M6:907 — کاه‌برگی پیش باد آنگه قرار / رستخیزی وانگهانی عزم‌کار

Translation: A blade of straw before the wind, then (expecting) stability? No. A resurrection, and then (expecting) resolve to act? No. Meaning: This verse speaks to the utter surrender of the human being before divine love and destiny, where individual will dissolves in the face of the overwhelming currents of existence, and every action becomes a function of a higher will.

This verse, found in the sixth book of the Mathnawi amidst Rumi's fiery verses on love and Nowruz, translates the true condition of lovers. Can a mere blade of straw, caught before a fierce wind, expect to find any 'stability' (قرار)? Never! Stability is for those who do not resist the wind but wholly surrender to it, letting it carry them wherever it wills. This absolute surrender is not weakness; it is the epitome of wisdom. Rumi states earlier: 'Any mountain that tries to stand against destiny (qazā) / Is mocking its own mustache.' Anyone who attempts to resist divine decree and will is only ridiculing themselves. The verse then poses a second question: 'A resurrection, and then (expecting) resolve to act (ʿazm-i kār)?' Can one harbor an independent will to act amidst a great 'resurrection' (rastkhizi)—a fundamental transformation, an inner upheaval? Assuredly not. The 'resolve to act' that arises from this 'resurrection' is no longer the individual will of the lover; rather, it is the divine will that emerges from behind the veil of the lover's annihilation. This is precisely the state of 'effacement' (maḥw) about which Rumi said elsewhere, 'Effacement is required here, not grammar (naḥw).' The lover must be effaced in love for the will of Truth to manifest through them. This state is not born of helplessness but of liberation. Rumi never speaks of loneliness or despair, but of separation and union. This blade of straw, though without its own agency, is not alone; the wind that carries it is the wind of the Beloved's presence. Its movement is its dance, not a fruitless wandering. Every motion that originates from it belongs to that wind, not to itself. This sudden resolve to act, though appearing spontaneous, is rooted in primordial destiny and, thus, its fruit will be sweet and palatable, like the 'sugar cane' (nay-e shekar) Rumi uses to describe his own 'reed'.

Key takeaways

• Complete surrender to divine love is a sign of wisdom, not weakness.
• Individual will becomes ineffectual when faced with the immense power of love and destiny.
• True 'stability' (qarār) lies in embracing the restlessness brought by the movement of divine love.
• Inner 'resurrection' (rastkhīz) is the arena for the manifestation of a higher will, originating from the Beloved.
• Lack of agency on the path of love does not imply loneliness; it means moving with the wind of the Beloved's presence.