M6:1015 — آنچ آن دم از لب صدیق جست / گر بگویم گم کنی تو پای و دست

Translation: What at that moment from the lips of the Truthful One (ṣiddīq) sprang forth, / If I were to tell it, you would lose your feet and hands (in bewilderment).Meaning: Rumi states that the words uttered by Abu Bakr the Truthful were of such profound and extraordinary nature that if revealed, they would utterly bewilder and disorient the listener.

Here, Rumi, following the captivating narrative of Bilal and Abu Bakr the Truthful, momentarily steps out of the story to illuminate a profound point that permeates the entire Masnavi: the issue of unity of agency (waḥdat-i fāʿilī). This couplet is a focal point for grasping the truth that, in Rumi's intellectual framework, there is only one true agent in the universe, and that is God. Rumi emphatically states that what flowed from Abu Bakr's lips at that specific moment was, in reality, not Abu Bakr's speech, but the very Word of God.

This assertion reveals another aspect of the doctrine of unity: that all apparent causes and instruments in the world are merely "veils" over the hands of God. We, due to the weakness of our limited perception, assume that these instruments are the true agents, whereas behind these curtains, it is only the mighty hand of God that acts. This is precisely our failure to perceive God's "agency without modality (fāʿiliyyat bi-kayf)"; that is, an agency that is not bound by any "how" and transcends our sensory and intellectual comprehension.

1The phrase "you would lose your feet and hands" signifies losing one's mental and sensory balance, or more precisely, profound bewilderment and astonishment. Rumi suggests that if he were to reveal that true speech—which was the word of God flowing through the tongue of the Truthful One—the sheer majesty and grandeur of it would leave the listener without the capacity to stand firm or to act in their accustomed ways. This loss of feet and hands is the result of encountering ultimate truth and absolute divine agency, which shatters all our mental foundations and disarms us before its magnificence. It marks the boundary where partial perception and everyday experience collapse, and truth reveals itself naked and unmediated.

Key takeaways

• The words of spiritual masters are manifestations of God's speech, not merely human discourse.
• God is the sole true agent in existence; apparent causes are mere veils over His mighty hand.
• Divine agency is 'without modality' (bi-kayf), transcending our sensory and intellectual comprehension.
• Encountering absolute truth and divine agency leads to profound bewilderment, shattering the foundations of ordinary perception.