M6:3753 — پس حقیقت حق بود معبود کل / کز پی ذوقست سیران سبل

Translation: So the truth is that God is the worshipped of all, / For it is for the sake of 'taste' (ẕawq) that all paths (subul) are traversed.

Meaning: Rumi concludes that every human endeavor towards pleasure or the apprehension of perfection is, in essence, an unconscious striving for the formless, eternal essence of God.

This verse marks one of Rumi’s most profound ontological and mystical insights: that all human journeys and strivings in this world, whether conscious or unconscious, ultimately lead back to the quest for the divine ‘Formless’ (bi-ṣūrat). He asserts that the truth is, God is the ‘Worshipped of All’ (maʿbūd-e kull); meaning, everyone, willingly or not, worships Him and is drawn towards Him. But how does this movement unfold? This ‘traversing of paths’ (sayrān-e subul) is undertaken for the sake of a ‘taste’ (ẕawq) that is itself formless.

Rumi provides various examples to elucidate this point: when a person travels to a city (thereby engaging with a ‘form’), they do so for a formless delight. It is this bi-ṣūrat delight that motivates their movement and draws them towards the city, which possesses form. By analogy, when one seeks a friend, it is for a formless intimacy and companionship (uns). Therefore, the human being’s essential and inner movement is always towards ‘meaning’ (maʿnī) and the ‘Formless,’ even if one remains unaware of this ultimate destination. The beauty you perceive in a friend is, in truth, a form of a higher Formless; and the intimacy you share with them is a manifestation of a more sublime intimacy. Thus, traversing paths is, in essence, journeying towards the Formless.

Rumi clarifies that the more one turns towards the Formless, the more accelerated and perfected one’s spiritual journey becomes. If one clings solely to forms and particular, illusory pleasures, their being remains at a lower station, akin to an animal content with mere appearances. But humanity can transcend this, moving from ‘thick’ and coarse forms to ‘thinner’ and more subtle ones, until ultimately reaching the ‘Most Subtle of Subtleties’ (alṭaf al-laṭāʾif) and the ‘Absolute Formless.’ This is a comprehensive worldview positing that all of us are, in the end, ‘God-seekers’ and ‘Formless-seekers,’ even if we ourselves do not realize it. In this world of forms, we imagine we move from one form to another, but inwardly, we gravitate from vividly manifest forms to more ethereal ones.

Rumi then addresses the ‘error of misidentification’ (khaṭā dar miṣdāq). He says: “Some have turned towards the tail / Though the head is the origin, they’ve lost the head.” A truth possesses both a ‘head’ (sar) and a ‘tail’ (dom), and some turn towards the tail, losing sight of the head, which is the essence. This parallels the political anecdote about the Japanese understanding America to be a wild cow, but choosing to milk its udders, while others grappled with its horns. In this world of forms, humans fall into this error of misidentification; instead of grasping the ‘head,’ which is the essence and truth, they cling to the ‘tail,’ which is the subsidiary and lower form. Yet, even in this state, the ‘grace’ (karam) of that head is not cut off; it still reaches them through the tail. No one is entirely deprived of divine bounty.

The higher station, however, is where one has “lost both foot and head” (pā va sar kardand gum). This means they cling to neither head nor tail, but are liberated from every form, restraint, and attachment. “When all was lost, all was found”; when they surrendered everything, they gained everything, becoming possessors of the ‘Whole’ (kull). From abasement (kamāmat), they hastened towards the Whole. Like a drop joining the ocean and becoming the ocean itself, the form-bound drop merges with the formless ocean and becomes formless itself. This is the culmination of the journey, the zenith of human perfection.

Key takeaways

• Every delight and pleasure human beings seek in the world is, in truth, an unconscious pull towards the formless divine reality.
• All humans, in their deepest essence, are God-seekers and aspirants to absolute perfection, even if unaware of this ultimate destination.
• The phenomenal beauties and pleasures of this world are merely 'paths' (subul) guiding one towards the absolute formless Divine.
• The common human error in the quest for truth is 'misidentification' (khaṭā dar miṣdāq): clinging to the subsidiary (the 'tail') and neglecting the essential (the 'head').
• The perfected mystic is one who is liberated from attachment to any form, be it its 'head' or 'tail,' and merges with the 'Whole.'
• Divine grace and generosity do not abandon even those who cling to the 'tail' of forms.