M1:424 — بی‌خبر کان عکسِ آن مرغ هواست / بی‌خبر که اصل آن سایه کجاست

Translation: Unaware that it [the shadow] is the reflection of that bird flying in the air; Unaware of where the origin (aṣl) of that shadow lies. Meaning: The heedless person mistakes a mere shadow for reality, oblivious that it's just a reflection of a true essence soaring high above, and ignorant of that essence's true source.

I place immense emphasis on this verse, for it holds the key to understanding humanity's fundamental missteps. Here, Mawlana, with a brilliant and eloquent allegory, portrays the state of the heedless human: one who has cast their gaze downward, fixed on the dust. He describes a hunter who, instead of pursuing the real bird in the sky, chases its shadow on the ground. It is at this juncture that he states: Unaware that it [the shadow] is the reflection of that bird flying in the air; Unaware of where the origin (aṣl) of that shadow lies.

This unawareness stems from a failure to “look up.” Mawlana declares elsewhere: “Know that the call that drew you upward / Is a call that came from above.” This means that humanity, left to its own devices and perpetual downward gaze, will never grasp reality. A call must come from “above”; a pull must redirect one’s attention to the transcendent, prompting one to raise their head and comprehend that what flits across the ground is merely a phantom of a higher reality. I perceive Mawlana himself as that “caller,” standing on the summit, beckoning us upward.

What is this shadow, and what is that bird?

Mawlana’s verses here encompass several interpretations. The first and most renowned refers to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. Plato, the great Greek philosopher, likens humans to prisoners in a dark cave, bound from birth in such a way that they can only gaze at the wall opposite them. Outside the cave, beings pass by, and their shadows are cast upon that wall. The cave dwellers, having never seen outside, mistake these shadows for reality itself, and their lives are shaped by their understanding of these very shadows. This world of ours, in Plato’s and subsequently our mystics’ view, is a world of shadows—a world that is not absolute reality, but merely a reflection of the world of true “Forms” or “Ideas.” That bird in the air is precisely the Platonic “Form” and the mystical “Truth” whose shadow falls into this world.

From this perspective, Mawlana dismisses all sciences that pursue the understanding of these shadows as “stable-building knowledge” (ʿilm-e banā-ye ākhur); knowledge for humanity’s animal survival in this earthly stable, rather than knowledge that returns them to their true origin (aṣl). In contrast, he positions the “science of love” (ʿilm-e ʿāsheqī), which is the knowledge of that real bird in the sky. Shaykh Bahāʾī, of course, goes even further, calling material sciences the excrement of Satan. But the core point remains: liberation from the bonds of shadows and turning one’s gaze towards the essence and root of existence.

A second interpretation is that humans often pursue their own imaginings and perceptions, believing they have grasped reality. These imaginings are also a type of shadow—the shadow of inner aspirations and desires that distract one from external reality. Just as in the sayings of Bahāʾ Walad, Mawlana’s father, a person might experience union with an “imaginary” beloved in dreams, Mawlana here shows that such “imagining” can also be deceptive, captivating one’s attention.

Thus, this verse serves as a fundamental warning: let us be vigilant not to squander our precious life and capital in the pursuit of shadows. We must raise our heads, heed the call from “above,” and seek the real bird in the sky of truth, not its fleeting and deceptive shadow on the ground.

Key takeaways

• Most humans live in heedlessness, mistaking shadows for reality.
• What we pursue on the ground is often merely a reflection of a higher truth in the sky.
• The call of truth always comes from "above"; one must raise their head to hear it.
• Chasing shadows means squandering one's life and spiritual capital in a futile pursuit.
• Sciences focused solely on this world of shadows are deemed "stable-building knowledge" and do not return humanity to its true origin.