M6:70 — شاخهای تازهٔ مرجان ببین / میوه‌های رسته ز آب جان ببین

Translation: Behold the fresh branches of coral, Behold the fruits grown from the water of the soul. Meaning: Rumi invites us to look beyond mere words and forms to perceive the profound truths and inner beauties that spring from the essential fount of the soul.

This beyt encapsulates Rumi's invitation to discover truth within the Masnavi; an invitation that resonates throughout this entire book. Rumi himself calls the Masnavi "an island in the sea of spirituality" and urges us to wander through this island until we reach the sea. But how? He shows the way: we must pass beyond the chaff and debris upon the water. This chaff and debris are nothing but words, sounds, and breaths—the superficial forms of language.

I believe that in this beyt, and in the one immediately following it ("When unified from letter, sound, and breath / it leaves all that and becomes the sea"), Rumi is doing precisely what he spoke of at the beginning of Book One, in that famous dialogue with his rhyme-seeking Beloved: "I will tear down letter, word, and sound / So that without these three, I may converse with You." This is a methodology, a mystical instruction for reading the Masnavi, and indeed, for experiencing the world itself.

He says that when this "wind" (meaning, deep attention and contemplation) clears the chaff of words from the "water of oneness" (the formless sea of meaning), then it is that the "fresh branches of coral" and "fruits grown from the water of the soul" become manifest. Corals, which themselves emerge from the ocean depths, and fruits sprung from the soul's water, symbolize the pure truths and spiritual beauties that reside not on the surface but in the profound depths of meaning. These are the achievements of that passage from form to meaning. The Masnavi is not an ordinary text whose purpose can be grasped merely by reading its superficial words; this book is a gateway to an ocean, and to see its jewels, one must transcend the island of words and immerse oneself in the water. It is here that the island itself transforms into the sea, once we are able to move beyond letter, sound, and breath to apprehend the singular meaning.

In other words, Rumi asks us not only to pass beyond words and sounds but beyond every form and mold. This world of forms has arisen from the formless. The soul is beyond these seasons and forms, and its nature is the nature of Majesty. The sayings of the Masnavi are likewise; they transcend the forms of words to reveal the spirit and meaning hidden within them. This is the essence of gnosis (rāz-shenāsī): mysticism is to sniff out truth, and this scent must be perceived from behind the words, not from the words themselves.

Key takeaways

• The Masnavi is a sea of meaning, manifesting as an island of words and forms.
• To attain truth, one must transcend the husk of words and penetrate the depth of meaning.
• The 'fruits grown from the water of the soul' symbolize intrinsic truths and spiritual beauties arising from the source of the spirit.
• Rumi's invitation to 'transcend words' is a mystical instruction for experiencing the world and reading the Masnavi.
• This passage from form to meaning is the essence of gnosis and the apprehension of truth's 'water of oneness'.