M6:707 — می‌ندانم که مرا چون می‌کشی / گاه در بر گاه در خون می‌کشی

Translation: I do not know how you slay me, / sometimes you drag me to your embrace, sometimes to blood. Meaning: The seeker expresses bewilderment at the Beloved's paradoxical actions, which simultaneously draw them into ultimate intimacy and plunge them into profound suffering and annihilation.

This verse is uttered by the Turkish minstrel in a story recounted by Rumi in the Masnavi. The minstrel, performing before an Ajam Turk, sang and played, but his lyrics were full of negation and 'I don't know' statements, including this very couplet: "I do not know how you slay me, / sometimes you drag me to your embrace, sometimes to blood." The listener grew enraged by these repetitive expressions of 'I don't know' and moved to strike the minstrel. However, the minstrel explained that this 'negation' (نفی) and 'not-knowing' (ندانستن) was itself a prelude to 'affirmation' (اثبات) and 'knowing'.

I firmly believe that this story and this verse offer a key to understanding a central principle in the mystical path: purification (tazkiyeh) precedes adornment (tahliye). Before the soul can be adorned with divine knowledge and perfections, it must first be cleansed of impurities and obstacles. It is like a pond that must first be cleared of mud and sediment before pure water can be poured into it without becoming contaminated. This 'slaying' that the minstrel speaks of refers to this very process of purification and the removal of the false self. This divine pull both draws us into the embrace of proximity (sometimes you drag me to your embrace) and casts us into the blood of annihilation and the ego's demise (sometimes to blood). This duality is not a contradiction; rather, it is two sides of a single process that leads the seeker to true gnosis.

This negation and not-knowing is not mere bewilderment; rather, it is a bewilderment that itself arises from faith. The true seeker accepts that the path to knowing the Divine passes through the relinquishment of pretensions and egoism. As Rumi himself states, "Before negation, affirmation cannot be realized." Thus, this 'I don't know' expresses an admission of ignorance that opens the way for transcendent knowledge, serving as a sign of readiness for cleansing and purification. In this journey, the Beloved sometimes comforts the seeker with grace and proximity, and at other times, removes the veils of false existence through trials and tribulations. Both are His favor, and both are necessary for the soul's perfection.

Key takeaways

• The minstrel's 'I don't know' signifies negation, a necessary precondition for affirmation and the soul's purification.
• The Beloved's actions (proximity and pain) are not contradictory but two facets of a single process for the seeker's growth.
• Sincere bewilderment and admission of ignorance are the first steps toward true gnosis.
• The annihilation of the ego and shedding of the false self are prerequisites for being adorned with divine perfections.