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Masnavi I, 109-116
The lover’s ailment is not like any other;
Love is the astrolabe of God’s mysteries.
Whether Love is from heaven or earth,
it points to God.
Masnavi I, 110-111
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
From Persian transliteration by Yahyá Monastra
"Rumi: Daylight," Threshold Books, 1994
Only Love Can Understand the Secrets of God
Lovesickness1
is clearly shown by the heart's misery. There isn't
any sickness like the sickness of the heart.
The illness of the lover is distinct from other illnesses. Love is
the astrolabe2
of the secrets of God.
Whether being a lover is from this or that origin, eventually it is
our guide to that (Divine) Origin.3
Whatever I say about Love, (in regard to) description and
explanation, when I reach Love (itself) I am ashamed of that
[inadequate description].
(For) although the explanation of the tongue is (an excellent)
illuminator,4
yet Love (expressed) without the tongue is (much)
clearer.
When the pen was hurrying in writing [descriptions], when it
reached Love, it shattered against itself.
In (attempting) its explanation, the intellect lay down5 like a
donkey (stuck helplessly) in the mud. (Only) Love (itself) spoke (the
real) explanation of both love and being in love.
The sun is the demonstration of the sun: if you need proof, (seek
it) from (the sun)-- (and) don't turn (your) face away!
From "The Mathnawî-yé Ma`nawî" [Rhymed
Couplets of
Deep Spiritual Meaning] of Jalaluddin Rumi.
Masnavi I, 109-116
Translated from the Persian by Ibrahim Gamard (with
gratitude for R.A. Nicholson's 1926 British translation)
(c) Ibrahim Gamard (translation, footnotes, & transliteration)
1Lovesickness
[`âshiqî]: also means "being a lover," "loverhood,"
"being in love." Nicholson translated, "Being in love is made
manifest by soreness of heart..."
Just prior to this line is the opening section of Rumi's first story
in the Mathnawi, about a king who fell in love with a maiden.
However, she was unhappy with him and began to look and act
sickly. A wise physician came and discovered that she was actually
physically healthy, but heart-sick from being in love with someone
else, whom she grievously missed: "Her suffering was not from (an
excess of) yellow or black bile. The scent of every (kind of)
firewood is made evident from the (type of) smoke (it produces). He
saw from her (type of) misery that it was the misery of the heart;
(her) body was well, but she was the prisoner of the heart" (I:
107-08). Nicholson commented here: "i.e. the hidden nature and
quality of a thing is indicated by the effects which it produces."
(Commentary) The present line then follows ("Lovesickness is
clearly shown by the heart's misery")
.
2
Love is the astrolabe: means that only love can "measure" and
understand the depths of Divine mysteries-- not the intellect. The
astrolabe is an ancient astronomical device, "an instrument for
measuring the altitude of the stars and solving the problems of
spherical astronomy." (Nicholson, Commentary) Nicholson also
made a reference to a related verse, which he translated, "Hence you
and your intellect are like the astrolabe: by this means you may know
the nearness of the Sun of existence" (IV: 3685).
3
to that (Divine) Origin: means that being a lover eventually guides
us to the Source of Love which is God, the Only Beloved.
Nicholson translated, "Whether love be from this (earthly) side or
from that (heavenly) side, in the end it leads us yonder." Nicholson
said about this line: "The poet explains that what was said of love in
the preceding verse bears a general application. Love, whether its
immediate object be Divine or human, real or phenomenal, leads
ultimately to knowledge of God and union with Him. All earthly
beauty is but the reflexion of Heavenly Beauty, and as the reflexion
fades away we turn our eyes towards the Light whence it came."
(Commentary)
4
Illuminator: literally, "polisher." The meaning is that the nature of
Love is revealed much more brightly and clearly when expressed in a
non-verbal way. Nicholson explained that that this term means
"polisher" and "elucidator": "In I 3350 it is used of the angels, who
keep their hearts pure and unsoiled with sin." (Commentary)
Nicholson translated this particular line as, "God said to them, 'If ye
are enlightened'..." and explained that "enlightened" literally means
"polishers." (footnote) He explained the meaning of "Love
(expressed) without the tongue is (much) clearer": "i.e. the signs of
love, such as agitation, pallor, and tears, speak for themselves. Cf.
the saying, lisánu 'l-hál antaqu min
lisáni 'l-maqál, 'the tongue of
inward feeling is more eloquent than the tongue of discourse'."
(Commentary)
5
the intellect lay down: "The discursive reason (`aql-i
ma`ásh),
which maintains a distinction between the subject and object of
thought, cannot possibly comprehend or describe the nature of
mystical union. This is a mystery that Love reveals to the lover by
immediate experienced (man lam yadhuq lam yadri)" [= He who
doesn't taste doesn't know] (Nicholson, Commentary)
*The sun itself is the demonstration of the sun: Nicholson explained
that this is "A famous and oft-quoted verse" (of Rumi's), and related
it to a saying attributed to the Prophet Muhammad: "'I know my
Lord through my Lord' (`araftu Rabbí bi-Rabbí).
To mystics their
'inner light' is its own evidence." (Commentary)
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