Rumi talks a lot about the pain of unattainable beauty, in both men (as desire) and women (as envy or desire to be desired). That brand of Sufism really breaks down, both philosophically and psychologically, the "meaning" of painful beauty. For Rumi, the beauty that drives people insane is an infinitesimal ray of God's beatific manifestation. Witnessing unattainable beauty is supposed be painful, and the pain is there for a reason, to draw one to what is Higher, and eventually drawing one to the Source of beauty to find that within oneself.
> Since tresses and cheeks show a sign of that drop, kings keep licking the ground.
> Delicate earth has received a drop of Beauty, so you kiss it night and day with a hundred hearts.
> Though mixed with earth, a single drop can drive you mad—what then will that wine do to you when pure?
(Rumi M V 372-375)
Note "earth" here is a reference to human beings, as Muslims believe humans were created from earthly clay.
> Since tresses and cheeks show a sign of that drop, kings keep licking the ground.
> Delicate earth has received a drop of Beauty, so you kiss it night and day with a hundred hearts.
> Though mixed with earth, a single drop can drive you mad—what then will that wine do to you when pure?
(Rumi M V 372-375)
Note "earth" here is a reference to human beings, as Muslims believe humans were created from earthly clay.