M6:1917 — زهرهٔ او بر دریدی از قلق / گر نبودی رفق و حفظ و لطف حق

Translation: His gallbladder (heart) could have burst from agitation and fervor Had it not been for God's gentleness, preservation, and grace. Meaning: The mystic's heart was so overwhelmed with joy and spiritual fervor that he risked perishing, but divine mercy and protection shielded him from this intense experience.

This verse vividly portrays the apex of a mystical experience. A young seeker, having received a hidden message from a herald of glad tidings, is so overwhelmed with joy and spiritual expansion that his very life is at stake. Rumi, with his characteristic subtlety, explains that this immense faraḥ (joy) and fervor possess such power that they could potentially daridan (tear asunder) his zahra – a term here signifying the heart and soul – leading to death. However, what preserves the seeker's life in this perilous state is none other than God's refq (gentleness), hefz (preservation), and loṭf (grace/kindness).

This statement by Mawlana is, without exaggeration, a reiteration and elucidation of the very point made by Imam Ali (as) in Nahj al-Balagha when describing the pious and lovers of God. He states: "If divine preservation or predestined death (ajal-e mosammā) did not exist, the souls of God's lovers would fly away and would not remain in this world for a moment." Rumi affirms this same truth: the intensity of union and immersion in the divine, if not accompanied by divine protection, is more than the physical body can bear, and the soul would depart. This illustrates how profoundly real mystical experiences can be, material in their effect, yet beyond human endurance; and God's grace is not merely a path-opener but a preserver of the seeker's life on this dangerous journey.

I have often stated what the source of this immense joy was: it was because "his ear heard a reply from the Divine Presence." This is no small matter; after six hundred veils, after all the doubt about whether anyone hears, whether this world is dead or alive, suddenly a response arrives. One feels they have not been speaking to a wall, but rather have connected with a conscious cosmos and a living, active God. This joy is the supreme joy, making one feel as if they cannot contain themselves within their own skin.

This very experience ignites another hope in the seeker. Once their sense of hearing has pierced through the veils, the hope strengthens that their sense of sight might also perceive the unseen. Rumi states elsewhere: "When one sense opened a bond, others followed sequentially after it"; meaning, if one sense gains access to the unseen, other senses too begin to move in its wake, marking the beginning of the opening and expansion of inner perceptions. Thus, this verse not only unveils God's preserving grace but also heralds successive unveilings on the path to union.

Key takeaways

• Mystical experiences possess an intensity that can be life-threatening, necessitating divine preservation.
• God's gentleness, preservation, and grace are the elements that shield the seeker during peak ecstasy and self-annihilation.
• Rumi's narrative affirms Imam Ali's statement in Nahj al-Balagha that lovers of God would not remain in this world without a destined time of death.
• True joy stems from hearing the Beloved's reply from behind veils, signifying a living and conscious cosmos.
• The opening of one inner sense (hearing) paves the way for the opening and expansion of other senses (sight).