M6:3911 — بازی آن تست بر روی بساط / خویش را در طبع آر و در نشاط

Translation: The game is now yours upon the mat; / Bring yourself into your essence and into joy. Meaning: This verse addresses the wise person who advises others but neglects themselves, urging them to now apply their wisdom to their own being and return to their original nature and joy.

The majestic verse «بازی آن تست بر روی بساط / خویش را در طبع آر و در نشاط» (M6:3911) marks the climax of Rumi's address to the scholar, the jurist, or the advisor who has spent a lifetime counseling others but has neglected their own self. Rumi calls them to their own arena, declaring: "The game is yours. It is your turn to attend to yourself, to deal with your own being." This call is an invitation to self-knowledge and self-mastery, after years of serving others.

Before this beyt, Rumi, with a gentle yet firm reproach, brings the discourse to a point where the tongue that advised everyone else now "shies away" when confronted with itself. The wisdom that solved the world's problems has become impotent for its owner. The physician who cured others' pains is now himself in pain and "shies away." Even the one who rallied armies and moved people now finds their voice lost when addressing their own soul.

Rumi then addresses this "man of knowledge" (a faqih in ancient Persian terminology), saying: «آنچه پنجاه سال بافیدی به هوش / زان نسیج خود بغل‌تاقی بپوش» (What you wove for fifty years with wisdom, wear a cloak made of that fabric yourself!). This metaphor of "weaving" is profoundly meaningful, a term also used by the late Dr. Seyyed Jafar Shahidi to describe the superficial and ultimately empty achievements of some philosophers and mystics. It is as if these sciences and arguments are mere fabrics spread on the mat of the mind, without clothing the soul or providing it warmth. Rumi asks this thinker: What is the fruit of all this weaving? Can one make a garment for oneself from this fabric and wear it? As our famous proverb goes, "You grazed so much, where is your fat?" All this discourse, all this study, all this pride in knowledge, what has it ultimately brought to you?

It is here that Rumi arrives at the central point with utmost clarity: «از نوایت گوش یاران بود خش / دست بیرون آر و گوش خود بکش» (Your voice held listeners captive, now reach out and pull your own ear.) Meaning, others listened to you and were influenced by you, but now listen to yourself. Wake yourself from this heedlessness. «سر بدی پیوسته خود را دم مکن / آب و دست و ریش و سبلت گم مکن» (You were always the head and a leader; now be your own master, and in the clamor of advising others, do not lose your own self.) We acquire these sciences so that "we become more ourselves," not to lose ourselves in the process. The essence of all knowledge, as Rumi says, is «که بدانی من کیم در یوم دین» (to know who I am on the Day of Judgment).

And it is at this juncture that our beyt appears: «بازی آن تست بر روی بساط». Now it is your turn, your field, your choice. «خویش را در طبع آر و در نشاط». This "ṭabʿ" refers not only to nature and essence, but also to "poetry and speech" and "divine genius." Rumi calls upon the person to apply this inherent "ṭabʿ," which they have spent a lifetime deploying for others, to themselves. To bring themselves to joy and exhilaration, and release themselves from grimness and dryness. This joy is not a superficial one; rather, it is that deep, spiritual "ṭarab" that Rumi contrasts with the "ḥuzn" (sorrow) of the Quran. The Masnavi's "Jalā al-Aḥzān" (polishing of sorrows) is not about eliminating sorrow, but transforming it into a radiant ecstasy. This verse is an invitation to live this inner ecstasy, which is the result of self-knowledge and returning to one's origin; not to hide like "ugly women in veils" and turn away from confronting one's own inner reality.

Key takeaways

• A call to self-knowledge and autonomy: It is time for individuals to redirect wisdom and energy from others back to themselves.
• Critique of philosophical "weaving": Theoretical knowledge and shallow advice that does not lead to self-cultivation is fruitless "weaving."
• Bringing oneself into one's "ṭabʿ": A return to one's original essence and divine genius after prolonged neglect.
• An invitation to spiritual joy (ṭarab): Releasing oneself from grimness and dryness to experience the deep joy born of returning to one's true self.
• The place of "self" in knowledge: The essence of all knowledge is for one to know "who I am" and not lose oneself in the process.