M6:2229 — پس نشان نشف آب اندر غصون / آن بود کان می‌نجنبد در رکون

Translation: Thus, the sign of water's absorption within the branches / Is that the branch no longer sways in inclination (to movement). Meaning: This couplet describes a symptom of spiritual lifelessness: when a branch (or a soul) loses its moisture and flexibility, it becomes rigid, unresponsive, and loses all inclination towards movement and vitality.

This couplet, through the metaphor of a tree and its branch, points to the desiccation and fading of the human soul. Rumi had previously spoken of the wushāt—the gossips, the ignorant, or the unworthy friends—who, like a thirsty donkey, suck away the joy and vitality that emanates from the "Water of Life" within a person, leaving them parched and listless. Nashaaf here means the absorption of water, leading to dryness; that is, the vitality within the branch is drawn out and expelled.

What is the sign of this dryness and lifelessness? It is "that it no longer sways in inclination (rokoon)." Rokon means inclination, tendency, and flexibility. A branch that has lost its moisture no longer has any inclination towards movement or pliability. It becomes stiff and hard, untrainable, unyielding, and its ultimate fate is nothing but death and ruin.

This is a familiar theme in Persian literature. Sa'di, in his Gulistan, says: "A wet branch can be bent as you wish / A dry one cannot be straightened except by fire." This means as long as the branch is supple, it can be shaped as desired, but once dry, only fire can straighten or alter it. Rumi, in another tale, describes a gardener burning dry branches. A dry, straight branch complains, "I am straight, why do you burn me?" The gardener replies: "If you were truly blessed, you would have been crooked but wet." That is, a dry, inflexible straightness is undesirable. If it were crooked but pliable, I could have straightened it or shaped it as I wished. This implies that flexibility and vitality are preferable to a lifeless, unyielding straightness.

Rumi extends this analogy of the wet and dry branch to the human condition. Some people are like wet branches, meaning they are flexible and receptive to training. Their temperament is moist, possessing spiritual vitality. Others, however, have a dry temperament; their water of life has been sucked out, and they have become like a dry, lifeless, and inflexible branch. Such individuals no longer have an inclination for movement, growth, or spiritual cultivation, and they ultimately drift towards stagnation and depression. The message of the couplet is clear: beware lest your spiritual vitality be drained, and do not lose the flexibility of your soul, for dryness leads to nothing but annihilation.

Key takeaways

• The sign of a desiccated and lifeless soul is its loss of flexibility and inclination for movement and change.
• Nashaaf (absorption of water) here metaphorically refers to the draining of vital spiritual moisture by external factors.
• Rokon signifies inclination, pliability, and trainability; a dry soul lacks these qualities.
• From Rumi's perspective, flexibility and dynamism (being 'wet') are superior and more desirable even than a dry, lifeless 'straightness'.
• Association with wushāt or unworthy friends can drain one's spiritual vitality, leaving the soul parched.