M6:3637 — تا به هر سو که نگرد آن خوش‌عذار / روی او را بیند او بی‌اختیار

Translation: So that to whatever side that fair-faced one may gaze, He would involuntarily behold her face.

Meaning: This verse initially describes Zuleikha's stratagem of filling her chamber with her own images so Joseph would involuntarily see her face; however, Rumi immediately expands this analogy, applying it to the relationship between God and the world: the entire cosmos becomes a mirror reflecting the face of the Eternal Beloved, where for the enlightened eye, nothing but Him is seen.

Rumi, in this verse, alludes to Zuleikha's cunning stratagem of how she adorned her chamber with countless depictions of her own face to ensnare Joseph. Her intent was that Joseph, even if he cast his gaze downwards in modesty or sought to flee, would be forced to see Zuleikha's face wherever he looked, thus becoming enamored of her.

However, Rumi, immediately after describing this earthly ruse, takes a profound spiritual flight, elevating this very same analogy to the divine realm. This world, unlike Zuleikha's chamber designed for deception, is a manifestation of divine beauty. For the "enlightened ones" (dīda-rowshanān), God has made all six directions of the cosmos a locus for His signs and forms. As Rumi puts it, the world is a mirror in which God is manifest, and the greatest mirror is humanity itself, created "in His own image." Gnostics and the enlightened, when they gaze upon anything—from animals and named objects to oceans and mountains—perceive the beauty of the Divine Lord. As Baba Taher said: "To whatever I gaze, mountain, plain, or stream, / A sign of Your graceful stature, I deem."

I have often used the metaphor that every existent being is a window, an aperture, through which God extends His head and reveals Himself to us. This world is replete with the Face of God, as the Quran states: "Wheresoever you turn, there is the Face of God" (2:115). This means that the walls and fabric of the cosmos are inscribed not with His reflection, but with His very presence. For the lover, "you observe God within the water," meaning even in drinking water, one beholds the face of the Beloved, much like the Arab poet who exclaimed: "And never did I intend to drink water from a cup / But You were my companion, but I saw a phantom of You in the glass." He sees the Beloved's image in every sip of water.

It is here that Rumi draws a decisive distinction between the lover and the non-lover: "He who is not a lover, he, in the water, / Sees his own face, O discerning one." The egoistic and self-absorbed individual sees only themselves, even in a mirror. But love liberates humanity from this ego and self-absorption. When the lover's form perishes in the Beloved, who then does he see in the mirror? Undoubtedly, the Beloved. This annihilation in the Beloved transforms one's perception, such that one even "sees God's beauty in the face of a houri." That is, even in the most beautiful forms of the world, one attributes beauty to the Eternal Beloved, not to the finite forms themselves.

This insight is rooted in Divine Ghayrat (Jealousy/Zeal). God is Ghayūr; He does not tolerate any other beloved or worshipped entity in the world besides Himself. Divine Ghayrat leaves no "other" in the world, and all that is other than Him is consumed in the eyes of the lover, so that only "He" remains. As Rumi declares: "There remained 'Except God,' all else departed / Rejoice, O Love, the devourer of partnership, the mighty." Love consumes partnership and accepts no rival. This Ghayrat is directed towards sincere lovers, desiring that they not fall prey to false idols. Thus, the world for the lover becomes a complete manifestation and mirror of the Divine, and wherever one looks, one involuntarily sees His incomparable beauty.

Key takeaways

• Rumi uses the analogy of Zuleikha's stratagem to extend it to divine creation: the world is a mirror reflecting the face of God.
• For the "enlightened ones" and gnostics, every part of the cosmos is a window or aperture through which God manifests Himself.
• To see God in everything is a sign of true love; in contrast, the non-lover sees only themselves in the mirror of existence.
• Love liberates humans from self-centeredness and ego, shifting their perception from self-vision to God-vision.
• Divine Ghayrat (Jealousy) means God does not tolerate any other worshipped or beloved entity in the world, and love is a "consumer of partnership," burning away all that is other than Him so that only He is seen.