M6:2258 — طالب گنجش مبین خود گنج اوست / دوست کی باشد به معنی غیر دوست

Translation: Do not deem him a seeker of treasure, for he himself is the treasure; How can the Friend, in reality, be other than the Friend?

Meaning: Mowlana asserts that one's aspirations and desires reveal their true self and essence; you are what you seek, and the true Beloved is never separate from the lover.

This verse is one of those through which Mowlana unveils a profound existential truth: the reality of the unity between the seeker and the sought, the wayfarer and the Beloved. He teaches us that whatever you seek in the world, whatever you aspire to, and whatever you make your ultimate goal, is in fact a manifestation of your very self, and that object of desire is a perfect mirror reflecting your own being.

I contend that Mowlana advises us to scrutinize our aspirations and desires carefully. If someone pursues a treasure of gold and silver, this indicates the limitation and narrow horizon of their seeking. Such a pursuit of material wealth reveals the very nature of the seeker. However, if one seeks a spiritual treasure and, for its sake, forsakes all outward riches, then they themselves are transformed into the reality of that treasure. This is an immutable law in the realm of meaning: you are what you seek, and wherever your desire leads, your personality is shaped in that very direction.

The awakening of desire and the soul's thirst is itself a divine sign; an indication that a ladder has been placed under the seeker's feet to ascend to the pinnacle of attainment. This thirst, this seeking, is not a futile suffering but the very seed of realization. When you are a seeker of truth, that truth is already inherently present within you. Is it not so that the seeking belongs to you? And can the Friend, in true essence, ever be other than the Friend? This is the eternal unity of which mystics speak; the oneness of the one who seeks with the one who is sought. It is for this reason that Mowlana, in subsequent verses, states that our prostration towards the qibla is, in reality, prostration towards our own self, because the truth of that qibla, before manifesting externally, resides within us.

Key takeaways

• Our desires and aspirations serve as mirrors reflecting our true existential reality.
• We are, in essence, what we seek; our personality is shaped by the nature of our ultimate quest.
• Spiritual longing and thirst are signs that a path to attainment and realization of that ideal already exists.
• The true treasure is not external to us; the seeker of spiritual treasure is the treasure itself.
• In the mystical realm, a profound unity exists between the seeker and the sought; the Friend is never separate from the Friend.