M6:1549 — خشم احیا خشم حق و زخم اوست / که به حق زنده‌ست آن پاکیزه‌پوست

Translation: The wrath of the truly living is God's wrath and His wound, For that pure-skinned one is alive by the Truth.

Meaning: This verse asserts that the anger and actions of God's saints are not personal but manifestations of divine will, as their very being is sustained and animated by God's essence and truth.

In this profound verse, Mowlana unveils a truth that lies at the core of practical gnosis (ʿirfān-i ʿamalī). He speaks of the aḥyā — the truly living ones, those enlivened by divine life, in comparison to whom all others appear as dead. The wrath of these pure-skinned individuals is none other than God's wrath; it is not a personal, ego-driven anger, but a manifestation of divine justice and might. And their wound, whether inflicted by them or upon them, is His wound, stemming from God or delivered on His behalf. This 'pure-skinned one' is an individual whose outward form and inner essence are purified from all blemishes, truly alive 'by God' and 'from God'.

How is this divine life achieved? Mowlana, in the verses that follow, reveals a crucial secret. Just as a butcher, to skin a sheep more easily, inflates it with air, so too does God 'kill him and breathe into his flank.' This means God causes the ego and selfhood of the seeker to die, and then, 'like a butcher, swiftly removes his skin,' stripping away the skin of egoism and the veils of the lower self. But the fundamental difference lies in the 'breath' (nafkḥ). The butcher's breath is transient and serves a material purpose; but the 'breath of God' (nafkḥ-i ḥaqq), which remains within this pure-skinned being, bestows upon them an eternal, divine life.

This is the life 'after death' — a death Mowlana repeatedly alludes to in the Masnavi, a state of fanāʾ (annihilation) that the mystic achieves on their path. The Sufi, in the way of love, 'kills their self a hundred times a day' to attain this true life. Once their being is emptied of selfhood and made alive by God, their anger is no longer personal, nor is their wound their own; rather, both proceed from God and are for God. In this way, as Mowlana says, the souls of these divine saints become channels and conduits for God's intervention in the world. Their aspirations, prayers, and even their wrath reflect the divine will, and they are, as it were, God Himself on earth, for the shadow of God is perpetually over them.

Key takeaways

• The 'truly living ones' (aḥyā) are God's saints, animated and active by divine life and will.
• The wrath of these saints is not personal; it is a manifestation of divine justice and might through their purified souls.
• The actions and 'wounds' of these saints, whether inflicted or endured, stem from God's will and action.
• The divine life of these 'pure-skinned' individuals results from the death of the ego and the infusion of God's spirit into their being.
• God's saints serve as channels for divine intervention in the world, their hearts mirroring God's providence.