed life after each mystical death. The true seeker not only fears not this dying but embraces it, yearning for its repetition. As Sheikh Bahai said: "You struck a wound, and the heart's pain was eased by it. Oh, healer of wounded hearts, send another balm!" This craving for wounds and annihilation signifies true love, for in the lover's view, every wound from the Beloved is a balm, and every death is life itself.

As Mawlana states elsewhere: "By God, one killed by the hand of Truth / Is more in love with the second killing / Than with the existence of the life-loving one." One who is slain by the hand of Truth is more enamored with their "second killing" than with a "life-loving existence" (one who cherishes their own physical life). This is where self-sacrifice becomes the work of these great souls; they willingly and ardently sacrifice their lives, knowing that such sacrifice is the very path to eternal life and union with the Beloved. "We have found the price and the blood money; / We rushed towards staking our lives."

Key takeaways

• Sufi annihilation is a voluntary, repeated death to the self, distinct from physical demise.
• Each mystical death is not an end but a new beginning, a reception of 'a hundred new souls' from the Divine.
• For every sacrifice and drop of blood shed on the path of love, God stores immeasurable rewards (blood money).
• The tale of Jirjis (Saint George) symbolizes resurrection and renewed life after continuous mystical deaths.
• The true lover does not fear death on the path of Truth but eagerly desires repeated annihilations and wounds from the Beloved.
• Eternal life and union with the Divine are attained only through the repeated sacrifice of the ego and self.