M6:106 — کی بیایید از جهت تا بی‌جهات / تا ندراند شما را گرگ مات

Translation: Come from the realm of direction towards the formless, Lest the wolf of 'mate' devours you. Meaning: This verse calls the listener to transcend the boundaries of the material world and sensory perception, urging a journey towards a shapeless, boundless realm where salvation from spiritual and intellectual paralysis is found.

This verse, in my estimation, encapsulates the zenith of Rumi's epistemological doctrine. He declares, addressing us directly: Come from the realm of direction towards the formless / From form, come to formlessness / From direction, come to no-direction. This is a clear invitation to liberate oneself from the prison of frameworks, the limitations of spatial and temporal 'directions,' and indeed, from anything that possesses a form or a shape. 'Formlessness' (bi-ṣūratī), as I have often iterated, is one of the pivotal insights presented in the Masnavi; it posits that this world of forms has emerged from the formless. The call to 'no-direction' (bī-jihāt) signifies an imperative to transcend the sensible, conditioned world, moving towards that unlimited and eternal truth which cannot be contained within any single direction, being itself the creator of all directions. This is an existential summons to relinquish all determinations and attain the undetermined essence of being.

I argue that Rumi, here, is delineating the grave dangers that threaten the human spirit. He warns: Lest the wolf of 'mate' devours you. What is this 'wolf of mate' (gurg-i māt)? The wolf of 'mate' symbolizes intellectual and spiritual paralysis, that stagnation and bewilderment which traps individuals in the pit of attachments and conventional thought patterns. In our prayers, we utter 'Guide us to the straight path' ten times daily, not merely due to potential missteps in action, but primarily due to misguidance in understanding. Attachments and affections can so deeply settle in the heart as to blind one's eyes and ears, making the crooked path appear straight. This state of being 'mated' (like in chess) is akin to what the Quran describes as athaqaltum ilā al-arḍ—the soul's heavy descent to and clinging to the earth. It is when one's head is so sunken in the pit of material concerns that there is no longer the desire, nor even the capacity, to lift it and behold the sun of truth. The 'wolf of mate' prevents you from seeing the 'star without direction' (sitārah-yi bī-jihāt) that Rumi speaks of, a star that is the manifestation of divine speech, exerting its influence upon 'ears seeking revelation' (gūsh-hā-yi waḥy-jū).

In my view, Rumi is also, in this context, critiquing fikr (thought) and the 'partial intellect' (ʿaql-i juzwī). In close proximity, he states: Where is thought? There, all is pure light / This word 'thought' is for you, O thinker! In the realm of no-direction, which is the realm of absolute light, there is no place for fikr in the sense of moving from the unknown to the known. Thought is for those who encounter darkness and ambiguity; however, in the divine realm, all is pure light, all is present and manifest. Therefore, if one attempts to journey to the formless using 'thought,' this journey will inevitably lead to 'mate,' because the tool of thought is not designed for that domain. Human intellect, for all its sharpness and inquisitiveness, becomes 'weak-footed' (pāy sust) in this realm. Where the heart is ruined and the body bloated, the intellect may twist and turn in worldly matters, but in abandoning desires and soaring to the formless, it is 'nothing, nothing' (hīch-i hīch).

Thus, Rumi's invitation to come from direction to no-direction is a call to free the sense-bound, materialistic intellect from its own trap, so that it may, with a different instrument—namely, love and intuition—soar towards truth. This liberation is not merely salvation from the 'wolf of mate' of stagnation, but an entry into the infinite realm of light and presence that shatters every constraint.

Key takeaways

• The call to transcend the limitations of the material world and sensory perception ('direction') towards the boundless, formless Truth ('no-direction').
• The 'wolf of mate' symbolizes intellectual stagnation, spiritual blindness, and the paralysis of the soul trapped by attachments and habits, preventing access to the formless.
• In the realm of 'no-direction' (the divine realm), all is 'pure light,' and there is no place for 'thought' in the sense of moving from unknown to known; it is a domain of intuition, not logic.
• The partial intellect, though 'sharp-headed,' is 'weak-footed' when confronting the grandeur of the formless and cannot guide one alone.
• Liberation from 'direction' is not merely an escape from stagnation but an entry into an infinite realm of absolute presence.
• Rumi employs analogies and imagery to convey these infinite truths, aiming to 'unfreeze the frozen intellect.'