Reality and Appearance
Reality and Appearance - meaning Summary
Appearance Revealed Through Light
Rumi uses light as a metaphor for perception to argue that visible forms depend on illumination, while the divine remains formless and hidden. The poem suggests God, lacking qualities that mortality perceives as "dearness," withdraws from direct sight; yet divine reality produces bright, living forms in the world. A sudden image of a tiger emerging from a dark jungle captures how the unseen Spirit can spring into vivid appearance without losing its essence.
Read Complete Analyses‘Tis light makes color visible: at night Red, green, and russet vanish from thy sight. So to thee light by dearness is made known: Since God hat none, He, seeing all, denies Himself eternally to mortal eyes. From the dark jungle as a tiger bright, Form from the view-less Spirit leaps to light.
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