M6:10 — نوح نهصد سال دعوت می‌نمود / دم به دم انکار قومش می‌فزود

Translation: Noah for nine hundred years continued his call, While his people's denial increased with every fall. Meaning: This verse references Prophet Noah's perseverance in calling his people to God for nine centuries, facing ever-increasing rejection. Rumi uses this historical example to emphasize the unwavering duty to proclaim truth, irrespective of the audience's response.

This verse employs the profound parable of the prophets to impart a deep gnostic and epistemological lesson. I have repeatedly emphasized that in Rumi's discourse, the mission of "speaking" and "conveying the message" is an eternal, primordial imperative, unchained from the audience's reaction. Just as Prophet Noah persevered in his call for nine hundred years, witnessing his people's denial intensify with each passing moment, he did not cease speaking nor did he retreat into the cave of silence. This is a divine command: "The invitation is incumbent from the Creator." It is a divine duty for truths and secrets to be communicated to the world, irrespective of who accepts them and who rejects them.

Rumi further elaborates on this point with a brilliant analogy of the moon and the dog: "The moon sheds light, and the dog barks / Each acts according to its own creation." The moon was created to shed light, and the dog to perform its canine duties, one of which is barking. Therefore, the moon does not halt its journey or its radiance because of the dogs' commotion. The moon sheds light, indifferent to the barking dogs. This is a balance of opposites that prevails in existence. Neither can dogs be removed from the world, nor can the moon be asked not to shine. Everyone and everything acts according to their "creation" (khelqat) and their existential essence. The duty of a gnostic or a prophet is likewise: to speak and reveal secrets according to their essential nature, which is nourished by the sea of gnosis and love.

Rumi's statement here is essentially a defense of his own stance. He knows that "A secret finds no partner save with a secret-knower / A secret is no secret in the ear of a denier." This means that many may not accept or understand his words (the Masnavi), just as some utterances by great figures may appear simple and devoid of meaning. Yet, this does not deter him from speaking and unveiling secrets. One who is not a "secret-knower" will perceive the secret as ordinary words, even if they hear it. This is the crucial point Rumi emphasizes from the very beginning of the Masnavi: "Listen to this reed, how it complains / How it narrates separations." That reed is not complaining; it is narrating. And the duty of narration, like Noah's duty to invite, is an intrinsic and divine imperative. Therefore, one should not be concerned with the deniers' rejection or the ignorant's misunderstanding, but rather fulfill one's primary duty: to convey truth and light.

Key takeaways

• The duty to convey truth is a divine and intrinsic command, independent of the audience's acceptance or denial.
• Just as the moon sheds light oblivious to the dogs' barking, the gnostic expresses truth according to their nature.
• The existence of opposites and deniers is part of the cosmic order and should not impede the proclamation of truth.
• Secrets are revealed only to secret-knowers; the ear of the unqualified does not hear the truth.
• Perseverance in the divine path, even in the face of intense rejection, is the tradition of prophets.