M6:4044 — روز او و روزی عاشق هم او / دل همو دلسوزی عاشق هم او

Translation: The lover's day and the lover's sustenance are both Him; The lover's heart and the lover's heartache are also Him.

Meaning: For the true lover, the Beloved is so intimately woven into their existence that all aspects of their being—time, provision, heart, and even their suffering—originate from and return to the Beloved.

This couplet stands as a concentrated essence of Rumi's monistic vision of love, where the Absolute Beloved encompasses the entirety of the lover's being and non-being. We encounter a state where the boundaries between lover and Beloved become so ethereal that whatever is attributed to the lover is, in truth, a manifestation and appearance of the Beloved.

"The lover's day and the lover's sustenance are both Him": For the lover, time no longer holds its calendrical or ordinary meaning; their day is defined not by the rising and setting of the sun, but by the presence or absence of the Beloved. The day itself is the Beloved. More astonishingly, the lover's "sustenance" (rozi) is also the Beloved. This implies not merely an independence from outward means but signifies that the Beloved alone suffices for all the lover's existential and physical needs. It echoes the state of Zuleikha, who, by the name of Yusuf, felt nourished and warmed, with coldness departing from her; the name of the Beloved itself was satisfying food and warming attire. Whatever supports the life of the lover's body and soul is, in truth, a direct grace from the Beloved.

"The lover's heart and the lover's heartache are also Him": Here, Rumi delves into the lover's deepest core. The lover's heart, which we might perceive as the center of their emotions and identity, is in reality the Beloved itself. Sanai eloquently put it: "That is a village, not a heart, in which cows and donkeys, estates and property, can dwell." A heart that is a playground for others and worldly attachments is not a true heart; it is a stable, a garage. The real heart is where the Beloved descends and makes exclusive abode. Such a heart must be purified from all rivals and impurities, for it is the dwelling place of God. Thus, if the lover's heart is "Him," it means the Beloved is the very core and truth of the heart. More subtly, "the lover's heartache/compassion is also Him." The burning and longing that arise in the lover's heart, the sorrow and grief that overwhelm them from separation or even from the yearning for union, and even their compassion for others, all originate from the Beloved. The lover's heart burns for the Beloved, not for anything else; in this realm, nothing else matters, and everything else pales in comparison to the Beloved.

This insight embodies an active monotheism (tawḥīd-i afʿālī) where every action and state is referred back to the absolute Beloved. The true gnostic is like a fish submerged in water. Fish derive their entire existence from water—their food, drink, clothing, medicine, and sleep—yet they may hold no conceptual understanding of water. Nevertheless, their very existence is one of reliance and connection to water. The gnostic is similar: immersed in God, breathing God, even if unable to define Him with philosophical concepts. Or like an infant who knows nothing but its mother's milk, whose existence is a direct connection to it, not through thought or deliberation, but through innate nature and being. In this station, veils are lifted, and one feels oneself in the presence of a greater being, as if one is in the Kaaba, and whichever way one turns, one faces the qibla; for everything bears the scent of God, and no intermediary stands between the individual and the Truth.

This world, in Rumi's terms, is a mask and a glove covering the face of the Divine Presence. The realized lover tears through this mask and glove, pierces them, and sees the Hand behind them—the hidden meaning beyond the apparent form. In these multiplicities, they perceive a singular unity; everywhere, one Agent is at work. This couplet ultimately offers an image of the lover's effacement and annihilation in the Beloved, where no trace of the lover's "self" remains, and all that is, is "He."

Key takeaways

• For the lover, the Beloved is not merely the object of love but the very essence and totality of their existence.
• The lover's time (day) and sustenance (provision) are determined by the Beloved's presence and grace.
• The true heart is a dwelling place for the Beloved alone, requiring purification from all "rivals" (aghyār).
• The lover's pain and burning (delsūzi) are also a manifestation of the Beloved, for nothing else.
• This couplet illustrates 'tawḥīd-i afʿālī' (unity of actions), where everything in the lover's being is an appearance of the Beloved.
• The gnostic, like a fish in water or a child with milk, is immersed in the Beloved, not by conceptual understanding but by their entire being.