M6:3635 — هم‌چو آن حجرهٔ زلیخا پر صور / تا کند یوسف به ناکامش نظر

Translation: Just like Zulaikha's chamber, full of images, So that Yusuf would be compelled to look at her. Meaning: Zulaikha adorned her private room with her own likenesses, ensuring that wherever Yusuf cast his gaze, he would inevitably be forced to look upon her.

This couplet is situated within a broader narrative in the Masnavi, where a king warns his three sons against entering the 'Fortress of Forms' (Dezh-e Dhāt al-Suwar) or the 'Mind-Snatching Castle' (Qalʿeh-ye Hush-robā). To illustrate the nature of this castle, which is entirely adorned with images and paintings, Mowlana refers to the chamber of Zulaikha.

As recounted in various tales (though not explicitly in the Quran), Zulaikha had her room completely covered with depictions of her own face. Her intention was that Yusuf, even if he cast down his eyes in shame or sought to flee, would invariably encounter her image wherever he looked, ultimately becoming captivated by her. This was a clever stratagem (makid) to ensnare Yusuf, a means of stripping him of his free will and compelling his gaze. The phrase 'by compulsion' (be nā-kāmash) underscores this forced attention and lack of agency.

However, Mowlana makes a profound leap here, transcending the story of Zulaikha and Yusuf to employ it as an allegory for the created world, but with an inverted meaning. He does not suggest that Satan or the world, like Zulaikha, fills the cosmos with deceptive images to entrap humanity. Instead, he posits that God, too, has filled this world with His own forms, not for deception, but for the manifestation of His beauty.

This world, as mystics assert, is a mirror in which God has manifested Himself. While humanity is the 'best mirror' (behtarin āyineh), created in God's own image and reflecting His complete beauty, other beings are also smaller mirrors. For those with 'enlightened eyes' (dideh rowshanān), 'the singular God made the six directions a manifestation of His signs.' Every corner of this world, every creature, every named thing, is a locus of divine signs and beauty. As the Quran states, 'Wheresoever you turn, there is the Face of God' (Aynamā tuwallū fa thamma Wajh Allāh); God is everywhere. The entire fabric of the cosmos is adorned with His likeness, not merely an image of Him, but rather it is He Himself who peers out from every aperture and window of existence, revealing Himself to us.

The difference lies in the perception of the lover versus the non-lover: 'He who is not a lover, in the water sees his own image, O insightful one.' The self-absorbed and loveless individual, when gazing into the mirror or the water of the world, sees only themselves. But the true lover, through the effacement of their own form in the Beloved, no longer sees their ego. 'When the lover’s form has perished in Him / Tell me, then, whose form does he see in the water?' They see nothing but the Beloved in the water, and indeed, in the entire world.

This is where Mowlana speaks of God's 'jealous artistry' (sonʿ-e ghayūr). Divine jealousy (ghayrat), implying the negation of alterity and the refusal of partnership, ensures that nothing but His beauty is reflected in the lover's eye. Love is 'partner-consuming' (sherkat-sūz); it burns away everything other than the Beloved, leaving only the Beloved to remain. Thus, these forms, which like Zulaikha fill the chamber of the world, are, for the lovers, the very manifestations of God. This is why the enlightened eye perceives the beauty of Truth in every houri's face and finds all things beautiful.

Key takeaways

• The couplet uses Zulaikha's chamber as an allegory for the 'Fortress of Forms' (Dezh-e Dhāt al-Suwar), symbolizing the multiplicity and manifestation of forms in the world.
• Zulaikha's aim was to strip Yusuf of his free will, compelling him to look at and acknowledge her, by filling the room with her own likenesses.
• Mowlana transcends this worldly example: God, too, fills the world with His forms, not for deception, but for the manifestation of His beauty and self-revelation.
• The world serves as a mirror in which God has manifested Himself, and humanity is the finest and grandest mirror of divine beauty.
• For 'enlightened eyes' and true lovers, every direction in the cosmos, from animals to inanimate objects, is a manifestation of divine signs and the 'Face of God' (Aynamā tuwallū fa thamma Wajh Allāh).
• A true lover sees nothing but the Beloved in the world, having become effaced in the Beloved, unlike the self-absorbed individual who only finds themselves in every form.
• Divine jealousy (ghayrat) is 'partner-consuming,' allowing nothing but His beauty to appear in the lover's gaze.