M6:2275 — قوم معکوس‌اند اندر مشتها / خاک‌خوار و آب را کرده رها

Translation: The people are inverted in their desires; They eat earth and have abandoned the water.

Meaning: Mowlana asserts that humanity, due to negligence and worldliness, has inverted its natural inclinations and tastes, choosing the detrimental (earth) over life-giving spiritual sustenance (water).

This couplet paints a stark picture of the human condition when its natural disposition becomes inverted. Mowlana declares: "The people are inverted in their desires." What does this "inversion" truly signify? It means that what sound human nature and pure intellect deem good and desirable, these people shun; and that which is harmful, base, and detrimental, they eagerly pursue. This is not merely a cognitive error; it is a fundamental transformation, a radical distortion of their very "taste" and "temperament."

I submit that the root of this inversion, in Mowlana’s discourse, lies in a lack of deep reflection, a failure to contemplate the self, and an entanglement in worldly attachments. When one becomes heedless of oneself and the truth of one’s being, when one allows oneself to be enslaved by superficialities and material ties, the natural disposition and desires gradually corrupt and invert. Consequently, what is wholesome appears bitter, and what is lethal poison seems sweet. "They eat earth and have abandoned the water" precisely encapsulates this meaning: earth symbolizes base, material, fruitless, and even harmful pursuits, whereas water represents life, gnosis, spirituality, and truth. Those who should drink from the clear spring of life resort to consuming earth.

Mowlana immediately follows this couplet by contrasting this state with the "anti-prophetic disposition": "The people have an anti-prophetic disposition / They take the dragon as their cushion." This implies that what was delightful for prophets and saints – such as worship of God, intimacy with the Beloved, contemplation of the afterlife, freedom from attachments, and noble character – becomes arduous and undesirable for these inverted-natured people. Conversely, the dragon, a symbol of the commanding self (nafs-i ammara), carnal desires, and worldly attachments, becomes their comfort and support. This reliance on the dragon ultimately consumes and destroys them.

To grasp the profundity of this inversion, one can consider examples. The late Qazi Tabatabai, a mentor to Allameh Tabatabai, famously remarked, "If we die and reach Paradise, there will be no ritual prayer there. If we don't pray in Paradise, what kind of Paradise is that?" This reveals that for him, true pleasure and the good life resided in connection with God and worship. In contrast, the inverted-natured individual might find all values and pleasures in accumulating wealth or fame. This couplet, then, is a call to return to a sound disposition and to be freed from this diseased taste that abandons water for earth.

Key takeaways

• The inversion of human taste and disposition stems from self-neglect and entanglement in worldly attachments.
• Instead of life-giving spiritual water, people turn to base and harmful material pursuits (earth).
• This inversion alienates them from the prophetic temperament, leading them towards the commanding self and carnal desires (the dragon).
• Choosing earth over water signifies a distorted perception of true pleasure and genuine good in life.
• The couplet is a call to return to one's sound nature and to rediscover a true taste for spirituality.