M6:3889 — یک زمان از آتش دل هر سه کس / بر زده با سوز چون مجمر نفس

Translation: At times, from the heart's fire, all three Exhaled with such anguish, like a brazier's breath. Meaning: This verse portrays the three enchanted princes, deeply ensnared by love, who at times would emit fiery sighs and laments, as if their burning hearts were censers from which their breaths ascended with intense anguish.

Here, Mawlana elaborates on the state of the three princes who, after seeing the captivating image of the Chinese princess, are all afflicted with the same pain and sorrow. What outwardly appears to be a mere love story is, in essence, an allegory for the existential condition of humanity in the face of perfection and beauty. This 'melancholy' or 'ardor' (sowdā) that has ensnared all three is, in Mawlana's own words, the very 'love' that has ignited within their breasts. The sighs that rise from their chests are not from physical suffering, but from the 'fire of the heart' and the anguish of separation from the beloved. These breaths are 'like a brazier' (chon majmar); that is, like an incense burner or fire-holder where glowing coals are placed, and sometimes musk or perfume is sprinkled to sweeten the air. Here, their heart is the brazier, and their ignited love is the fire from which every breath they exhale carries the scent of burning and yearning.

This scene in the Masnavi reflects the deepest inner state of a human being; a state where the entire existence becomes unified in pain and yearning. Although these three princes shared a common thought in silence and a common argument in speech, this verse points to the shared and hidden aspect of their condition: the 'fire of the heart.' This fire is the very 'fire of love' that Mawlana repeatedly speaks of; a fire that does not merely consume and annihilate, but rather purifies and frees the essence of existence from impurities. This type of 'burning' (suz) and 'wailing' (nafas) differs from the apparent 'complaint' (shekāyat) mentioned in the first verse of the Masnavi (Listen to this reed as it complains). The reed's apparent complaint is, in reality, a 'narration' (hekāyat) of a constructive separation; and here too, this burning sigh narrates an inner transformation that has begun with love.

I unequivocally confirm that this expression is a sign of that 'green sorrow' that Mawlana speaks of throughout the Masnavi. It is a sorrow that does not crush, but gives wings; a sorrow that leads a person to dance and sama', not to silence and despair. This heart-fire and these fiery breaths are the product of the very separation (jodā’i) that Mawlana speaks of at the beginning of the Masnavi – separation from one's origin, separation from the true Beloved. This pain is of the kind of 'pain of yearning' (dard-e eshtiyāq) that requires a heart 'torn to pieces' (sharha-sharha) to comprehend. The princes now possess such a torn heart, and from it, they narrate—not complain about—the fire of their love.

Key takeaways

• The apparent pain and suffering of the three princes is a manifestation of the inner fire of their love.
• Their 'anguished sighs' (suz-i nafas) narrate the 'fire of the heart' (ātash-i del), not merely a complaint about external absence.
• This imagery is an allegory for the state of the human lover confronting perfection and beauty.
• Love, like fire in a brazier, purifies existence and perfumes the soul with the anguish of yearning.
• This suffering belongs to the category of 'green sorrow'; a constructive pain that guides humans towards inner transformation.