M2:1396 — دُرّ چِه؟ دریا نهان در قطره‌ای / آفتابی مخفی اندر ذره‌ای

Rumi uses a rhetorical question to immediately correct the metaphor from the previous line. There, the imprisoned saint Dhul-Nun was called a "unique pearl" (دُرّ یتیم) in the hands of ignorant children. Here, Rumi says even that comparison is insufficient.

He is not just a part of the ocean (a pearl); he is the entire ocean hidden in the form of a single drop. He is not just a ray of light; he is the sun itself, veiled within the humble guise of a dust mote. This is a classic Sufi expression of the doctrine of the "Perfect Human" (insān al-kāmil), the individual who, through spiritual annihilation, has become a complete mirror for the divine attributes. The microcosm (the drop, the atom, the saint) contains the macrocosm (the sea, the sun, God).

In the context of the story, this explains the vast, tragic gap in perception. The common people see only a madman, a single disruptive particle—the "mote of dust." They are blind to the reality that this man contains the spiritual sun that could illuminate their world. Their act of imprisoning him is like trying to lock up the sea in a jar, a gesture of profound and dangerous ignorance.