M6:748 — مر ابوبکر تقی را گو ببین / شد ز صدیقی امیرالمحشرین

Rumi is illustrating the Prophet's teaching, "Die before you die." He has just described a person who achieves this state as a 'living dead man' walking on earth, whose soul has already ascended. To make this abstract concept tangible, he offers a concrete example: Abu Bakr, the first Caliph.

The beyt urges the reader to 'see' Abu Bakr not just as a historical figure, but as the embodiment of this spiritual death and rebirth. The key to his transformation is ṣiddīqī—the quality of being a ṣiddīq (a 'truthful affirmer'). This was Abu Bakr's defining characteristic: his immediate, unhesitating belief in the Prophet's most extraordinary claims, like the Night Journey (Miʿrāj). This absolute faith was his 'death' to doubt and the rationalizing self.

As a result of this spiritual practice in life, Rumi says, he became the Amīr al-Maḥsharīn ('Commander of the Gathered Ones'). This is a powerful honorific, placing him in a leadership role on the Day of Resurrection (Maḥshar). The point is that his station in the afterlife was secured before his physical death. By looking to Abu Bakr, the seeker can understand what it means to die to the lower self and be reborn into a higher reality, witnessing the 'resurrection' while still in this world.