2-943 When this animal soul is no more, it befits you to replace it with the everlasting

spirit.

The Sixth Rivulet [1.7.6]

True lovers see death as a liberation.

Before he died, Ḥażrat Mawlā ‘Alī said:

“By the Lord of the Ka‘ba, I am liberated269.” [1.7.6]
3-3934 Let the bodily form go: who am I in reality? Is not the bodily figure of little
importance when I am everlasting?

3-3935 Since by the grace of God the Divine spirit was breathed into me270, I am the
breath of God which is kept apart from the windpipe of the body.

1-3967 Desire for death became the badge of the sincere, for this word (declaration)
was made a test for the deniers of the Truth271.

How God tested the deniers of the Truth by

challenging them to invoke death272. [1.7.6]
3-3937 Since God said, ‘Desire death, O you who are sincere,’ I am sincere: I will
lavish my soul upon this (I will sacrifice my life for this purpose).”

3-3951 Death and migration from this earthly abode has become as sweet to me as
leaving the cage and flying is sweet to the captive bird —

3-3952 The cage that is in the very midst of the garden, so that the bird sees the rose-
beds and the trees,

3-3953 While outside, around the cage, a multitude of birds is sweetly chanting tales of
liberty:

3-3954 When it sees that verdant place, neither desire for food remains to the bird in
the cage, nor patience and rest,

269
Literally, Ḥażrat Mawlā ‘Alī is reported to have said: “Fuztu wa Rabbi’l-Ka‘ba” – “By the Lord of the Ka‘ba,
I have triumphed”, implying that his triumph liberated him. He uttered these words after having been mortally
wounded with a poisoned sword (see Aḥādīth-e Mathnawī p. 124 – Tafsīr-e Abū’l-Futūḥ, Vol. 5, p. 318).
270
Literally, “I was (the object of the verse of the Qur’ān in which God says) ‘I breathed’.” (Nich.) - Qur’ān
15:29.
271
In Nicholson’s translation it says “Jews” instead of “deniers of Truth”. But this is wrong. The word which
Ḥażrat Mawlānā Rūmī uses in the Mathnawī is jahūdān, the plural or jahūd, which is often confused with the
word Yahūd (“Jews”). Jahūd or jahūdān is best translated as “deniers of the Truth”. Jahūd is similar in meaning
to the Arabic word kāfir, another word that is very often misinterpreted and misunderstood. It is usually
translated as “infidel”, “unbeliever”, or “pagan”. Yet in Arabic, kāfir literally means “one who covers the Truth”,
i.e. “someone who is spiritually ignorant and blind”. As such, a kāfir can belong to any religious group or faith,
including Islām. The same applies to the term jahūd.
272
Qur’ān 62:6.

105