M6:2347 — کو بگفتت در کمان تیری بنه / کی بگفتندت که اندر کش تو زه

Translation: Who told you to place an arrow in the bow? When did they tell you to draw the bowstring?

Meaning: This verse cautions against adding one's own interpretations or actions to divine or spiritual commands. The instruction was merely to place the arrow, not to draw the string and prepare to shoot.

This verse from the Masnavi delivers a sharp and resolute critique of human intellect's meddling in the realm of the divine and the spiritual. Rumi teaches us here that when confronted with subtle signs and transcendental commands, one must listen intently and follow completely, without adding anything of one's own. The instruction was simply: "Place an arrow in the bow." That was all. But the act of "drawing the bowstring" and preparing to shoot was a human addition, born of our own conjecture and presumption.

This is precisely the "deviant point" (نکته انحرافی) that often arises on the path of spiritual journey, diverting the seeker from their true destination. Philosophers, and indeed anyone who approaches the scripture and tradition with an autonomous intellect, frequently fall into this trap. They presume that "this makes no sense," or "this is not rational," and therefore feel compelled to add meaning or interpret it in a way that, in their view, becomes "logical." But Rumi states unequivocally that what our intellect fails to grasp is not an indication of the command's error; rather, it signifies our ignorance of its underlying secret. This "secret" (راز) is what in our mysticism we refer to as "mystery-keeping" (رازپوشی).

I have pointed out before that in the history of exegesis, numerous instances of this "meddling" (فضولی) can be observed. Interpreters or translators, under the impression that the original text is "incomplete" or "inadequate," and imagining they are "perfecting" it, add material in parentheses or as commentary that was never present in the original discourse. This is precisely the act of "drawing the bowstring" that God did not command, but which humanity adds out of its own presumption. This is overstepping boundaries and straying from the original command. True gnosis (معرفت) is surrender and absolute listening to the call of the unseen, not adding to or altering it.

Key takeaways

• When faced with a divine command, one must only listen and obey, without adding anything of one's own.
• Adding to divine instruction signifies intellectual presumption (فضولی) and a failure to grasp the underlying secret.
• What our intellect cannot comprehend is not necessarily erroneous; it is simply beyond our grasp.
• Many interpretations and re-interpretations stem from a mistaken presumption of incompleteness in revelation, which is a grave error.
• True gnosis (maʿrifat) lies in absolute surrender and listening to the call of the unseen.