M6:632 — گر دو عالم پر شود سرمست یار / جمله یک باشند و آن یک نیست خوار

Translation: If both worlds were filled with those intoxicated by the Beloved, / they would all be one, and that one is not contemptible.

Meaning: The lovers of God, though numerous in form, are united in spirit, and their abundance does not diminish their profound value.

Just before this verse, Rumi warns the spiritual traveler not to become arrogant about the initial intoxications of the path. There are many kinds of drunkards, he says: a donkey is drunk on barley, while Jesus is drunk on God. But with this verse, he suddenly elevates the discourse to speak of those truly intoxicated by the Beloved.

Yes, these souls are also numerous, but their story is entirely different. The key lies in their unity. Scholars may have their specialties and may even quarrel with one another. Philosophers build separate schools of thought. But those intoxicated by the Beloved are all one. As he says elsewhere, "If you see one or two of them as friends, / they are at once one and six hundred thousand." Why? Because "in the realm of meaning, there is no division or number; / in meaning, there is no fragmentation or individuality." Spirit and meaning are not subject to division or enumeration. Multiplicity and separation are the business of the world of form and matter.

To explain this unity, Rumi creates a powerful image. He says our physical bodies are like the battlements of a fortress. When a single light shines, these battlements cast multiple, distinct shadows on the ground. If you were to destroy these battlements with a catapult, all difference and separation would vanish, and the light would shine as a unified whole. Our differences lie in these shadows, in these bodies. Otherwise, our souls—especially the souls of the friends of God—are connected, indeed united: "The souls of wolves and dogs are separate from one another; / united are the souls of the lions of God."

In the second hemistich, Rumi addresses a socio-economic principle: whatever becomes abundant loses its value. But he argues this rule does not apply to the friends of God. That "one"—the single reality flowing through all who are intoxicated with the Beloved—is never "contemptible" or worthless. This is not that kind of abundance. He offers an analogy: if the entire world were filled with sunlight, would its value diminish? "If the world is filled with the sun's light, / is that pleasant, burning heat ever worthless?" Never. The multiplicity of saints, far from devaluing them, is a testament to the magnificence of that one Reality.

So who, then, is truly contemptible or "khār"? Rumi immediately provides the answer: "Who is worthless? The body-worshipper, the fiery one." The worthless being is the person enslaved to the fiery nature of his lower self, not the elevated soul immersed in love for the Beloved.

Key takeaways

• In the realm of spirit, multiplicity and number do not apply; the souls of God's friends are fundamentally one.
• The value of the gnostics is like sunlight; its abundance never diminishes its worth.
• Physical bodies are like castle battlements that fracture the single light of truth into multiple shadows.
• Unlike scholars of external knowledge who may disagree, those intoxicated by the Beloved share a single, inner experience.
• True worthlessness belongs to the body-worshipper, not to the many lovers of God.