M6:357 — شرفه‌ای بشنید در شب معتمد / برگرفت آتش‌زنه که آتش زند

Translation: A respectable man heard a rustle in the night, / And took up the flint to strike a fire. Meaning: This verse recounts a tale of someone attempting to bring light into darkness, but an unseen internal agent repeatedly thwarts his efforts without his knowledge.

Mowlana, in this profoundly illustrative tale, unravels the mysteries of the human inner and outer worlds. The 'respectable man' (moʿtamed) who hears a 'rustle' (sharfeh) in the 'darkness of night' and seeks to light a lamp, symbolizes humanity awakened by a spark of awareness or a good intention amidst ignorance and heedlessness.

The man first strikes a 'flint' (ātash-zaneh) to create a 'spark' (which Mowlana calls a 'star' — setāreh), a fleeting, momentary light. This spark is meant to ignite the 'tinder' (sūkhteh) to produce a stable flame. However, a hidden 'thief' (dozd) lurks nearby, who 'places his finger on the sparks' and 'extinguishes the sparks one by one' to prevent any light from enduring. The crucial point is that the owner of the house does not see the thief; he believes the 'tinder is damp' (sūkhteh dārad namī) or the fire dies out naturally, because 'darkness and gloom ahead' (ظلمت و تاریکی ز پیش) obstruct his sight.

This story serves as a deep metaphor for the internal struggle of human beings. The 'thief' in this allegory is the 'alien' (bīgāneh) that Mowlana frequently speaks of in the Masnavi: the impure self, the commanding ego (nafs-e ammāreh), false attachments, undesirable habits, or satanic temptations that have taken root in one's soul. We humans are often 'full of aliens,' and these aliens wear the mask of our 'self' so convincingly that we fail to recognize them. Whenever we make a firm resolution for self-improvement, a spark of determination ignites within us, but this hidden thief quickly extinguishes it. We then mistakenly attribute our failure to a lack of willpower or ability, rather than to an active internal sabotage.

This situation echoes the Quran's account of Prophet Adam, where it states, 'And certainly, We had made a covenant with Adam before, but he forgot, and We found not in him resolve' (wa laqad ʿahadnā ilā Ādama fanasiya wa lam najid lahu ʿazmā). Mowlana, too, emphasizes 'the seed of sincerity' (tokhm-e sedq) and 'resolve' (ʿazm). Until this 'inner thief' is expelled from the house of the soul, no spark will transform into a stable flame. Expelling this alien requires precise self-knowledge and a thorough purification of the self from all that distances us from our true essence. This is the only way for a human being to achieve unity with oneself and, consequently, with Truth; otherwise, one will remain captive to self-deception and perpetual failure. This is the 'alienation' or 'mistaking oneself' (khod rā ʿavazī gereftan) that Mowlana highlights: 'In whatever guise you appear and stand, / saying, 'This is I,' by God, this is not you.'

Key takeaways

• Many of our failures stem from a hidden 'thief' within us that extinguishes sparks of good intentions and resolve.
• This 'thief' symbolizes the 'alien' elements within: the impure self, wrong attachments, or destructive habits we mistake for our true identity.
• Failing to recognize this inner thief is a major impediment to actualizing our will and aspirations.
• To achieve lasting spiritual light, one must first identify and expel these alien elements from one's being.
• A weakness of 'resolve' (ʿazm) and a lack of 'the seed of sincerity' (tokhm-e sedq) provide fertile ground for this inner thief.