M6:1554 — این دم آن دم نیست کاید آن به شرح / هین بر آ زین قعر چه بالای صرح

Translation: This moment is not that moment which can be explained in words; So, hurry, rise from this deep well to the height of the palace!Meaning: Rumi, in this verse, emphasizes the inadequacy of language to articulate sublime spiritual experiences. He urgently calls upon the seeker to immediately ascend from the depths of unawareness and materiality to the pinnacle of gnosis and truth.

In this concise verse, Rumi intertwines two fundamental truths: the ineffability of mystical experiences and the urgent necessity of ascending from the lower to the higher realm. The 'dam' (moment/state) Rumi speaks of here refers not merely to an instant in time, but to an inner state or quality that cannot be rendered in 'sharh' (explanation). This is precisely the inadequacy of language that Rumi often highlights in the Masnavi, stating, 'I am a mirror, a mirror; I am not a man of discourses / My state can be seen if your ear becomes an eye.' It is not that what the mystic knows lacks expressibility; rather, what the mystic apprehends transcends the limited capacity of words. This is a 'rāz' (secret), not a 'mo'ammā' (riddle). A secret is not something to be solved but a reality to be entered and become one with, and language is inadequate to narrate such unities. It is as if Rumi echoes Wittgenstein: 'Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.' Rumi asserts that this moment of union, this state of self-forgetfulness, is not of the nature of discourse.

Hence, he immediately commands action: 'Hurry, rise from this bottom of the well to the height of the palace!' 'Hin' here is a command for immediacy and urgency of action. It is as if he is saying, this is not the time for words, but for flight. 'Rise from this bottom of the well.' This well is a metaphor for captivity within the self, within materiality, within habits and attachments—those very conditions that hinder the apprehension of that 'dam.' This could be the well of the commanding ego (nafs-e ammāre), the well of worldliness, or the well of heedlessness. Opposed to this depth and darkness is the 'height of the palace,' which signifies elevation and loftiness—a palace symbolizing exaltation, illumination, expansiveness, and freedom of the soul. This is the 'waṣl' (union) that stands opposite 'firaq' (separation), and Rumi composed the entire Masnavi to narrate this journey of return from separation to union.

This ascent is akin to the repeated 'death' of the ego that the mystic eagerly embraces. Rumi states elsewhere, 'Death is but one slaying, but this is three hundred thousand / Each one has an untold blood-price.' Being slain by the hand of Truth is not a calamity for the seeker, but an act of grace, yielding untold rewards. This is precisely the seeker's longing for 'another wound' from the 'just spear,' as he says: 'Slain by the delight of the just spear / He burns, crying, 'Strike another wound!'' This 'rising from the bottom of the well' is, in fact, the acceptance of these successive deaths of the self to attain 'a hundred lives.' Self-worship and attachment to superficial existence are the well from which one must ascend to reach the 'palace height' of love.

This verse reflects the central Sufi doctrine of being 'ibn al-waqt' (son of the moment). Seize the moment, value the opportunity, and do not delay. Every 'darīghā' (alas!) is a theft from the present. Rumi is never bound by the past or future; he lives solely in the 'ḥāl' (present moment) and calls the reader to live in this flowing instant. This 'hin bar ā' is an invitation to abandon procrastination, to cease being 'lost' in grammar (naḥw), and to immerse oneself in the sea of formlessness (bī-ṣūratī). For forms are but the foam of the sea, and one must pass beyond the foam to reach the formless depths. This ascent is made possible not by intellect but by love, by that very 'fire of love' that Rumi considers the 'food of lovers.'

Key takeaways

• Mystical experience transcends discourse; language is inadequate to express inner truths, which are 'secrets' (rāz), not 'riddles' (mo'ammā).
• The 'dam' (moment) refers both to the present instant and to an ineffable inner state or quality.
• Rumi's 'Hurry, rise!' (hin bar ā) is an urgent call for immediate ascent from the depths of materiality and heedlessness to the pinnacle of gnosis and truth.
• The 'bottom of the well' (qa'r-e chah) symbolizes captivity within the ego, worldliness, and darkness, contrasting with the 'height of the palace' (bālā-ye sarh) as the zenith of light and spiritual liberation.
• This ascent necessitates the repeated 'death' of the ego, bravely embraced, as the 'slaying' of the self is rewarded with an immeasurable 'blood-price.'
• The verse emphasizes the Sufi principle of being 'son of the moment' (ibn al-waqt), living in the eternal present and rejecting all procrastination and heedlessness.