M6:1797 — زانک بی‌لذت نروید هیچ جزو / بلک لاغر گردد از هی پیچ جزو

Translation: For no part grows without pleasure; Rather, every part withers from every pain.

Meaning: Rumi articulates a fundamental law of life: the growth and vitality of every part of one's being, whether physical or spiritual, hinges on pleasure, whereas pain leads to its decay and atrophy.

Mowlana here addresses Hosamoddin Chalabi, who has asked him to speak of truths, explaining that the yearning to hear the name of the Beloved, even for one who directly witnesses those truths, is natural. It is like a thirsty person who wishes both to drink the wine and to hear its name. Thus, Mowlana states: "Day and night, you are an agile seeker of tales; / Every part of you is a teller of fables." Our very being, with its every 'part,' is replete with narratives and stories, each waiting to be told.

Following this, Mowlana points to a fundamental ontological law: "For no part grows without pleasure." This means that no organ, no component of our existence—be it physical or spiritual—can truly flourish without pleasure and joy. If any part or faculty of our being experiences pain or affliction, it gradually becomes weak and emaciated, ceasing to grow and eventually perhaps perishing. This is an undeniable principle. Our hands and feet, which derive pleasure from their function, remain robust and active; if left unused and deprived of this pleasure, they will atrophy. This is the very principle of survival and growth, observable even in the process of evolution: organs that had a function in the organism's survival and experienced the pleasure of that function persisted and developed, while those lacking such a role succumbed to decline.

Therefore, the very birth, development, and flourishing of every part of our being is the product of the pleasure the organism as a whole derives from that part's function. Pain (which Mowlana terms "pīch," signifying twisting or entanglement) causes a part to become thin and frail, whereas recovery and healing are themselves a form of pleasure that compels the organ to grow anew and repel the pain.

One might then ask, where does that pleasure go? Mowlana answers that this pleasure becomes hidden: "The part remains, and that joy is forgotten; / Nay, it didn't leave, it became hidden from the five and seven." The part endures, but the delightful and pleasurable origin of its genesis and growth is forgotten or concealed behind the veil of the unseen. This truth can also be observed in natural phenomena; for example, cotton is a product of summer, or ice a relic of winter, yet with the passing of summer and winter, only the cotton and ice remain, and the origin and pleasure of their creation are forgotten. The fruits we eat in winter are a memory of summer, yet we see only the fruit and do not recall that delightful summer process. Mowlana wishes to convey that behind every existing thing, there lies a pleasure and joy that was the cause of its being and growth, even if now forgotten.

Key takeaways

• Every part of one's being, both physical and spiritual, requires "pleasure" for growth and vitality.
• Pain and suffering (pīch) lead to the thinning and decay of a "part"; pleasure is the driver of its growth and survival.
• The law of "growth through pleasure" is a fundamental ontological principle, observable in nature and evolution.
• The pleasurable origin of a part's emergence and growth, though it may be forgotten or concealed, is intrinsically remembered by the part itself.