M6:2000 — این خود آن ناله‌ست کاو کرد آشکار / آنچ پنهان‌ست یا رب زینهار

Translation: This very wail is what it has made manifest; / What is hidden, O Lord, from that, refuge! (zinhar) Meaning: This verse asserts that the audible wail is merely a small part of a lover's profound inner tumult; the hidden, unexpressed part is so vast and overwhelming that one must seek divine refuge from its sheer magnitude.

This verse, immediately following the description of love's 'crisis' (buharān) and the surging sea of gnosis, marks a crucial point in understanding the nature of the Masnavi's 'wail.' Here, Rumi explicitly states that what we hear from him and from the reed is only a 'manifest' (āshkār) portion of a deeper, more profound hidden (penhān) reality. This audible wail is like the tip of an iceberg, with its vast majority submerged. He emphasizes that the hidden part of this wail and inner ferment is so boundless that one must seek 'refuge' (zinhar) from God to comprehend or confront it. This plea for 'refuge' stems not from fear of the manifest wail, but from the immense and infinite nature of the hidden wails and inner roars of the captivated lover to whom Rumi refers.

I hold that Rumi here alludes to the famous metaphor of the 'two mouths of the reed.' The reed (or the gnostic human) possesses two mouths: 'One mouth is hidden in the Beloved's lips' (the divine breath's ultimate source), and 'one mouth wails towards you.' The manifest wail is the second mouth, reaching human ears, but the hidden mouth is the source of those unspoken surges and mysteries, whose depth only God comprehends. What is revealed is the infusing of this immense power into the reed's or human's form, yet the reed can only reflect it according to its capacity and dimension, not the entirety of that divine breath.

This wail is not a mere complaint, but a 'narration' (ḥekāyat); a narration of an inner truth that, due to the limitations of the reed's or human's existence, can only manifest in fragments and partially. Rumi teaches us to view this wail not as a simple sigh, but as a sign of a greater inner 'crisis' – a sea of gnosis and love from which countless jewels emerge, and this wail is one such jewel brought to the surface. This 'wail' is of the 'green sorrow' variety, which in the Masnavi, rather than expressing existential 'loneliness,' signifies 'separation' from the origin and a remembrance of the return to it.

Key takeaways

• The manifest 'wail' in the Masnavi is merely the tip of the iceberg of love's and gnosis's hidden truth.
• What lies hidden within the lover is so vast and profound that its depth can only be grasped by seeking 'refuge' (zinhar) and divine protection.
• The plea for 'refuge' in this verse signifies awe and wonder before divine magnitude, not fear of a common lament.
• This verse alludes to the metaphor of the 'reed's two mouths': one hidden in the Beloved's lips, the other wailing to creation.
• The reed's wail is a 'narration' (ḥekāyat), not a 'complaint' (shekāyat); it reflects an inner truth partially revealed due to the limitations of human capacity.
• This wail is an expression of 'green sorrow,' articulating a yearning for return to the origin rather than existential loneliness.