M6:1280 — چند دزدی عشر از علم کتیب / تا شود رویت ملون هم‌چو سیب

Translation: How long will you steal scraps of knowledge from the scribes / So that your face may become colored like an apple? Meaning: This verse criticizes imposters who appropriate the words of true scholars and mystics, merely to adorn their outward appearance and gain esteem among people.

Here, I take Mowlana’s address from the old woman in the tale and direct it towards the false claimants of insight and gnosis—those who adorn themselves outwardly for people but possess no inner substance. These individuals are empty-handed, yet they seek to deceive others.

Mowlana's question is poignant: “How long will you steal scraps of knowledge from the scribes?” The term 'ashr' here does not signify one-tenth; rather, it refers to the act of pilfering snippets of the words of divine men. These individuals steal the knowledge and sayings of true scholars and genuine mystics. Why do they do this? “So that your face may become colored like an apple.” So that their outward appearance becomes vibrant and pleasing to the eye, like an apple that is beautiful on the outside but perhaps hollow within. They wish to present themselves as wise and virtuous in the eyes of the public.

Mowlana, in this verse and the ones that follow, exposes these 'devil-faced' imposters. As he says elsewhere, “Since many a devil appears in human guise, one should not give one's hand to every hand.” These false claimants apply a color to themselves that does not spring from within. This is what Mowlana refers to as 'rang-i bar-basteh' (applied color), contrasting it with 'rasteh' (grown from within). A color attached to a person from the outside can never lead to true 'golgouni' (rosiness/beauty). Genuine inner beauty comes from within, from a youthful and fresh spirit, not from applied rouge. Similarly, “A tied-on branch does not function as a true branch (ʿarjūn).” A branch artificially attached to a tree will never take the place of a genuine one; the ʿarjūn (a term from the Quran describing the crescent moon) will never serve the purpose of a real, living branch.

The truth is, these games continue until death. Mowlana declares: “Eventually, when the cloak of death descends upon you, these borrowed adornments will fall from your face.” When the time of departure arrives, all these external attachments, these borrowed facades, these superficial colors and glazes, will crumble away. A person takes with them only that which has become “part of their soul.” If it is the love of wealth, the wealth itself does not remain, but the love of wealth stays with the person. Children do not remain, but the love for children does. Deeds do not remain, but the virtue that has settled in the soul as a result of good deeds accompanies the person. True human capital consists of these inner virtues; everything else is merely borrowed.

And when the “urgent departure” arrives, “the arts of endless debate and chatter will be lost.” All those oratorical skills, polemics, and verbosity that once graced assemblies become useless. There, “the world of silence will come forth.” A world where there is no longer any discourse. Woe to him who, in this silent world, “has no intimacy within.” One who finds their inner self to be a dry and burning desert, or a collection of vices. In contrast to these claimants, Mowlana points to the solution: “Polish your chest for a day or two / Make that mirror your own book.” Instead of all this self-display and pretense of knowledge, polish your heart so that truths may be reflected within it. This is the secret of true knowledge and genuine gnosis.

Key takeaways

• False claimants appropriate knowledge from true masters to adorn their outward appearance, not for inner growth.
• True beauty and worth originate from within (rasteh), not from external attachments (bar-basteh).
• Borrowed deeds and superficial knowledge fall away at the moment of death; only inner virtues endure with the soul.
• In the silent realm beyond death, only inner intimacy and peace are salvific, not outward rhetoric or display.
• To achieve genuine knowledge and true gnosis, one must polish the heart to make it a mirror for realities.