M6:3130 — آن سخا و رحم هم تو دادیش / کز سخاوت می‌فزودی شادیش

Translation: That generosity and mercy, too, You bestowed upon him, / For from that generosity, his joy increased. Meaning: This verse emphasizes that every positive human attribute, such as generosity and mercy, is a divine gift and ultimately originates from God's essence.

Here, I discern a profound point that Mevlana extends. This verse, "That generosity and mercy, too, You bestowed upon him, / For from that generosity, his joy increased," might at first glance appear to have a simple interpretation: every good quality in a human being is bestowed by God. This is an evident truth; God is the Creator of all good attributes and human capabilities. However, Mevlana also points to a deeper layer, which he calls the "original meaning" and states will be revealed elsewhere, but we can see its preliminaries here.

The phrase "You bestowed it" (تو دادیش) is not merely about creation. That is a primary meaning. The second, and more profound, meaning is that these attributes are manifestations and reflections of God Himself. That is, God has not simply created these attributes in the world and then withdrawn; rather, whenever generosity, mercy, or any beauty and perfection appears in the world, these are in fact reflections and emanations of the divine attributes themselves. This world is the stage for the manifestation of God's names and attributes.

In this view, not only good attributes, but even what we call "bad attributes" or "impure things," are, in relation to the absolute divine essence, His manifestations. This is where Mevlana's mystical and philosophical perspective reaches its zenith and connects with what great philosophers like Mulla Sadra have expounded. Mulla Sadra, in his Risalah fi Khalq al-A'mal (Treatise on the Creation of Actions), states that when light shines on impurities, the light itself does not become impure; it merely illuminates the impurity. Impurity and purity are, in truth, relative concepts that gain meaning in relation to us humans and our limitations; for absolute light, which is itself pure manifestation, these distinctions fade. If all were to become light, impurity and purity would no longer differ for them, as light shines equally upon all. As Mevlana expresses it: "Like what a sun I am, upon ruins I shine." These attributes are outwardly attributed to the created, but inwardly, they are all reflections of the Creator's attributes and are not separate from His essence. When a human acts generously, they are, in reality, manifesting divine generosity within and through their own being. This is the true understanding of Tawhid al-Af'ali (Unity of Actions) and Tawhid al-Sifati (Unity of Attributes) to which Mevlana refers.

Key takeaways

• Every good attribute manifested in a human being is, in essence, a divine gift.
• Divine attributes are not merely 'created'; rather, they are 'manifestations' of God's very essence.
• This world serves as the locus of manifestation for God's names and attributes.
• From a mystical perspective, even what is called 'impure' is, in the light of absolute truth, an emanation of the Divine; akin to light shining on impurities without itself becoming defiled.