M6:4000 — صد هزاران سر بپولی آن زمان / عشق خشم آلوده زه کرده کمان

Translation: Then, a hundred thousand heads are bought for a single coin; For angry Love has drawn its bow. Meaning: This verse speaks to the utter worthlessness of life in the face of love, depicting love as an enraged archer who targets souls and places a paltry price upon them.

I have always emphasized that in Rumi’s view, love is not merely a tender, caressing emotion, but a fierce, ruthless, and transformative power. This verse (M6:4000) offers one of Rumi’s clearest expressions of this decisive and audacious aspect of love. When he states, “Then, a hundred thousand heads are bought for a single coin,” he explicitly speaks of the utter worthlessness of life and existence in the face of love’s grandeur. In this amorous transaction, hundreds of thousands of lives are bought and sold for a mere trifle, a single coin. This signifies that in the domain of love, human life holds no intrinsic value, no worth in comparison to this boundless force. It is an act of self-effacement, a sacrifice of the 'self' that we have guarded for years. The imagery in the second half of the verse is even more decisive and impactful: “For angry Love has drawn its bow.” Love appears in the form of a wrathful and formidable archer, with an arrow nocked and ready to be loosed. This angry visage of love is direct and uncompromising. Rumi frequently reminds us of this ruthlessness and sanguinary nature of love. Elsewhere, he says: “Why was love bloody from the start? So that anyone not of it would flee.” This means that love takes on a violent, fierce appearance from the outset so that only those who are not suited for it, who cannot endure this confrontation, will flee. Those who are unaware of their true selves and entrapped in self-conceit cannot contend with this bloody love. This wrath of love is not a vengeful anger, but a purifying and emptying wrath. Love comes to shatter your 'self,' to strip you of all your superficial possessions and identities, so that it can then fill you with its own being, its own transcendent presence. This is the recklessness and indifference of love; it does not regard your rank, status, or external position, whether you are a sheikh or a king, a dignitary or a beggar. All are equal before this absolute force. The stories Rumi recounts bear witness to this truth; such as the tale of Sheikh Mohammad Sarrāzi in the fifth book of the Mathnawi, who, despite his mystical stature, was commanded by love to beg from door to door so that his ego could be broken. Or the narrative of Khajeh Hasan in Attār’s Tadhkirat al-Awliyā (Memoirs of the Saints), who, at the command of Abū Saʿīd Abul-Khayr, carried filthy sheep entrails on his head through the marketplace to rid himself of self-conceit. All these illustrate that love is 'laobālī' (reckless) and uncompromising, and to purify the seeker, it subjects them to arduous and shattering trials. However, the other side of this coin must also be acknowledged: despite this violence and bloodshed, the lover’s soul is a sacrifice to this love and its sword. Just as Hafez says: “One must go dancing under the sword of His grief, For whoever is slain by Him, a good end is found.” This is not mere submission, but a conscious acceptance of a path whose ultimate destination is union and liberation from the bondage of the 'self.' Life, in its path, is deemed worthless, for its true worth will ultimately be received from Love itself.

Key takeaways

• Rumi's love is a decisive, fierce, and ruthless power, not merely a tender emotion.
• In the realm of love, human life becomes worthless, bought for a mere trifle, symbolizing the sacrifice of the 'self.'
• Love appears as a wrathful archer, ready to destroy the 'self,' ensuring only true lovers remain.
• Love's wrath is purifying and emptying; it shatters ego and conceit, preparing the seeker to be filled with the transcendent presence.
• Love is 'laobālī' (reckless) and indifferent to worldly status, testing everyone equally.
• Despite love's harshness, the lover embraces its sword willingly, as the end of this path promises union and liberation.