M6:2202 — این همه ترسنده‌اند از نیک و بد / هیچ ترسنده نترسد خود ز خود

Translation: All these fear good and evil; No fearful one ever fears himself. Meaning: Rumi highlights a profound paradox: people are preoccupied with fearing external good or evil, yet they utterly neglect to fear their own inner selves, which are often the true origin of their actions and fears.

This couplet is one of those profound statements that not only challenges a psychological truth but also fundamentally reorients our epistemological foundations. Rumi says: "All these fear good and evil; / No fearful one ever fears himself." This statement appears simple at first glance, but it carries a deep philosophical and mystical weight, intricately woven into Rumi's intellectual framework.

I have emphasized before that Rumi's worldview revolves around the doctrine that God is the absolute Agent. As you know, true monotheists and mystics who have the surmeh (kohl) of divine unity in their eyes, when they utter "La ilaha illa Allah" (There is no god but God), they are not merely affirming God's oneness, but also His singular agency in the world. As Rumi puts it, God's role is such that He can even turn a philosopher into a sophist; He overrides all secondary causes and declares that there is no power or might in this world except by His will: "La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah al-Ali al-Azim" (There is no power or might except with God, the Most High, the Most Great). In such a system, all other beings are but shadows, specters, and existences dependent on another. So, if the true Agent is only He, what could be the source of our fears?

Continuing this discussion, Rumi considers fear to be the pillar of the world, stating: "God made the pillar of this world from fear; / Each risked their life out of fear." This fear is a tremendous force that compels people to act. But what is this fear of? He immediately concludes that people fear good and evil outside themselves, while they hold no fear of their own selves. And this is where the matter becomes complex.

In my view, the root of this negligence lies in two points. Firstly, we typically concern ourselves with what is perceptible and grasped by our outer senses. External good and evil are manifest and tangible. But Rumi teaches us that "Truth, the ruler over all, is one who is nigh, even if not felt." This Truth is the proximate and real cause of all events, including fear, yet it is not perceived by the senses of this natural realm. It is perceived, but not by the outer senses. We possess five inner senses that perceive it, senses that Rumi deems gold compared to the copper of the outer senses: "There are five senses other than these five; / Those are like red gold, these like copper." Therefore, the lack of fear of oneself stems from a failure to intuitively perceive our inner truth.

The second point, perhaps even deeper, pertains to the nature of the "self." We often mistake the "self" for this body and our outward identity. However, Rumi has repeatedly explained that "the soul is not in the body." This is a common misconception. The reality is that "the body is the manifestation of the soul." The soul is reflected and manifested in the body; it is not a physical entity that has dissolved into another physical entity. The relationship between soul and body is one of the most difficult philosophical mysteries, which Attar also alluded to: "The body became soul, the soul descended into the body; / No one crafts a spell more wondrous than this." The soul is like a ray of light that shines upon the body, bestowing upon it life, beauty, and capability, and when this ray withdraws, the body is nothing but putrid dust. This "self" referred to in the couplet is not this perishable body, but that spiritual realm which is a manifestation of the Real (God), and from which our actions originate. If absolute agency belongs to God, and we are merely the manifestation and channel of that agency, then this "self," which is the locus of the Real's manifestation, can simultaneously be the channel for both good and evil. In other words, this "self" chooses how the Real manifests through it, whether as good or evil.

Thus, the fear of oneself in this profound sense is the fear of one's immense capacity to manifest both good and evil, the fear of that agency which emerges through us. This fear is not born of weakness or inability, but of power and responsibility. It is the fear of ignorance regarding one's true place in existence and one's relationship with the Real. With this couplet, Rumi invites us to a profound introspection: as long as we remain oblivious to this true "self" and fail to perceive it with our inner senses, our fears will always remain superficial and directed at external phenomena, while the true source of all fears and all good and evil lies within our own essence and in our relationship with the Most High. This is an invitation to meditate upon one's own self and to open the inner eyes to see the truth of the "self."

Key takeaways

• Humanity commonly fears external good and evil but remains oblivious to its own self, the true origin of its thoughts and actions.
• Rumi identifies God as the ultimate proximate cause of all phenomena and fears, a reality not apprehended by the outer senses.
• The absence of self-fear stems from the inadequacy of physical senses to perceive inner truth and the neglect of one's internal perceptive faculties (the five inner senses).
• The 'self' to be feared is not the perishable body, but the spiritual dimension that manifests the Real and serves as the vessel for both good and evil.
• The relationship between soul and body is not one of inhabitation; rather, the body is the 'manifestation' of the soul, and self-fear is the fear of this manifestation's immense capacity in channeling divine will.
• This couplet is an invitation to profound self-knowledge and to open the inner eye to grasp the true place of the 'self' in the cosmos and the immense responsibility it carries.