M6:3727 — بر لب بام ایستاده قوم خوش / هر یکی را بر زمین بین سایه‌اش

Translation: Upon the roof's edge stand a joyous folk; Behold the shadow of each one upon the ground. Meaning: This verse suggests that our fundamental and often hidden thoughts—likened to people standing on a rooftop—are the origin and source of our apparent actions and manifest life events, which appear as their shadows on the earth.

This verse is one of the Masnavi's pivotal statements regarding the relationship between thought and action, and ṣūrat (form) and bi-ṣūratī (formlessness or essence). Here, Mowlana explicitly states his view that our thoughts and worldviews stand on the 'roof' of existence, and everything we observe in the realm of action, faith, profession, and human conduct is but a 'shadow' of those thoughts. This perspective, deeply rooted in traditional philosophy and religious texts, posits thought as prior to action. In modern thought, one can find echoes of this in systems like Hegel's philosophy, where the movement of spirit and thought underlies objective realization.

To illuminate the profound depth of Mowlana's assertion, I often contrast it with views like Marxism, where Marx contended that it is the mode of material life and subsistence that shapes ideas, not the other way around. He inverted what philosophers before him had generally held. Mowlana, however, alongside a vast majority of traditional thinkers, believes that we construct and live the world as we conceive it in thought. Our actions and deeds are shadows cast by our hidden thoughts and intentions, a point further clarified in the subsequent verse: "The form of thought is on the solid roof; / And that action, like a shadow, appears on the pillars" (Masnavi, 6:3728).

Mowlana elucidates this relationship between thought (which he deems bi-ṣūrat) and action (which is ṣūrat) through various examples. This bi-ṣūratī does not imply an absolute absence of form, but rather refers to that aspect of existence which, in relation to perceptible and manifest forms, remains hidden, internal, and unobservable. Let us examine some of Mowlana's examples:

First, one can move from thought to action, i.e., from bi-ṣūrat to ṣūrat: just as human thought and will shape the form of external actions. The thought standing on the roof casts its shadow as actions on the ground.

Second, the journey can also be from ṣūrat to bi-ṣūrat, from the visible act to its intrinsic result: For instance, when wine is drunk in a gathering (bazm), its ṣūrat is the cup and the liquid, but its "benefit is unconsciousness and rapture"—this rapture is a bi-ṣūrat state, an internal quality without tangible form. Similarly, the "form of man and woman, play and coitus" (the visible act of sexual intimacy) leads to "unconsciousness at the time of coitus" (the shapeless, internal pleasure). Eating "bread and salt" yields "formless strength." Even on the battlefield, the "form of sword and shield" culminates in ẓafar (formless victory). Schools, commentaries, and books are all forms whose purpose is to lead to bi-ṣūrat knowledge. Thus, forms serve as conduits and tools to attain formlessness.

This cyclical movement in existence—from formlessness to form, and back from form to formlessness—is one of Mowlana's most profound insights. He connects this phenomenon to the Quranic verse, "To Him we shall return (innā ilayhi rājiʿūn)," stating: "Form came forth from formlessness / And returned as: 'To Him we shall return'" (Masnavi, 6:3733). This signifies that existence is in a cycle of manifestation and return. All forms in the world originate from a formless truth and ultimately revert to that ultimate formlessness.

Mowlana's striking point here is that these forms, which are in truth servants and facilitators of formlessness, sometimes rise to "deny their benefactor" (ṣāḥib-e niʿmat). What does this mean? It implies that some people become so engrossed in perceptible forms and manifestations that they become oblivious to, and even deny, the ṣāḥib-e niʿmat, the formless truth. This critique is aimed at naturalists, materialists, and positivists who presume that the only reality is these material forms and natural laws. They worship one form among the infinite forms of existence, forgetting that nature is merely a "garment" that the formless truth has donned; it could have, and indeed can, assume other forms. Hence, Mowlana warns: "Be less intoxicated by these cups of forms / Lest you become an idol-carver and idolater" (Masnavi, 6:3735). Intoxication with forms leads to idolatry, as one sees only a single face of existence and perceives it as singular and absolute. Whereas, just as laughter can manifest in various forms, including the parting of lips, truth itself possesses a thousand garments and forms, and this perceptible world is but one of them.

Key takeaways

• Our thoughts and worldviews are the roots of our actions and life's manifestations; thought is on the roof, and action is its shadow on the ground.
• The concept of bi-ṣūratī refers to the hidden essence or inner reality of things, which is unobservable relative to their manifest, sensory form.
• The movement of existence is a perpetual cycle from formlessness to form and back to formlessness; forms originate from the formless and return to it.
• Becoming engrossed in the forms of the world and denying the formless truth leads to a modern form of 'idolatry'—worshipping one form out of the infinite possible forms of existence.
• With this insight, Mowlana stands against reductionist schools of thought (such as materialism) that limit existence solely to its material and perceptible dimension.