M6:2664 — این سخن پایان ندارد گفت موش / چغز را روزی که ای مصباح هوش

Translation: “This discourse has no end,” the mouse said one day To the frog, “O lamp of intellect!” Meaning: The mouse, symbolizing the body, expresses to the frog, who symbolizes the soul, an ardent desire for unending communion and conversation, addressing the soul as a source of illuminating wisdom.

In this story, Mawlana symbolically casts the mouse as the emblem of earth, the physical body (tan), and the realm of nature. This natural world, from the perspective of mystics, is a dark and obscured domain, antithetical to the realm of the spirit. Conversely, the frog, dwelling in water, symbolizes the spiritual realm and the ocean of the soul (jān). For Mawlana, water is consistently a symbol of souls: transparent, unified, pure, signifying the oneness of spirits, as he states, "The souls of wolves and dogs are separate, but united are the souls of God’s lions." This narrative, then, explicates the relationship between body and soul, a nexus between the lower and upper worlds.

In this particular couplet, it is the earthly, body-like mouse that initiates the conversation. Belonging to the earth and the physical, the mouse addresses the aquatic, spiritual frog, calling it "O lamp of intellect!" This address profoundly highlights the frog's – and by extension, the soul's – significance in spiritual illumination and wisdom. The mouse here is a supplicant, yearning for a connection that shall never be severed, a relationship extending beyond transient encounters at the riverbank.

It is at this juncture that Mawlana, with his characteristic mastery, transcends the characters. Like the proverbial elephant who "dreams of Hindustan," Mawlana, amidst the dialogue of the mouse and the frog, as if "remembers Hindustan" and sets the immediate narrative aside. He unveils the restlessness and aspirations of his own heart; these mouse and frog are no longer merely story characters, but transform into the absolute Lover and Beloved, and Mawlana speaks through them, or rather, from the depths of his own soul. He articulates his own yearning for an unending union with the Divine Beloved.

Indeed, the mouse’s wish for an interminable conversation ("This discourse has no end") serves as a pretext for Mawlana to delve into the mystical aspiration for fi salāt dāʾimūn (perpetual prayer). In contrast to the five daily prayers prescribed for common folk as a minimum obligation – to remember God, even if by compulsion – lovers seek constant union and an endless dialogue with the Beloved. Thus, the mouse (the body desiring spiritualization) implores the frog (the radiant soul) that the scope of conversation should extend beyond prescribed times, opening a path for continuous and uninterrupted communion. This couplet is, in essence, Mawlana's cry of longing for that moment when he shall never be unmindful of the Friend, a cry arising from the characters of the story, but in truth, an echo of his very own heart.

Key takeaways

• The couplet allegorically portrays the relationship between the body (mouse) and the soul (frog), expressing a yearning for a lasting connection beyond limitations.
• The address "O lamp of intellect" to the frog symbolizes the spiritual illumination and insight of the soul.
• Mawlana uses the characters' voices to convey his own profound mystical aspirations, such as the desire for an endless dialogue with the Divine Beloved.
• The mouse's plea for "this discourse has no end" echoes the Quranic concept of fi salāt dāʾimūn (perpetual prayer), contrasting the continuous remembrance of lovers with the five obligatory prayers.
• This narrative serves as Mawlana's vehicle to express his heart's intimate whispers with the Beloved and reveal his aspiration for constant union.