M6:2239 — آن الف در بسم پنهان کرد ایست / هست او در بسم و هم در بسم نیست

Translation: That alif in Bism hid its being; it is in Bism and also not in Bism. Meaning: This verse refers to the grammatical phenomenon of the alif in Bismillāh (بِسمِ), where the initial alif of Ism (اسم, name) is suppressed in writing, illustrating a paradox of simultaneous presence and absence, a form conceptually there but visibly effaced.

This verse presents one of Rumi’s most subtle and brilliant allegories for the concepts of fanā (annihilation) and tawhīd (Divine Unity). Rumi first speaks of the fire of unity that consumes all imagination, truth, and multiplicity. He then invokes the noble Quranic verse, «كُلُّ شَيْءٍ هَالِكٌ إِلَّا وَجْهَهُ» (Everything will perish except His Face). The verse states that everything is perishing (hâlik), not that it will perish (sayahlik). This implies that even as it exists, it fundamentally does not exist on its own; its being is conditional, a contingent identity, not self-subsistent or self-sustaining.

In this context, Rumi turns to the example of Bismillāh. We all know that the word Ism (اسم, meaning 'name') begins with an alif. However, in the compound form Bismillāh (بِسمِ اللّٰه, 'in the name of God'), that initial alif is not written; instead of bi-ism, we write and say Bism. Rumi draws a profound mystical insight from this subtle grammatical detail: آن الف در بسم پنهان کرد ایست — 'That alif in Bism hid its being.' This alif is present in Bism because it carries the meaning of 'name,' yet it is not in Bism because its physical form has vanished, effaced, and integrated into it.

This alif serves as an allegory for the spiritual seeker (the sālik). Rumi previously instructs: در وجوه و وجه او رو خرج شو — 'lose yourself in His aspects and His Essence.' The seeker, like this alif, effaces their own identity in the Divine Reality. From the perspective of individual existence and distinct form, the seeker becomes 'non-existent,' yet from the perspective of meaningful presence and impression within the singular Truth, they 'exist.' This fanā is not destruction but dissolution, a return to the origin, an exit from multiplicity and an entrance into unity.

Just as the fire of Divine Unity burns away all conceptual frameworks, thoughts, and imaginings, leaving no quarter for either imagination or reality in their distinct forms, so too does this alif become effaced in Bism. Our minds are fond of multiplicity, dissecting everything into myriad parts. But in the fire of tawhīd, these mental multiplicities also vanish, and the formless unity reveals itself. The alif in Bism symbolizes this formlessness and dissolution into unity; it possesses being, but in a different way, not in its distinct form, but within the greater whole that has absorbed it.

Key takeaways

• The alif in Bism symbolizes fanā (self-annihilation) in Divine Unity.
• It illustrates conceptual presence despite formal absence, akin to God's veiled presence.
• Rumi extends the Quranic notion of 'perishing' (hâlik) to the contingent existence of all beings.
• The fire of unity effaces mental and formal multiplicities to reveal formless Truth.
• This allegory explains the seeker's path of relinquishing independent identity and being absorbed into the Divine Essence.