M1:120 — خودْ غریبی در جهان چون شمس نیست / شمسِ جانِ باقئی کِش اَمس نیست

Translation: No stranger in the world is like the Sun; The Sun of the everlasting Soul, for which there is no 'yesterday'. Meaning: This verse asserts that nothing in the world is as alien or out of place as the sun, or more precisely, the eternal Sun of the Soul, because this primordial and everlasting essence transcends time, existing beyond the confines of past, present, and future.

Mowlana emphatically uses the word "Shams" in this verse, pairing it with the descriptor "ghareebi" (strangeness or alienation). This "ghareebi" signifies being out of place, not in one's true home, a feeling that Mowlana himself deeply experienced in this material world. As I've discussed concerning the reed's separation from the reed-bed, we are merely sojourners, "grief-stricken wearers of black," whose true abode lies elsewhere. This "ghurbat" is peculiar to the human soul, whose original homeland transcends this world of matter.

Initially, "Shams" might refer to the celestial sun, which, in Mowlana's view, even among the material bodies of this universe, is itself a stranger, of a different essence. However, Mowlana immediately elevates this concept, stating: "Shams-e jān-e bāqī’ī kash ams nīst" (The Sun of the everlasting Soul, for which there is no 'yesterday'). It is this "Sun of the Soul" that is the true stranger, for it is eternal and timeless. The Arabic word "ams" means yesterday, but in Mowlana's expression, "kash ams nīst" means it transcends time; it has no yesterday, no today, and no tomorrow. This Sun of the Soul is placeless and timeless, and in this temporal and spatial world, it is an absolute stranger.

The identity of this "Sun of the Soul" is not explicitly stated by Mowlana here, but we can derive three probable and interconnected meanings: first, the primordial and eternal Beloved, God, the "Soul of souls"; second, Shams-e Tabrizi himself, who for Mowlana was a concrete manifestation and mirror of that primordial Beloved; and third, the Perfect Human. In my view, all these meanings are plausible, and the verse is consistent with all three. This "Sun of the Soul" transcends the aether and our natural world, having "no like in mind or in external reality." It is formless, and therefore can never be conceived in our imagination; to imagine something, we need form, and the Sun of the Soul, interpreted as the divine essence, is free from all forms. This is the very point clarified in Mowlana's symbolic stories, such as the camel in the bird's house or the gnat in Solomon's court: when a greater presence manifests, the lesser existence cannot endure; "when God comes, the seeker becomes naught."

These verses (120 to 122) serve as a learned and ardent prelude to the explicit mention of Shams-e Tabrizi's name. By attributing such exalted qualities, Mowlana first describes the infinite essence of the Beloved and the true stranger, before finally unveiling the name "Shamsuddin." Thus, Shams-e Tabrizi, in Mowlana's mind, is not merely a human being, but an ultimate manifestation and perfect mirror of that "everlasting Sun of the Soul" who was peerless and alien in this earthly realm.

Key takeaways

• The "strangeness" (ghareebi) in this verse is an existential feeling of the soul's alienation in the material world, not merely geographical absence.
• "Sun of the Soul" (Shams-e Jan) refers to the eternal Beloved, Shams-e Tabrizi as a manifestation of the Beloved, or the Perfect Human, all of whom are strangers in this material world.
• The key attribute of the "Sun of the Soul" is its timelessness and placelessness; "kash ams nīst" means it transcends yesterday, today, and tomorrow, free from temporal constraints.
• The "Sun of the Soul," in its divine essence, is formless and cannot be grasped by our mental conception, as conception requires form and image.
• These verses serve as a profound prelude to the explicit mention of Shams-e Tabrizi's name, portraying him as a symbol of that "everlasting Sun of the Soul."