M6:1803 — چون زنی که بیست فرزندش بود / هر یکی حاکی حال خوش بود

Translation: Like a woman who has twenty children, Each one of them testifying to a joyous (preceding) state.

Meaning: Mowlana suggests that just as every child is the fruit of a prior embrace and delight, so too does every part and every state of this world speak of an agreeable and joyous origin.

Here, Mowlana employs a deeply relatable, everyday example to offer a profound insight into the nature of existence and the genesis of all phenomena. He speaks of a "woman who has twenty children" and stresses that "each one of them testified to a joyous state." Undoubtedly, these children are the result of an intimacy imbued with pleasure and felicity. Mowlana, true to his characteristic view of existence, uses this human experience as a key to unlock cosmic mysteries.

Observe, Mowlana is not exaggerating here; he is pursuing a truth. We know that in the past, women bore many children, though few might have reached adulthood. Early marriages and men's preference for 'prolific' women are historical testaments to this reality. This realistic depiction sets the stage for a universal analogy. These children, each one "testifying to a joyous state," become symbols for every phenomenon in the world.

Mowlana extends this idea to the entire cosmos. In other verses, he indicates that every part of our body is a "narrator of grace and blessing." This means no organ of ours has appeared haphazardly or without purpose; each possesses a cause, a wisdom, and an ultimate aim. What, then, is this wisdom and aim? This verse answers: all of them are the product of "a marriage, a union, a delight and a pleasure." This implies that every existence, every state, and every part in this world has its root in a "joyous state"; in other words, it is the fruit of a cosmic love affair and an existential pleasure. Existence itself is a celebration, a delight, not an accidental anomaly or a suffering condition.

He extends this same perspective to nature; he considers spring as the breath of the All-Merciful, the divine effulgence that, like Mary, impregnates the garden to bear fruit. The fruit-laden trees and their produce all signify that the tree once "made love" with spring and "delighted" in it. Had this delight not been present, the tree would have withered and its roots would have been severed. This is the "gaze of a Gnostic" upon the world; a gaze that perceives, behind every growth and every fertility, a divine love-making and an ecstasy of being. Therefore, the emergence of everything stems not from suffering and hardship, but from an existential joy and bliss. This, without a doubt, is one of Mowlana's deepest and most fundamental teachings in the Masnavi: existence is born of love and delight.

Key takeaways

• Every existing thing, from human children to tree fruits, is the outcome and testimony of a preceding 'joyous state' and pleasure.
• Existence, in itself, is not a product of suffering but the fruit of cosmic love-making and delight.
• Through this analogy, Mowlana offers a gnostic and affirmative view of being, where every part of the world holds a joyous meaning and purpose.
• This world is the manifestation of a grand celebration and a sacred embrace, whose offspring are countless phenomena.
• Pleasure and ecstasy are the driving and creative forces behind the curtain of cosmic formation.