M6:3739 — گرچه خود اندر محل افتکار / نیست سنگ و چوب و خشتی آشکار

Translation: Although within the very place of thought and conception itself, No stone, wood, or brick is manifest.

Meaning: This verse states that in the architect's mind, physical building materials are not present, yet from that very formless thought, a building with form takes shape.

My dear friends, here Mowlana, with a simple analogy from the world of architecture, illuminates one of the deepest ontological truths. This verse is part of the crucial discourse on ṣūrat (form) and bī-ṣūrat (formlessness), a theme reiterated throughout the Masnavi, whose significance I have always emphasized.

First, Mowlana invites us into the mind of an architect, into their maḥall-i iftikār (place of conception or thought)—that realm where the design of a building takes shape in the imagination, long before it appears on paper or a single brick is laid. What do we observe in this maḥall-i iftikār? Nīst sang u chūb u khisht-ī āshkār—no visible, tangible stone, wood, or brick. What exists is pure, formless thought: a mental blueprint, an abstract concept.

The crucial point is that this formless thought is the source and origin of those material forms. It is the architect's idea that subsequently commands stone, wood, and brick to coalesce into a building. These forms are but a shadow of that initial thought. As Mowlana states elsewhere: The form of a wall and roof, consider it / The shadow of the architect's thought. I must emphasize that these walls and roofs are merely shadows, not the essence of the thought itself.

Mowlana then elevates this example to a cosmic scale, as I have consistently strived to present the breadth of his insights. This bī-ṣūrat (formless) architect is an allegory for God, the ʿaql-i kull (Universal Intellect). This world is a thought from the Universal Intellect / Intellect is like the king, and forms are messengers. The entire material cosmos, with its myriad forms—from mountains and oceans to humans and animals—are all fikrat (thoughts) emanating from that ʿaql-i kull. These are the external manifestations of a divine, formless idea.

Here, Mowlana emphatically declares: The absolute agent is surely formless / Form is but a tool in His hand. The true and absolute agent is formless, and all forms are merely instruments in His grasp. This is a profound blow to all materialists and naturalists, those who seek to reduce reality solely to its material forms. Such individuals are engaged in nafy-i ṣāḥib-i niʿmat (denial of the Giver of blessing), negating the true origin and source of these forms. Those who cling to form, oblivious to the formless, become, in Mowlana's words, but-tarāsh u but-parast (idol-carvers and idol-worshippers). They worship a single ṣūrat (nature, matter) and forget that existence could have taken on countless other forms, perhaps even possessing essences different from this nature. It is a grave error to forget that nature is merely one of the countless ṣūrats that the bī-ṣūrat can assume.

And let us not forget, we humans are mulzamīm, majbūrīm va nāchārīm ki bī-ṣūrat rā dar ṣūrat-hā bibīnīm (obliged, compelled, and forced to see the formless within forms). We lack the power to simply peel back these 'masks.' This world is a form that God has donned. It is analogous to how the meaning of a word remains hidden until it takes the form of alfāẓ (words). God has placed His meanings and intentions within these 'words' and 'forms' of the world, and it is through these beings that we must discover His will. This is not a limitation, but rather the very path to knowledge.

Key takeaways

• Every material form originates from a formless thought, just as a building arises from the architect's mind.
• The material world and all its beings are the manifestation of a formless 'thought' from the Universal Intellect (God).
• The absolute and true Agent is formless; forms are merely tools in His hand.
• Clinging solely to forms while denying the formless origin leads to a kind of modern, materialistic idolatry.
• We are destined to perceive the formless within forms; truth is not hidden, but reveals itself through its manifestations.