M6:751 — زادهٔ ثانیست احمد در جهان / صد قیامت بود او اندر عیان

Translation: Ahmad (the Prophet) is a second-born in the world; He was a hundred Resurrections manifest to the eye.

Meaning: This couplet asserts that Prophet Muhammad (Ahmad) underwent a profound spiritual rebirth within himself, and his very appearance in the world was equivalent to a hundred cosmic resurrections and epochal transformations.

This profound couplet from the sixth book of the Masnavi speaks of the 'second birth' (زادهٔ ثانی) of the esteemed Prophet Ahmad (Muhammad) and his unparalleled role in bringing about cosmic 'Resurrections' (قیامت). I am convinced that Mowlana here speaks of 'death,' not as the cessation of life, but as a death of the self for the sake of profound transformation. It is a death that carries one from infancy to maturity, transmutes dust into gold, and from nothingness, brings forth new being. Heavenly religions, in my view, are all dedicated to training us for this very 'death'—to teach the path of metamorphosis and rebirth, so that each individual may, from the dust of their own existence, launch forth a Simurgh.

Mowlana explicitly states that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) 'was a hundred Resurrections manifest' (صد قیامت بود نقد). This is not mere poetic hyperbole or a lyrical expression like Sa'di's verse, 'With such a captivating stature as yours, it is itself a Resurrection that you reveal.' Those are expressions of passionate love, where 'Resurrection' signifies an 'uprising' or a 'standing up.' But Mowlana goes further; he asserts that the Prophet inaugurated a hundred Resurrections, both in the external world and within his inner being. His being 'second-born' signifies a rebirth, a new life, and a transformed identity.

The phrase 'for he dissolved in the annihilation of tying and untying' (زانکه حل شد در فنای حل و عقد) holds a deeply profound meaning. 'Tying and untying' (حل و عقد) refers to the binding and loosening of knots; it signifies the ordinary market of the world, a sum of gains and losses, problems and solutions. The Prophet, by 'dissolving in the annihilation of tying and untying,' meaning by annihilating his ego and self-interest in this mundane, worldly mechanism, closed the door to this conventional market and opened another, a market of divine love and gnosis. Mowlana himself says elsewhere: 'Reason saw beyond his market, markets upon markets,' and 'Love says there is a path, and I have traveled it many times.' Thus, this 'annihilation' signifies closing the path of mercantile reason and opening the boundless path of love.

Even from a purely historical perspective, the Prophet of Islam truly initiated a 'Resurrection.' The advent of Islam and its unparalleled speed of growth and dissemination in the world resemble a historical miracle. Pre-Islamic history offered no forewarning of such a future. Some revolutions and historical transformations, though monumental, have prior indicators; for instance, many observers spoke of the collapse of the Pahlavi regime years before the Iranian Revolution. However, regarding the emergence of Islam in Arabia at that time, with its warring tribes and rudimentary culture, there were no signs of such a 'Resurrection.' An 'unlettered' man brought forth a Book that became the foundational text for thinkers worldwide, and its teachings spread so rapidly that all were stunned. This dry land suddenly became a fertile ground for the growth of thinkers, poets, jurists, and philosophers, and a new world came into being. If we do not call this a 'Resurrection,' then what shall we call it? It was a 'Gathering' (حشر), a 'new life' within a dead history; a profound awakening that arose among the slumbering peoples of the world.

Key takeaways

• The 'second birth' is central to human inner transformation and the ultimate aim of religions; it is a death that signifies metamorphosis and becoming anew.
• Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the perfect embodiment of this spiritual 'death and rebirth'; he was a veritable, manifest Resurrection.
• The phrase 'a hundred Resurrections' refers both to the Prophet's profound spiritual transformation and to the unprecedented revolution he inaugurated in the Islamic world.
• From a historical perspective, the advent of Islam was a genuine 'miracle' and 'Resurrection' that no historian could have foreseen, transforming the world.
• By 'dissolving in the annihilation of tying and untying' (the world's mundane affairs), the Prophet closed the market of earthly gain and loss and opened a new market of divine love and gnosis.