M6:36 — این جهان جنگست کل چون بنگری / ذره با ذره چو دین با کافری

Translation: If you observe this world, you will find it entirely war; / Particle with particle, like faith with infidelity. Meaning: This verse asserts a fundamental principle that the natural world is inherently a realm of conflict and opposition, where every element contends with another.

I maintain that in this verse, Mowlana, after speaking of such oppositions as purity and defilement, vinegar and oxymel, and poison and antidote, gradually leads us to a more fundamental truth. He abruptly generalizes this perspective, declaring, "This world, in its entirety, is a realm of war." Vinegar and oxymel contend with each other; water struggles against impurity; this world, fundamentally, is created upon the principle of antithesis.

This concept of opposition holds a very high and profound place in Mowlana's Masnavi, deeply rooted in his penetrating worldview. Mowlana believes that the lower world, or the natural realm, possesses two essential attributes absent in the higher world: firstly, it is composed of opposites (azdad), and secondly, it is characterized by multiplicity (a'dad). Multiplicity and opposition are inherent and inseparable qualities of the natural world. The secret to this world's transience lies precisely in its foundation on opposites, which clash and struggle so ceaselessly that, ultimately, the world is destined for annihilation. Or, to be more precise, all composite forms undergo decomposition. This constant "composition" and "decomposition" occurring in the world is a manifestation of this very opposition, ultimately leading to the decay and cessation of life in this realm.

This perspective differs from the superficial interpretation that sometimes labels Mowlana as the "Hegel of the East." Although Mowlana spoke of opposition centuries before Hegel, the concept of opposition in his view differs fundamentally from Hegel's dialectic. Hegel speaks of an "Absolute Spirit" and an "Absolute Idea" unfolding in history, whereas Mowlana's view has a deeply mystical and theological root. While some verses in Book Two (such as "This world is a thought from the Universal Intellect / Intellect is like a king, and forms are messengers") might superficially align with Hegelian ideas from the perspective of an "object of the Absolute Idea," Mowlana's intellectual path is independent and original.

Mowlana further explains that the "actual war" and apparent conflict we observe in nature stem from a "hidden war": "See their active war in their present state / An active war arises from a hidden war / From this opposition, discern that other opposition." This hidden war can be interpreted in two ways: first, that these entities are inherently and essentially created as opposites; they do not arbitrarily engage in conflict, but their very nature dictates it. Secondly, and more profoundly, it can be understood as the war between divine "wrath" (qahr) and "grace" (lutf). The manifestations of divine beauty (jamali) and majesty (jalali) attributes, or the attributes of wrath and grace, lead to opposition and struggle in this world. God, through the manifestation of these attributes, has initiated this war in the cosmos.

But when does this war end? Only when everything returns to its origin and is absorbed into the Divine Being; for in the essence of God, there is no war or opposition. The attributes of majesty and beauty are not in contention within the Divine Essence; these oppositions only emerge when these attributes manifest in the particular instances of the world. Mowlana provides the ultimate example of this cessation of conflict in the subsequent verse: "A particle that was absorbed into the sun / Its war ceased, beyond description and reckoning." When a particle is absorbed into the sun, it no longer has any conflict. It reaches a zone of peace. "When from the particle, its entire being and breath were effaced / Its war is now but the sun's war, and nothing else." When all power and existence (nafs and nafas) are stripped from the particle and it is absorbed into the sun, its conflict ends. Even "the movement of nature and stillness" is removed from it; for movement and stillness are correlative concepts that gain meaning only in the world of opposites. When we transcend the world of opposites, there is neither movement nor stillness. And all this, "Why? Because 'To Him we shall return' (Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un)." The secret of this peace and annihilation lies in returning to the source. Just as the Prophet of Islam is neither Sunni nor Shi'i, and Christ is neither Protestant nor Catholic—these oppositions arise at a lower level and in secondary manifestations; at the source, all oppositions dissolve.

Key takeaways

• The natural world is inherently constructed upon the principle of opposition and conflict, an inescapable characteristic of its essence.
• The annihilation of the world is the inevitable outcome of the ceaseless struggle between opposites and the decomposition of all composite forms.
• This 'active war' in the world originates from a 'hidden war,' either signifying the inherently antithetical nature of things or the manifestation of divine wrath and grace.
• The cessation of strife and attainment of absolute peace is only possible through the return of all things to their origin and their annihilation (fana) in the singular Divine Essence.
• Just as a particle is absorbed into the sun, by returning to the Source (Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un), all oppositions, movements, and stillness disappear, and unity prevails.