M6:754 — بهر این گفت آن رسول خوش‌پیام / رمز موتوا قبل موت یا کرام

Translation: For this reason, that Messenger of glad tidings uttered the secret code: 'Die before you die, O noble ones!'

Meaning: The verse cites the prophetic saying, 'Die before you die,' explaining that the key to spiritual transformation is a voluntary death of the ego before the inevitable death of the body.

In the preceding verses, Rumi poses a subtle question: how can one ask the Resurrection itself about the Resurrection? That is, when a being like the Prophet—who is the very embodiment of spiritual resurrection—is among you, what is the point of asking about the timing of a future event? The Prophet is the Qiyāmat that revives the dead and awakens the sleeping. This verse provides the answer to that question and the key to understanding this inner resurrection.

The Prophet said, "Mūtū qabl an tamūtū" (Die before you die). This is a ramz, a secret code, a mystical key. Die before you are made to die. This implies we face two kinds of death. The first is natural death, mawt bi-ṭ-ṭabīʿa, from which there is no escape. One day, this physical form will collapse, and as Rumi puts it, the soul will say, "the house is caving in." This death is compulsory. But there is another death: mawt bi-l-irāda, or volitional death. This death is your choice.

Volitional death means dying to one's base human attributes and egoistic habits in order to be born into a spiritual life. This is the "second birth" of which the mystics spoke. You voluntarily empty yourself of what you are so that you may be filled by a higher reality. This is the very resurrection that has taken place within the Friends of God (awliyāʾ), enabling them to spark that same awakening in others.

This secret code is not merely ethical advice; it is the Prophet's own life story. In the following verse, Rumi speaks in his voice: "Just as I myself have died before death / From that other side I have brought this fame and sound." In other words, I personally experienced that volitional death before my natural one, I journeyed to the other side of the material world, and I brought back this revelation, these teachings, for you. The prerequisite for traveling to that world and bringing back its message was precisely this voluntary death. Therefore, this is an invitation to all "noble ones" (kirām) to enact their own resurrection, rather than passively waiting for the one to come.

Key takeaways

• Resurrection is an internal, present-day experience, not merely a future event.
• The Prophet and the saints are living embodiments of spiritual resurrection who can ignite it in others.
• "Dying before you die" signifies the volitional death of the ego and a rebirth into spiritual life.
• There are two kinds of death: natural death (compulsory) and volitional death (by choice).
• The experience of revelation—bringing a message from "the other side"—is a direct result of this volitional death and rebirth.
• This call to "volitional death" is a universal invitation to all "noble ones."