M6:1820 — هم‌چو آن میوه که در وقت شتا / می‌کند افسانهٔ لطف خدا

Translation: Like that fruit which, in the time of winter, Narrates the tale of God's grace.

Meaning: This verse suggests that the fruit we consume in winter serves as a storyteller, recounting the divine grace and bounty that nurtured it through spring and summer; as if the fruit itself is narrating a story of God's kindness and benevolence.

Here, Rumi, through a tender simile, points to the profound unity and interconnectedness of existence. The fruit that reaches us in the heart of winter and cold doesn't complain about the season of separation; rather, it narrates a tale of God's grace – a grace that began with the sun's smiles upon the meadows and gardens in spring and summer.

I have often remarked that if Rumi had known about the miraculous phenomenon of photosynthesis, what marvels he would have sung! Indeed, it is this very process that orchestrates this 'tale of God's grace.' Sunlight doesn't merely touch the green leaves; it courts them, penetrates them, and indwells within them. This is a union, a marriage, and, to be more precise, a 'pregnancy' in which the sun impregnates the leaves, leading to the ripening of fruits. As the poet Manuchehri states, 'The sun made me pregnant from afar.' This pregnancy and fecundity give birth to fruit that ripens in summer and then, in winter, in the form of wine or vinegar, graces our tables and sustains us. This fruit is, in essence, a 'remembrance' of the past, an 'evidence' of an absent grace that has now become present, sustaining our very being.

This narration by the fruit aligns with Rumi's profound understanding, articulated at the very beginning of the Masnavi, of the reed's 'narration' (ḥikāyat) as opposed to its 'complaint' (shikāyat). The reed is not complaining but narrating; narrating a separation that is itself part of the path to reunion. Similarly, the fruit in winter is not complaining about the cold and disconnection; it is narrating a boundless union and grace bestowed upon it in previous seasons, now brought to fruition. This is an inseparable bond between times and between the manifest and hidden graces of the Divine. Each fruit in winter is, in truth, a divine seal and signature on the reality that the hand of grace and عنایت is never withdrawn from creation.

Key takeaways

• Winter fruit is not a complaint against the cold, but a narration of divine grace from spring and summer.
• This verse emphasizes the continuity of time and the sustained presence of God's grace in every moment.
• Rumi views nature as a field for the 'intimate encounter' and indwelling of divine light within matter.
• The production of fruit, stemming from the 'pregnancy' of leaves by the sun, symbolizes divine fecundity in the cosmos.
• Similar to the 'reed,' the fruit narrates a tale of reunion, rather than complaining of separation.