M6:21 — قند او را بد مدد از بحر جود / پس ز سرکهٔ اهل عالم می‌فزود

Translation: To his sugar, help arrived from the Sea of Generosity, Thus, from the vinegar of the world's people, it increased (in sweetness).

Meaning: This verse suggests that despite the harshness and bitterness (vinegar) shown by ordinary people towards a divine saint, the boundless grace and generosity of God (Sea of Generosity) sustained and increased the saint's inherent sweetness (sugar), transforming external negativity into internal augmentation.

This verse exemplifies Mawlana's profound wisdom regarding the order of creation and divine governance, where apparent opposites exist not for mere conflict but for mutual completion and transcendence. Mawlana employs the crucial metaphor of sekanjabin (oxymel)—a blend of vinegar (khal) and honey/sugar (angabin)—where each component, potentially harmful to certain temperaments on its own, combines to form a balanced and beneficial drink. This metaphor is key to understanding Mawlana's worldview, in which divine 'wrath' (qahr) and 'grace' (lotf), 'ugliness' and 'beauty,' 'bitterness' and 'sweetness' are perpetually intertwined. It is not possible to discard the 'vinegars' and retain only the 'honeys'; both have come into being by divine command and play their part in the cosmic order.

I find that Mawlana presents the world as a vast sekanjabin, containing both vinegar and sugar. Vinegar symbolizes divine strictness (qahr-e ilāhi), representing what appears harsh, bitter, or detrimental. Sugar, or honey, conversely, signifies divine grace (lotf-e ilāhi), embodying what is perceived as good and sweet. Crucially, these elements emerge not by chance but with divine wisdom and purpose; they neither arrive nor depart by our command. Divine administration dictates their coexistence, and, remarkably, their combination yields a beneficial third entity that carries the advantages of both while neutralizing their individual harms. This perspective transcends a purely ethical or aesthetic view of the world, which might focus solely on goodness and beauty while shying away from evil and ugliness. Instead, it speaks to a deeper wisdom that considers these opposites as essential components of a balanced whole.

Mawlana elevates this idea through the example of Noah. He recounts that during Noah's nine centuries of prophetic calling, his people 'poured vinegars' upon him, meaning they met him with harshness, bitterness, and ill-will. Yet, in response to this 'vinegar of the world's people,' God's 'Sea of Generosity' (bahr-e jud) continuously supplied Noah's 'sugar.' The striking point is that the verse does not merely state that Noah's sweetness was preserved despite these vinegars, but rather, 'Thus, from the vinegar of the world's people, it increased (in sweetness).' This implies that confronting the world's hardships and bitterness does not break the saints; instead, it augments their inner sweetness and spiritual fortitude. It is as if the sekanjabin of their very being becomes sweeter and more potent through these adversities.

This is a profound lesson, signifying that the world and its challenges should not be viewed merely as contradictions but rather as the cooperation of opposites toward perfection. What we label as 'bad,' or what appears detrimental to us, is not necessarily a flaw in creation. Instead, it may be an integral part of a system whose axis is not solely 'human beings.' This deeply pluralistic worldview embraces the simultaneous existence of the 'dog' and the 'moon,' believing that each acts according to its inherent nature, and it is within these differences that the cosmic order attains its perfection.

Key takeaways

• The world is a blend of divine strictness (qahr) and grace (lotf), where opposites exist for balance and transcendence.
• Divine saints transform the world's bitterness and hardships into their own inner sweetness and spiritual fortitude.
• External opposition does not diminish but rather increases the inner resolve and spiritual sweetness of a true wali.
• Divine governance (qazā) orchestrates the combination of opposites, like vinegar and sugar, to create balanced and beneficial outcomes (oxymel).
• Human beings are not the sole measure of creation; apparent good and evil, sweetness and bitterness, hold a wise and proportionate place within the totality of existence.