M6:3707 — سوی باده‌بخش بگشا پهن فم / چون رسد باده نیاید جام کم

Translation: Open wide your mouth towards the Wine-Giver; / For when the wine arrives, the cup will never be wanting. Meaning: This verse instructs us to direct our full being and ardent longing towards the essence and core of Truth, rather than to its forms and appearances; for when pure Truth arrives from its original source, a vessel to contain it will never be lacking.

This couplet continues Rumi’s core preoccupation, which consistently calls us to transcend 'form' (ṣūrat) and reach 'meaning' (ma'nā). As I have repeatedly stated, this world is one where forms have emerged from the Formless (bi-ṣūrat); it is as if meanings have manifested and settled within the garb of forms. The seeker’s task is to push aside these 'foams on the water' to reach the sea of formless meaning.

Here, Rumi offers a most exquisite and profound counsel: 'Be less intoxicated by these cups of forms.' In this world, whatever intoxicates us is like wine poured into a cup. But these cups are not the creators of the wine itself. Beauty is in the flower, but it is not from the flower; it is in the human, but not from the human. The entire world is a trustee and debtor to a reservoir into which meanings have been poured. Beauty flows into this world from another place, just like knowledge, insight, and the soul. As Plato posited, there exists an absolute 'truth of beauty,' a 'meaning of beauty' that is formless, yet then takes on form and becomes embodied; it becomes a beautiful flower, a beautiful human, or a beautiful image. We should not be captivated by these limited forms, but rather surrender our hearts to absolute beauty—beauty that is free from any particular form.

The verse proclaims: 'Pass beyond these cups of forms; do not stop. The wine is in the cup, but it is not from the cup.' Rumi urges us to move past these vessels of form and not linger. The wine (meaning) resides in the cup (form), but the origin of the wine is not the cup itself. This is akin to Majnun’s saying to those who saw not Layla’s charm: 'The form is the jug, but the charm is the wine; God gives me wine from her jug.' Meaning, God poured the wine of beauty for Majnun from Layla’s jug of existence, while others drank vinegar from the same jug. Thus, this world should be conceived as empty bowls (essences) filled with formless realities; one is made beautiful, another learned, another gnostic.

Rumi’s explicit advice in this verse is: 'Open wide your mouth towards the Wine-Giver.' This is a metaphor for opening one's heart and spirit widely, without any constraint or limitation, towards the true Source. Cups and vessels are forms, and we typically ask God for the cup instead of the wine. But Rumi says: You ask for the wine itself. The wine is poured into the cup, but if you seek the wine, 'For when the wine arrives, the cup will never be wanting'—meaning, the vessel for it will also be provided, and perhaps they will give you wine even without a cup. You ask for bread, and it is given in a basket; but there is also 'bread without the matter of dough,' which is pure formlessness.

This highlights the fundamental point that all things with form, even the most desirable and beloved, eventually become tiresome with repetition. Feminine beauty, wealth, or anything bound by form, after a while, no longer creates the same initial captivation. However, 'pure wonder the formless brings to thee.' The Formless, that absolute and free reality, is the source of perpetual wonder and never becomes wearisome; instead, 'it begets a hundred kinds of instruments from instrumentlessness'—meaning, from its very lack of means, it creates a hundred kinds of tools and forms. So the essence is this: direct your heart to the nourishment, not the wheat; and to the wine, not the cup, for the ultimate Source of sustenance and beauty lies beyond these forms.

Key takeaways

• Prioritize essence (meaning) over appearance (form), as Truth manifests in form but is not from form.
• Seek the absolute Wine of Truth, not the limited and ever-changing cups.
• God is the true Wine-Giver; when His Wine arrives, the vessel to receive it will never be wanting.
• Understanding that beauty is in the flower but not from it is key to liberation from superficial fascinations.
• Captivation by forms leads to weariness and limitation, while the Formless is the source of eternal wonder and joy.
• With a completely open heart, seek the absolute Source of Truth, rather than its mere means or appearances.
• If you seek the essence, the proper form or vessel for it will naturally manifest.