M6:2897 — باطل‌اند و می‌نمایندم رشد / زانک باطل باطلان را می‌کشد

Translation: They are false, yet they appear to me as truth and guidance. For the false attracts those who are also false. Meaning: This verse describes how transient and untrue entities present themselves as truth, and how the human being, due to an inherent propensity towards falsehood, is unwittingly drawn to them.

This verse, with its profound and philosophical tone, delves into the deceptive nature of false entities and their allure for humanity. Rumi does not merely understand "bāṭil" as 'wrong' or 'incorrect,' but rather as 'nothingness,' 'void,' or 'non-existence.' This is precisely the meaning attributed by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to the famous Arabic verse, "ʾalā kullu shayʾin mā khalā ʾAllāha bāṭilun / wa kullu naʿīmin lā maḥālata zāʾilun" (Indeed, everything other than God is false, and every blessing will inevitably vanish), which he declared to be "ʾaṣdaq baytin qālat-hu al-ʿarab" (the truest verse ever spoken by Arabs). Everything, save God, is bāṭil, meaning 'nothing' or 'non-existent.' Rumi states in this verse that these bāṭil entities, which are inherently hollow and meaningless, present themselves to him as "roshd." "Roshd" here signifies 'truth' and 'guidance,' derived from the root of "ershād" (to guide to truth). This means that what is nothing, possessing no truth, masquerades as truth and a guiding path, and this is where the deception begins. But why is humanity drawn to these bāṭil affairs? Rumi's answer lies in the second hemistich: "Z-ānk bāṭil bāṭilān-rā mī-kashad" (For the false attracts those who are also false). This is a universal law in the cosmos: like attracts like. Since human beings, when compared to the absolute existence of Truth, are themselves a form of bāṭil—a contingent and dependent existence, a nothingness in the guise of being—they are drawn towards other bāṭil entities. This attraction speaks of a hidden congruence. Humanity, having originated from non-existence and journeying towards annihilation, gravitates towards things that carry the hue of virtual existence but are devoid of true reality. Rumi further elucidates this principle of homologous attraction throughout the Mathnawī with various analogies: straw and amber, the stomach and bread, the thirsty liver and water, the eye and beauties, and the brain and pleasant scents. All these examples illustrate how everything tends towards what is kindred to it. Therefore, if bāṭil things attract those who are bāṭil, it is because there are also traces of falsehood and imperfection within us that make this mutual attraction possible. Consequently, the verse contains an implicit plea to the Almighty; a supplication for divine aid and liberation from this inner pull towards that which is non-existent and nothing but delusion. This is a cry from a servant who sees himself vulnerable to this deception and lacks the strength to resist it without assistance.

Key takeaways

• For Rumi, bāṭil signifies not merely 'wrong,' but 'nothingness' and 'non-existence.'
• False entities present themselves to humanity disguised as 'truth' and 'guidance.'
• Humanity's own contingent nature (a 'conditional existence') is what draws it to the bāṭil.
• The principle of 'like attracts like' governs both inner and outer attractions.
• The verse implicitly contains a hidden plea to God for liberation from the allure of falsehood.