M6:1608 — چونک دار الضرب را سلطان خداست / نقد را چون ضرب خوب و نارواست

Translation: Since God is the sovereign of the Mint of Being, how can its currency be both good and counterfeit? Meaning: This verse poses a profound question: If God is the singular, absolute source of all good, how is it that both good and evil, truth and falsehood, manifest in the world?

The Sufi, in this tale, poses a fundamental question that occupies every seeker's mind: How can both genuine and counterfeit coins, both true and false realities, emerge from the singular, absolute source of all good, which is God? If God is the 'mint-master' of existence, and His will is absolute, then from where does this duality in creation arise? Is there a contradiction within divine providence itself? This is a question philosophers and theologians have grappled with for centuries, each from their own perspective.

Mowlana, however, true to his characteristic method, does not engage with this dilemma through the dry, argumentative philosophy of the Peripatetics (like Avicenna) or the theological dialectics of the Muʿtazilites. His approach, reminiscent of sacred scriptures such as the Gospels, is through tamthīl (analogy), which opens the path to understanding through the heart, not merely the intellect. Instead of delving into intricate debates of predestination versus free will, or the temporality versus eternality of creation, he turns to lived human experience.

To unravel this knot, he invokes the realm of love. He asks: How can a single love, a solitary and steadfast Beloved, give rise to both joy and sorrow? How can the very same Beloved, seated in serene composure, bring restlessness and anguish to one lover, while bestowing tranquility and peace upon another? This divergence in outcome, Mowlana suggests, arises not from any deficiency in the Beloved, but from the varied capacities and inner states of the lovers themselves. This analogy demonstrates that a singular, absolute reality can be reflected in a myriad of seemingly contradictory forms within the mirrors of our individual existences. The world is our mirror, and its perceived crookedness reflects the distortion in our own gaze, not any flaw in the absolute essence.

Key takeaways

• The core question: How can both good and evil emanate from a singular, divine source?
• Mowlana bypasses philosophical argumentation, opting for tamthīl (analogy), akin to sacred texts, to address profound questions.
• The example of love illustrates how a singular truth can yield contradictory effects in varied experiences.
• The diversity and apparent contradiction in phenomena stem not from a flaw in the Source, but from the varying capacities and states of the beholders.