M6:2006 — با کی خفتی وز چه پهلو خاستی / که چنین پر جوش چون دریا‌ستی

Translation: With whom did you sleep and from which side did you rise, / That you are so full of fervor, like the sea? Meaning: Rumi addresses himself or his companion Husam al-Din, marveling at the source of an immense inner fervor. He implies that this overflowing energy stems from an intimate, nightly communion with a sublime, divine reality.

This verse from the sixth book of the Masnavi is a poignant question addressed to the fervent soul of Rumi himself (and I prefer to understand it as Rumi addressing himself) or to Husam al-Din Chalabi, his companion in spirit and pen. This is no ordinary inquiry into one's personal state; it is a rhetorical query about the source of an infinite inner effervescence and passion, born from a profound, nocturnal spiritual experience. Rumi asks: "With whom did you spend the night, and from which side did you awaken, that such a sea of fervor and intoxication surges from within you?"

This "sea-like" quality, captured in the phrase "like the sea," is one of Rumi's most defining characteristics; he was himself "sea-natured," a "swimmer in the surging sea of knowledge." The Masnavi itself is but an island in this sea of meaning. Thus, this description refers to Rumi's own state, where his inner being surges and undulates like a sea of divine grace.

Rumi immediately connects this state to the prophetic Tradition (Hadith) of "Abīt ʿinda rabbī yuṭʿimunī wa yasqīnī" (I spend the night with my Lord; He feeds me and gives me drink). This noble Hadith, where the Prophet Muhammad stated that he passes nights in the presence of his Lord and is given sustenance, is understood in Islamic mysticism as a spiritual presence and a sublime, ethereal communion with God, not physical nourishment. Rumi, by posing the question "Did you, too, recite 'Abīt ʿinda rabbī'?" implicitly asks if he, too, has spent the night in such a special, divine gathering.

He immediately adds that such a presence is not an entry into a cold, calming sea, but rather a "plunging into the heart of a sea of fire." This implies that to attain such a station, one must cast one's heart into a sea of fire; a burning love that can ignite the soul. Yet, this entry into fire is also accompanied by divine support and grace, just as God commanded the fire for Nimrod, saying, "Yā nār kūni bardan wa salāman ʿalā Ibrāhīm" (O fire, be coolness and safety for Abraham). It is this "infallibility of the soul" (ʿiṣmat-i jān) that protects the seeker in this fiery sea. Therefore, Rumi's fervor, his effervescence, and his sea-like nature are the fruits of an experience of divine love that is both consuming and secure, originating from a source beyond this temporal world.

Key takeaways

• Rumi's inner fervor originates from an intimate, nocturnal spiritual communion with the Divine, not from worldly matters.
• The metaphor of Rumi as a 'sea' describes his true being, brimming with divine knowledge and inspiration.
• The reference to the Hadith 'Abīt ʿinda rabbī' roots this fervor in prophetic tradition and mystical heritage.
• Attaining this state requires plunging into a 'sea of fire'—a consuming love that is nonetheless made safe by divine grace.
• Rumi's state reflects God's active and ever-present engagement, in contrast to a distant or absent deity.