M6:2267 — سوی چشمه که دهان زینها بشو / آنچ پوشیدیم از خلقان مگو

Translation: Go to the spring, that you may wash your mouth of these [words], / Do not speak what we have hidden from the folk. Meaning: This verse is an admonition to the mystic from the Beloved or guide, urging them to refrain from disclosing profound, unitive secrets to those who are unprepared, and to cultivate silence.

This verse emerges at one of the Mathnawi's most sensitive junctures, precisely when Mawlana delves into the peak of unitive truths and self-knowledge, specifically after discussing the angels' prostration to Adam—a prostration that, in his interpretation, signifies bowing to one's own true self, seeing one's formless essence in the mirror of Truth. He recognizes that he is 'crossing a forbidden, red line'—a territory whose discourse demands utmost caution.

The preceding verse (M6:2266) opens with a warning: “It is time for that Perfect Friend and Intimate, our guide, to pull our ear.” It is as if his ultimate Beloved and perfect Guide—whether God Himself, Shams, or Husam al-Din—commands him: 'Be careful, you are going too fast.' This current verse is a continuation of that very command.

“Go to the spring, that you may wash your mouth of these [words].” This spring is the fount of silence and purity. A spring that cleanses the tongue of conceptual speech, preparing it for, or rather, silencing it from speaking formless mysteries. This is a clear directive: go and wash your mouth of these profound words, which no ear can bear to hear. That is, restrain your tongue from expressing what the capacity of common folk cannot contain. These secrets are of the nature of formless vision and annihilation in the Divine Presence, that experience where the 'self' vanishes in the mirror of Truth, and a different kind of knowledge emerges from pure unknowing, comprehending the 'I am that I am.'

“Do not speak what we have hidden from the folk.” These secrets are hidden, not out of stinginess or exclusivity, but out of wisdom and protection. As Mawlana himself says elsewhere, some points are 'sharp as a steel sword'; these are not words that every heart can receive or every mind can digest. These are the 'secrets' that the gnostic smells and perceives through intuition, but which transcend the bounds of logical and philosophical expression. Ordinary people are preoccupied with the 'forms' of the world, entangled in superficial and fleeting sufferings, oblivious to the true 'treasure' of gnosis. This 'what we have hidden' precisely refers to this formless, concealed 'treasure.'

Disclosing this treasure to those who seek 'the outer form of the dervish and the image of the treasure' (referring to M6:2270, to which Mawlana returns after this section) is not only futile but also dangerous. Such an act could lead to misinterpretation, denial, and even accusations of heresy. Mawlana himself, in the verses that follow (M6:2268), expresses a kind of anguish and anxiety: “Even if you speak it, it will not become manifest / But you, by intending to disclose it, will become guilty.” He is aware that even if he reveals these secrets, their truth cannot be contained in words and will not be manifest to the unprepared, yet the speaker himself becomes culpable for disclosing what should have remained hidden. In M6:2269, he adds, to avert blame: “But now I am weaving in bewilderment / I am the speaker, and I am the listener.” Meaning, I revolve around myself in a perplexed state; I myself speak these secrets, and I myself hear them, having no concern for others. This illustrates the depth and solitude of the gnostic facing truths that are beyond the grasp of common understanding and must be protected within the sanctuary of the soul.

Key takeaways

• Mawlana, in this verse, reaches the zenith of his epistemology, speaking about the hidden secrets of existence and self-knowledge.
• This verse serves as a warning from the spiritual guide (or God) to the seeker, urging caution in expressing subtle unitive truths to the unprepared.
• "Go to the spring, that you may wash your mouth of these [words]" refers to the necessity of purifying and silencing the tongue from common discourse when confronting transcendent truths.
• "Do not speak what we have hidden from the folk" emphasizes the hidden nature of these secrets; not out of stinginess, but out of wisdom and for protection.
• These secrets are of the nature of formless experience and annihilation (fanāʾ), which cannot be contained in words or grasped by common understanding, and their disclosure may lead to misunderstanding or danger.