M6:3044 — در دل موش ار بدی جمعیتی / جمع گشتی چند موش از حمیتی

Translation: If in the heart of a mouse there were unity and solidarity, _A few mice would gather out of zeal. Meaning: This verse conveys that sheer numbers are ineffective without internal unity and zeal; however, if hearts are united and inflamed by courage, even a small group can achieve immense power.

In Mowlana's perspective, and indeed in mine, there is a clear distinction between "multitude" (انبوهی) and "unity" or "solidarity" (جمعیت). The tale of the mouse and the cat serves as a profound metaphor for a deeper existential truth. Mowlana teaches us that superficial quantity and the mere numerical count of bodies never equate to strength or effectiveness. Even if thousands of mice confront a single cat, without an internal "unity in their souls," they instill no fear in the cat's heart. This "blackness of an army" (سیاهی لشکر) is mere babble, a "feshār" (فشار), a term Mowlana uses in the story of Moses and the Shepherd to mean idle talk and fruitlessness.

The question then arises: whence does this unity come? Undoubtedly, from the heart, from the solidarity of hearts and souls. Mowlana explicitly states: "Unity is not from the multitude of bodies / Regard the body as fleeting, like a name." Bodies, like names, are conventional and impermanent. A name we assign to something is not its reality; it is an arbitrary convention that can be easily changed. Bodies are equally fragile and baseless unless souls and hearts unite. The soul is the essence, and the body is secondary; this world is merely the ocean's foam, and truth resides in its depths. Hence, unity must be "in the soul," not "in the form."

If this internal unity and zeal had existed among the mice, they would have attacked with fervor and self-sacrifice, like "Fedayeen." Mowlana here refers to the Ismailis, renowned in that era for their devotion and willingness to lay down their lives. Then, each mouse would have blinded the cat with a strike, another would have torn its ear with its fangs, and yet another would have pierced its side, leaving the cat no escape. This paints a vivid picture of the absolute power of internal unity.

The fact that mice become unconscious and lose their wits at a single meow from the cat is a sign of this very lack of internal unity. The cat's "craftiness" (عیار), its cunning and trickery, easily prevails against an un-united multitude. Just as a butcher is unafraid of a vast flock of sheep, and much wakefulness cannot banish sleep from a person, so too is numerical abundance impotent against the absence of internal unity.

Mowlana further clarifies that this unity does not originate from self-will but from a transcendent power. "He is the Sovereign of the Realm, who grants unity." It is this God, the Sovereign, who bestows upon a lion such unity and awe that a hundred thousand valiant wild asses become as naught before its might. This is the foundational point of "Tawhīd al-Afʿāl" (Unity of Acts); that the source of all power and unity in the world comes not from creatures themselves, but from the Divine essence. It is He who brings together and separates, and it is He who grants unity to hearts. Without His grace, multitudes are nothing against spiritual unities, and bodies are ineffective against souls.

Key takeaways

• True power lies not in superficial numbers, but in the "unity of hearts" and internal solidarity.
• The baselessness of bodies versus souls: Bodies, like names, are conventional and unstable unless souls unite.
• The symbol of Fedayeen: If mice possessed zeal and internal courage, they would attack a cat like self-sacrificing warriors.
• Internal weakness: A cat's meow frightens mice; this signifies a lack of internal unity, not merely physical weakness.
• Divine origin of unity: True unity originates from a transcendent source; "He is the Sovereign of the Realm, who grants unity."
• Tawhīd al-Afʿāl: All power and unity emanate from the Divine essence, and without His grace, multitudes are ineffective.