M6:946 — نعرهٔ مستان خوش می‌آیدم / تا ابد جانا چنین می‌بایدم

Translation: The outcry of the intoxicated ones pleases me. Until eternity, my Beloved, such a state is necessary for me. Meaning: The verse expresses Mowlana's delight and satisfaction in the ecstatic uproar of lovers, signifying his eternal desire for this state of passionate, uninhibited love.

This verse, situated in the Sixth Book of the Masnavi, emerges from what Mowlana himself calls "extraordinarily fiery" verses "on the topic of love." Its connection to Norouz, the Persian New Year, is profoundly symbolic; Norouz signifies renewal, a breaking of old structures. In this section of the Masnavi, Mowlana speaks of repentance being swept away, of the "flood once again carrying off repentance" and "opportunity arriving, while the guard fell asleep." These are all allusions to the shedding of rigid, jurisprudential constraints that cannot withstand the torrential force of love.

The "outcry of the intoxicated ones" (naʿra-ye mastān) here is not merely a sound; it is the manifestation of a state where the seeker is beside himself, drunk with the wine of divine love, liberated from the confines of worldly self-restraint and self-awareness. This "intoxication" in Sufi literature does not arise from earthly wine, but from the unadulterated wine of divine presence and union. Mowlana here not only welcomes this state but desires it, wishing for its permanence until eternity: "Until eternity, my Beloved, such a state is necessary for me." This "necessary for me" (mībāyadam) is not merely a wish but an expression of an existential imperative; his being, it seems, would be incomplete without this intoxication and the outcry born of it.

This embrace of the ecstatic cry aligns with Mowlana's overarching teaching that "effacement is needed, not grammar" (maḥw mībāyad, na naḥw). In his school, rigid grammatical and logical rules give way to effacement in the ocean of love. In such a sea, there is no place for the calculations of the partial intellect or superficial rituals. Ecstasy, samāʿ (spiritual dance), and self-forgetfulness become a more eloquent and profound language than any sermon or discourse. This is the very essence of Mowlana's "light-souled" nature (sabuk-rūḥ) that makes the Masnavi a book of flight and joy, not lamentation.

The link between this verse and the concept of the "fire of love," to which Mowlana also alludes in the opening verses of the Masnavi, is clear. The reed (nay) is burnt wood into which breath is blown, transforming it into a flame of sound. The outcry of the intoxicated is also a flame that rises from the fire of love. This fire consumes crude thoughts and ignites ṭarab (joy), which is one of the Masnavi's ultimate goals. This fire is not merely intellectual but ontological; it is the same cosmic gravitational force of which the Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ and Mullā Ṣadrā speak.

Mowlana constantly emphasizes living in the "present moment," being an "ibn al-waqt" (child of the moment). This verse, with its "Until eternity, my Beloved, such a state is necessary for me," demonstrates that this state of intoxication and fervor is not a fleeting experience but a desired and enduring condition for the seeker; not merely in the present instant, but throughout the boundless expanse of time. He does not wish to flee the present to the past and utter "alas" (darīghā), but rather to extend the present moment, filled with intoxication and fervor, into eternity. This is a complete negation of "loneliness" (tanhāʾī) and an embrace of "separation" (judāʾī), in which the Beloved is always present, and His remembrance transforms presence into ecstasy.

Key takeaways

• The outcry of the intoxicated (naʿra-ye mastān) signifies self-forgetfulness and liberation from worldly constraints in divine love.
• Intoxication in Mowlana's mysticism is an essential existential state for the seeker, one that must endure eternally.
• This verse reflects Mowlana's "light-souled" nature and his emphasis on spiritual joy and exuberance.
• Embracing the ecstatic outcry symbolizes liberation from repentance and rigid rules, yielding to the flood of love.
• Love functions as a fire that burns away superficial thought and ignites true passion and awareness.