M6:2972 — بود عبدالغوث هم‌جنس پری / چون پری نه سال در پنهان‌پری

Translation: Abdol-Ghawth was of the same kind as a peri / Like a peri, for nine years he dwelled in hidden-peri-ness. Meaning: For nine years, Abdol-Ghawth lived a life akin to that of a hidden spirit or a fairy, veiled from the sight of ordinary people.

Here, we encounter a profound concept of metaphysics and the unseen world. Mawlana tells us that Abdol-Ghawth, one of God's saints, "was of the same kind as a peri." The Persian word "Pari," equivalent to the English "fairy," is typically used for unseen and often beautiful beings, and in popular culture, for female jinn. However, for Mawlana and pre-modern thinkers, these were not mere fables; they were realities woven into the fabric of existence.

As I have often emphasized, we have no reason to deny this complex metaphysics. The cosmos is far vaster than can be contained within our known mechanisms. Just as the discovery of microbes revolutionized our lives and introduced unseen entities into our understanding of reality, earlier generations also believed in the existence of angels, jinn, and other beings, analyzing and explaining their lives based on the assumption of their intervention. "Peri" here symbolizes beings that are not of this material world, are invisible, and move in another dimension of existence.

The phrase "for nine years he dwelled in hidden-peri-ness" holds a deeply profound meaning. These nine years do not signify physical concealment but rather refer to living in an unseen, extraordinary existential state; a state of complete absorption in the spiritual realm and the unseen. Saints and mystics sometimes pass through phases in their lives where they distance themselves from ordinary sight and worldly rules, as if living in a state of "hidden-peri-ness." This could refer to a period of rigorous spiritual discipline, prolonged seclusion, or complete immersion in the realm of formlessness and gnosis (razshenāsi). As Mawlana repeatedly emphasizes in the Mathnavi, this world of forms emerges from the formless, and the mystic seeks that formlessness and its hidden secrets.

Allow me to add a linguistic point, though Mawlana doesn't explicitly touch upon it here, it's a type of correction I sometimes make in my discussions of Arabic: some mistakenly use "ajinna" as the plural of "jinn," whereas "ajinna" is the plural of "janīn" (fetus), and the plural of "jinn" in Arabic is "jānn."

Key takeaways

• Mawlana's worldview embraces hidden and supernatural beings as real constituents of existence.
• "Peri" serves as a metaphor for an invisible existential state, beyond ordinary human experience.
• The duration of "nine years" signifies a prolonged period of asceticism, seclusion, or complete absorption in the spiritual and unseen realms.
• This hidden existence is qualitative and ontological, not merely physical, akin to the mystic's immersion in the realm of formlessness.
• Pre-modern understanding of the world extends beyond our current known mechanisms, encompassing belief in hidden domains.