M1:695 — گنگره ویران کنید از منجنیق / تا رود فرق از میان این فریق

Translation: Demolish the battlements with a trebuchet, So that distinction may vanish from amongst this faction.

This verse follows Rumi's stirring declaration: "We were expanded, all one essence / Headless and footless were we, that very essence / When that pure light took on form / It became number, like the shadows of battlements." Rumi envisions this world, prior to its individuation and multiplicity, as a singular, undifferentiated essence in which we all existed in an expanded state. It is as if we were a unique, colorless light that, upon passing through the prism of forms and multiplicity, fractured into countless hues and shapes. Or perhaps we were shapeless water, poured into various vessels and taking on diverse forms.

In this view, the "battlement" (kangarah) symbolizes the forms, walls, and boundaries that have separated us from one another and introduced distinctions among us. These forms, whether physical appearances or intellectual and cultural determinations, have caused that "one essence" (yek gowhar) to transform into "number" and the "shadows of battlements." The "distinction" (farq) that Rumi calls for to be abolished is precisely these superficial differentiations and divisions that obscure our inherent, fundamental unity.

Thus, the "trebuchet" (manjaniq) is an instrument for demolishing these forms and multiplicity-generating boundaries. This demolition is not destruction but a return to the origin. It is the removal of separations that we have created ourselves or that have been imposed upon us in this world of nature. This is an invitation to transcend appearances and distinctions, so that humans may rediscover their rooted unity, allowing that "one essence" to shine forth from beyond the veil of forms.

It is crucial to note that Rumi's discourse on being "one essence" and the "formless world" is by no means historical. He is not saying that millions of years ago we were thus and are no longer. No; this truth is perpetually present, "right now." The formless world is a timeless, trans-historical realm. Time itself is a creation of our natural and elemental world. In the realm of divinity and jabarūt (celestial dominion), which lies beyond nature, time, past, and future do not exist. This unity is a truth that flows and pervades every moment, and the "battlements" and "forms" are merely veils over it, which must be destroyed by the "trebuchet" of gnosis and love.

Key takeaways

• The world, in its essence, is a single, formless substance.
• Forms and multiplicity are veils that obscure the primordial unity.
• The 'trebuchet' symbolizes the means to dismantle superficial boundaries and achieve singular truth.
• The call for unity is a timeless, perennial truth, beyond history, awaiting rediscovery.