M6:1748 — پس به چه نام و لقب خواندی ملک / بندگان خویش را ای منهتک

Translation: Then by what name and title would the King / Call His servants, O you who tear veils? Meaning: This verse questions: if there were no opposites and struggles in the world, by what attributes and titles would God address His servants, given that it is through these very contrasts that human virtues are revealed and distinguished?

This verse emerges from a Sufi's question: "What if Satan did not exist in this world?" This is, without doubt, one of those ancient and vexing theological questions that has occupied many theologians. Rumi, through the voice of the 'Judge' – who is, in essence, Rumi himself – offers a profound response, one that finds echoes not only in the Masnavi but also in modern philosophy and theology.

I firmly believe that Rumi here unveils a deep ontological truth: the manifestation of human virtues is contingent upon the presence of opposites. If the world lacked amr-e mor (bitter commands), khub-o-zesht (good and evil), nafs-o-shaytan-o-havā (self, Satan, and desire), and zakhm-o-chālesh-o-vaghā (wounds, challenges, and conflict), the stage for the emergence of ikhtiyār (free will) – the highest human perfection – would not be set. Just as a bee instinctively produces honey, human actions would not be truly volitional if we were not confronted with the crossroads of good and evil; we would act purely on instinct. Satan, in this view, is not an absolute evil but rather the awakener of our dormant free will; he is like a teacher who cultivates hidden talents.

The verse explicitly asks: "Then by what name and title would the King (God) address His servants?" If there were no arena for patience, how would 'the patient one' acquire meaning? If there were no war or peril, how would 'the courageous' and 'the wise' emerge? The sābirīn, sādiqīn, va monfiqīn (the patient, the truthful, and the charitable) would possess no distinct identity in the absence of the 'highway robber and accursed devil'. All would be uniform and undifferentiated, and the essence of things would remain hidden. As Rumi states at the beginning of Book Six: "This world is war, if you observe the whole / Particle by particle, like faith with the infidel." This struggle and conflict are a stage for testing, for the purification of the soul, and for the revelation of courage and cowardice.

In other words, this verse emphasizes that ilm va hikmat (knowledge and wisdom) would also be futile and meaningless without the existence of rāh va bi-rāhi (the right and wrong path). Wisdom serves to distinguish the correct path from the erroneous one; if everything were a single path, wisdom would be hollow. This world is an opportunity for soul-purification, for separating good from bad, like a sieve that separates wheat from chaff. Even addressing the questioner as monhatak (one who tears veils), which might seem harsh at first, is an indication of the superficiality that fails to perceive the hidden wisdom behind these outward appearances. Rumi's perspective here views the world not as a place for complaint, but as an arena for the display of divine and human perfections, actualized within the context of contrasts and challenges. Pains and evils, in this outlook, are not flaws in the cosmic order, but necessary components of a 'wise providence' that awakens potentials and reveals truths.

Key takeaways

• Human virtues and perfections are actualized only through challenge and contrast.
• Satan and the ego, despite their deceptive appearance, act as catalysts for awakening human free will and choice.
• The world is an arena for testing and soul-purification, distinguishing good from bad, and strong from weak.
• Wisdom and knowledge gain meaning only when confronted with the dualities of right and wrong paths.
• Suffering and struggles are essential components of the world's wise providence, designed to reveal hidden essences.