M6:1581 — روشنی خانه باشی هم‌چو شمع / گر فرو پاشی تو هم‌چون شمع دمع

Translation: You can be the light of the house, just like a candle, If you melt down, like the tear (damaʿ) falling from a candle. Meaning: This verse suggests that by shedding tears and undergoing an inner melting, a person can not only unburden themselves but also become a source of light and insight for their surroundings, much like a candle that illuminates as it burns and weeps wax.

This verse, through a profound and beautiful metaphor, delves into the transformative nature of sorrow and weeping. Mawlana states that you can be the "light of the house," not through superficial laughter and joy, but "like a candle" which, by "melting down" and shedding "damaʿ" (tears), emits light. Damaʿ here signifies tears and refers to the wax drops that flow from a burning candle. This image is perfectly illustrative: the candle, by consuming itself and losing its being, bestows light and illumination upon others.

I believe Mawlana here points to a crucial psychological and mystical truth that is often overlooked in our modern era. In a time when everyone seeks laughter and "melancholy-removing" entertainments, and views weeping as a sign of weakness or shame, Mawlana presents an alternative path. He speaks of "mystical weeping" (girye-ye ʿārefāne), tears that arise not from weakness, but from the depth of the soul, leading to true "expansion" (enbāsāt) and "cheerfulness" (faraḥnāki).

Mawlana himself was outwardly joyful and cheerful, yet he wept profusely in solitude; it was these nocturnal tears that cleansed the rust of sorrow from his heart and prepared him to face the hardships of daily life. This is the secret that many mystics have understood: "Their daily cheerfulness and expansion were the result of their nocturnal tears." These tears are spontaneous and heartfelt, arising from intimate supplication to the Beloved, not the artificial and performative weeping sometimes witnessed in certain religious gatherings.

This "cry-therapy" (girye-darmanī) of which I speak has not yet found its place in psychology textbooks, but it is an authentic psychological need that leads to lightness and purification of the soul. Mawlana further states: "You have tasted laughter, oh foolish laugher / Now taste weeping, for it is a mine of candy." He believes that true taste, genuine "joy" (dhawq), lies hidden in sorrows, not in frivolous laughter. This joy, that "mine of candy," is attained only through heartfelt weeping. This assertion directly contradicts the prevailing view that sees happiness only in laughter. Mawlana says, "Laughters are hidden in tears," meaning that many true and enduring joys are concealed within tears; just like "treasure in ruins" that must be sought in the ruins of grief and sorrow.

It is here that Mawlana diverges from Hafez. Hafez says: "Since your sorrow can only be found in a joyful heart / We seek a joyful heart in the hope of your sorrow." He seeks the Beloved's sorrow in a joyful heart, but Mawlana states: "Joy is in sorrows; they have lost the trail." That is, true joys are hidden within sorrows, and because people flee from sorrow, they are deprived of those joys and lose their way. This perspective marks the pinnacle of Mawlana's mysticism, where even the remembrance of Hell, if it leads to weeping and tenderness of heart, is sometimes considered "sweeter" than a heedless paradise. This shows that for Mawlana, the value of inner state and spiritual purification takes precedence over any superficial pleasure.

Key takeaways

• True illumination arises not from superficial joys, but from inner melting and purification, akin to a candle's tears.
• Mystical weeping is not a sign of weakness, but a source of inner expansion and removal of melancholy, contrasting with artificial laughter.
• Mawlana offers his own nocturnal tears, which brought him daily cheerfulness, as a model for soul purification.
• Genuine joy and 'taste' (dhawq), like treasure, are hidden within sorrows and the ruins of the soul, to be sought through sincere weeping.
• Mawlana's perspective on grief and tears differs from Hafez's; he seeks joy within sorrow, not sorrow within joy.