M6:3773 — توی آخر سوی توی اولت / آمدست از بهر تنبیه و صلت

Translation: Your ultimate Self has come towards your initial Self, For the sake of awakening and connection.

Meaning: Mawlana suggests that the self is not monolithic; rather, it possesses multiple layers. The self that has attained ultimate awareness and perfection returns to awaken and reconnect with the initial, unaware self.

This verse is among those where Mawlana unravels the mystery of human existence, a mystery that lies in the multiplicity of the 'You's within us. I have often said that we do not possess a single 'self,' but thousands of 'selves,' layered and hidden in the depths of our being. This is not merely a poetic expression but an existential reality that Mawlana unveils: “You are not just one 'You', O dear friend / Rather, you are a universe and a deep sea.” (M6:3771-3772, preceding this beyt). At every moment, one of these 'You's emerges, and we see ourselves in the mirror of another. Even in the realm of dreams, 'a self from within you goes to another self within you,' yet in disguise—sometimes in the guise of a father offering advice or a lion attacking, all of which are diverse manifestations of our own self, suppressed and hidden in wakefulness.

This is where Mawlana speaks of the 'Ultimate Self' (Tūy-e Ākhar). The 'Ultimate Self' is that 'You' which ultimately becomes aware of the truth, the self that has reached its destination and attained final understanding. This 'Ultimate Self,' according to this verse, 'comes towards your initial Self' (sūy-e Tūy-e Avval-at). This means our awakened and conscious self returns to the heedless and unaware primal self to 'admonish' (tanbīh) it and call it to 'connection' and reconciliation (solat) with its truth-seeing nature. 'Tanbīh' here means awakening and enlightening, not merely punishment; and 'solat' signifies connection, establishing a bond between the lower self and the higher self. This awakening and connection constitute the path of introspection, or khod-bīnī, which Mawlana uses in a praiseworthy sense. We commonly understand khod-bīnī to mean selfishness and conceit, but Mawlana here clearly uses it in the sense of 'introspection' and 'self-knowledge.'

In my view, this mystical khod-bīnī is the very path that Socrates advocated: 'Know thyself.' And the Prophet stated: 'Whoever knows oneself has known one's Lord.' This is the highest form of knowledge: “The essence of all knowledge is this / That you know who I am on the Day of Judgment.” This self-reflection allows us to excavate the well of our own being and discover the hidden jewels in the depths of our inner sea. Alas, we are often heedless of ourselves and fixated on external matters. Mawlana beautifully illustrates this in the story of the snake charmer, where he suggests that instead of beholding the thousands of internal wonders within us, we chase after snakes, mountains, and cities, and in doing so, sell the most precious commodity of our existence cheaply.

Since this internal 'Ultimate Self' often remains dormant within us or lacks the power to awaken the 'Initial Self,' God extends a helping hand by sending prophets. Prophets act as an external 'Ultimate Self' who reveal truths to us freely, guiding us towards self-knowledge and self-awareness. In this way, both self-knowledge and prophethood serve to awaken our sleeping 'self' and connect it with our awakened 'self.'

Key takeaways

• Human existence is not monolithic; we possess layered 'selves' that are constantly emerging and transforming.
• The 'Ultimate Self' (the awakened, aware self) has a duty to return to the 'Initial Self' (the unaware self) to awaken it.
• 'Admonition' (tanbīh) here means to awaken and enlighten, while 'connection' (solat) signifies uniting the higher self with the lower self.
• Introspection (khod-bīnī), in Mawlana's view, is a fundamental path to self-knowledge and ultimately, knowledge of God.
• Humans are often oblivious to their inner wonders, preferring to observe external phenomena, whereas the most wondrous spectacle is ourselves.
• Prophets serve as external 'Ultimate Selves,' guiding humanity towards awakening and self-awareness.