M1:274 — صد هزاران این چنین اَشباه بین / فرقشان هفتاد ساله راه بین

Translation: Behold hundreds of thousands of such semblances, Yet see their difference as a seventy-year journey.

Meaning: This verse emphasizes that outward similarities in people, objects, or actions can be profoundly misleading, as their true essence and inner reality may harbor vast, unimaginable differences.

Mowlana, in these verses, warns us against one of humanity's most fundamental fallacies: the fallacy of judging others by oneself. We, as humans, often assume that because we are a certain way, others must be the same. This self-referential analogy distorts our perception of reality, especially when encountering prophets and saints.

I have always maintained that this couplet is a key to understanding the distinction between appearance and reality. Mowlana says, 'Though shīr and shīr (milk and lion) may be written alike,' one is the roaring beast of the jungle, and the other is the beverage we drink. Their written form is identical, yet their meaning and essence are worlds apart. This analogy serves as a gateway to comprehending the depth of these differences.

HUMANITY goes astray precisely from this point, for 'they claimed equality with the prophets / and deemed the saints to be like themselves.' They argue: 'We are human, they are human,' both eat and sleep. But Mowlana decisively states that this is ignorance and 'blindness' (ʿamā), for 'there is an infinite difference between them.' Such people, due to their short-sightedness and lack of insight, merely settle for appearances.

Mowlana provides many beautiful examples to clarify this point. Both types of bees feed from the same source, yet one yields a sting and the other honey. Both types of deer graze on the same grass and drink the same water, yet from one comes dung and from the other pure musk. Even reeds are irrigated by the same water, yet one remains hollow while the other nurtures sugar within itself. 'Behold hundreds of thousands of such semblances / Yet see their difference as a seventy-year journey.' If Mowlana were alive today, he would say 'seventy light-years' to illustrate the immense scale of this difference.

One of Mowlana's deepest insights here is the internal difference in how sustenance is transmuted and utilized. 'What one consumes becomes pure foulness / What the other consumes becomes divine light.' A person whose soul is rooted in avarice and envy will find that whatever they consume and receive only strengthens that avarice and envy within them. But a person whose heart is filled with divine love will transform every sustenance into love and light. This echoes the Quranic verse: 'And We send down from the Quran that which is a healing and a mercy to those who believe, but it increases the wrongdoers in nothing but loss.' It is the same food, yet it produces two different effects on two different natures. I always recall Imam Sajjad's prayer in Sahifeh Sajjadieh: 'And prolong my life as long as my life is spent in Your obedience, but if my life becomes a pasture for Satan, then take me to You before Your wrath overtakes me.' This shows that 'what you become' is more important than 'what you eat' or 'what you do'; the inner reality creates the outward form.

Discerning these differences requires a refined 'taste' (dhawq) and a sound palate. 'None but the possessor of true taste can discern.' Just as bitter and sweet water both appear clear, only by tasting can their distinction be revealed. A 'possessor of taste' can distinguish truth from semblance.

The same rule applies even to acts of worship. A hypocrite and a believer both perform prayer, yet the intention and spirit of their prayers are separate. 'One comes for show, not for need.' One approaches for display and ostentation, and the other for genuine need of the Beloved. And again, in the story of 'Ahmad (the Prophet) and Abu Jahl,' both entered the idol temple; one went so that the idols would bow to him, and the other to bow to the idols. Their outward action was the same, but their purpose and inner reality were two different worlds. All these examples attest that one must not be content with appearances but always seek the inner essence of things.

Key takeaways

• Appearances can be deceptive; superficial similarities should not blind us to profound inner differences.
• Comparing oneself to saints and prophets based on shared human actions (eating, sleeping) is a sign of short-sightedness and ignorance.
• What a person consumes and receives is transformed into virtue or vice based on their inner nature; 'food' is merely a catalyst shaped by our internal disposition.
• Discerning the true difference between seemingly similar things requires a refined inner taste (dhawq) and insight, not just outward observation.
• The profound importance of intention and inner reality in acts of worship and human behavior, which may outwardly resemble hypocrisy or pretense.