M6:753 — با زبان حال می‌گفتی بسی / که ز محشر حشر را پرسد کسی

Translation: With the tongue of your state, you would say much: / "Would anyone ask of Resurrection from Resurrection itself?" Meaning: This verse indicates that the Prophet, through his very being and spiritual state, would answer those who inquired about the timing of the Resurrection, implying that Resurrection is an inner, present reality embodied in his own existence.

I have often remarked that Rumi views truth with a timeless gaze, and this beyt is a clear testament to that claim. Here, the discourse revolves around Qiyāmat (Resurrection), but not the promised, ultimate Qiyāmat that will manifest at the end of time, overturning worlds. No, the discussion is of a spiritual uprising that is established here and now, within the being of a perfect human.

People would approach the Prophet and ask, "How far is the road to Qiyāmat?" as if Resurrection were a temporal event, subject to distances and durations in time. This is a common, layperson's question about something whose nature is entirely different. The questioners seek a sign from the future, while the sign is manifest right before them, embodied in the Prophet himself.

The Prophet's response is delivered "with the tongue of his state" (zabān-e ḥāl). He utters no words, yet his very being, his breath, his presence, is a complete answer in itself. The astonishment and rhetorical question hidden in his expression convey this very idea: "Would anyone ask of Resurrection from Resurrection itself?" This implies, "I am the Resurrection itself, the Great Gathering. Look at me, and you will witness Qiyāmat. I am the reviver of the dead, the awakener of history's slumbering souls and humans."

This meaning is intimately tied to the phrase "Muhammad was a hundred Resurrections in cash." The Prophet not only brings tidings of Qiyāmat but is its concrete embodiment—a Qiyāmat that is immediate and direct. This resurrection is a resurrection of knowledge, a resurrection of spirit and soul.

It is here that the Sufi saying, "Mūtū qabla an tamūtū" (Die before you die), becomes relevant. The Prophet and the saints, through voluntary and chosen death, depart from this world before natural death, soaring toward another realm. From there, they bring back "this sound and voice" (sīt o ṣaut)—this awareness, this revelation, these teachings. This voluntary death leads to a second birth, and anyone who experiences such a birth becomes a living embodiment of Qiyāmat.

Rumi does not limit this truth solely to the Prophet. He applies the same concept to the Divine Friends (Awliyā Allāh), stating, "Their inner being holds a hundred Resurrections in cash." These saints are like hot furnaces, warming anyone who sits beside them. Their hidden miracles and wonders are not found in parting seas or raising the dead, but in awakening dormant souls and establishing resurrection within receptive hearts. They are themselves the "Great Gathering," and to ask them about "Resurrection" is sheer ignorance. Qiyāmat, as Rumi portrays it, is an entirely inner and transformative phenomenon that can occur at any moment within the human soul, and the Prophet and the saints are the living, immediate manifestations of this transformation.

Key takeaways

• Resurrection (Qiyāmat) is an inner, present reality embodied in the perfect human, not merely a future, temporal event.
• The Prophet's answer to questions about Qiyāmat is given through his 'tongue of state' (zabān-e ḥāl), meaning his very being is the answer, not just his words.
• The concept that "Muhammad was a hundred Resurrections in cash" signifies that the Prophet embodied the actual resurrection of knowledge and spirit.
• The Sufi principle of "Die before you die" is the path to experiencing inner Qiyāmat and a second birth.
• Divine Friends (Awliyā Allāh) can also contain 'a hundred Resurrections in cash' within themselves, acting as awakeners of slumbering souls.