M6:2671 — نیست زر غبا وظیفهٔ ماهیان / زانک بی‌دریا ندارند انس جان

Translation: Visiting every other day is not the duty of fish, For without the sea, their very souls find no companionship (uns-i jān). Meaning: This verse asserts that the conventional rule for fostering affection (visiting friends intermittently to avoid satiety) does not apply to true lovers, just as it does not apply to fish. For both, constant presence of the Beloved or the sea is not merely desirable but essential for their existence and the solace of their souls.

Here, Mawlana delves into a fundamental point concerning love and servitude. The tale of the mouse and the frog, where the mouse laments the difficulty of consistent meetings, provides the perfect canvas for Mawlana to speak about the quality of encounters between lover and Beloved. He abruptly interjects, shifting from the mouse's predicament to the distinction between the 'five-time prayer' and the 'perpetual prayer' (fi salatin da'imūn) of lovers. God has ordained five daily prayers as a minimum for ordinary worshipers; this is the bare essential for communion. But for true lovers, this 'minimum' is utterly insufficient. The 'thirst' (khumār) of lovers cannot be quenched by merely five prayers; indeed, even 'five hundred thousand' times would not suffice, for their souls are consumed by an unceasing longing, not merely a duty or calculation.

This leads Mawlana to the concept of zar-ghobba (or zar-ghobban), a well-known etiquette in friendship, rooted in prophetic tradition: 'Visit every other day, and your love will increase' (Zur ghabban tazdad hubban). The idea is that daily visits can lead to boredom and diminish the ardor of connection. However, Mawlana categorically states that this rule is 'not the duty of lovers.' Why? Because the souls of the sincere (jān-i sādeqān) are 'severely dropsical' (sakht mostasqīst). Dropsy is a condition of insatiable thirst where, despite drinking water, the person remains parched, and the very water consumed can prove fatal. The lover, too, is in such a state: their thirst is insatiable, and even union does not fully quench it, but rather brings them closer to annihilation. Yet, they have no choice but to drink of this water.

Mawlana illustrates this with the example of 'fish': 'Visiting every other day is not the duty of fish, / For without the sea, their very souls find no companionship.' Just as a fish cannot visit the sea intermittently and remain alive, the lover's soul finds no 'life's companionship' without the Beloved. The life of the fish depends on the sea, and the life of the lover depends on the Beloved. In such a relationship, where 'unity' and 'oneness' have occurred between lover and Beloved, and they are no longer two distinct entities, the rule of zar-ghobba—devised for conventional relationships to prevent weariness and foster affection—becomes meaningless. This rule applies only when 'two things are two things' and oneness has not yet manifested. But true lover and Beloved are of one essence; their souls are so intertwined that separation, even for a moment, feels like years of longing. This perspective of Mawlana sharply contrasts with many other poets who depict the Beloved as aloof and self-sufficient, and the lover as consumed by need and supplication. In Mawlana's school, both are lovers and both are dropsical with thirst, though the Beloved's love may be 'hidden and veiled' (nahān ast va satīr), while the lover's love is expressed 'with hundreds of cries and laments' (bā do sad bang va nafīr).

Key takeaways

• Conventional rules of friendship (such as intermittent visits to maintain desire) do not apply to true mystical love.
• The souls of genuine lovers, like fish, are insatiably thirsty for the Beloved; separation from whom is akin to death.
• The lover's thirst is like dropsy; the water (union) that sustains also leads to their demise, yet they must drink.
• In Mawlana's philosophy, true love is reciprocal; both lover and Beloved yearn intensely for each other.
• The five daily prayers are a minimum for worship, but the ardent thirst of lovers cannot be quenched by such limits; they are in perpetual prayer.