M6:2260 — گر بدیدی ز آینه او یک پشیز / بی‌خیالی زو نماندی هیچ چیز

Translation: If he [the seeker] were to perceive the mirror [the Real] even a pashīz (penny's worth) [i.e., focus on the mirror itself], No khayāl (image/imagining) of him would remain within it. Meaning: This verse suggests that for one to truly see their own reflection in the mirror of existence, they must look through the mirror, not at its surface. If attention is diverted to the mirror itself, the reflection, and thus self-knowledge, will vanish.

This verse follows Mowlana's declaration, "He prostrates to himself every moment; prostration is before the mirror for the face." Here, Mowlana points to one of the deepest secrets of mysticism: prostration to God is, in essence, prostration to oneself. I assert with full conviction that this idea was espoused by great mystics before Mowlana, such as Ibn al-Farid, and his contemporaries, like Shams-e Tabrizi.

I have previously referred to Shams-e Tabrizi's saying: "These people who prostrate towards the Kaaba, if you remove the Kaaba, they would prostrate to each other." These are not simple statements; they are secrets that, even if revealed, remain unrevealed, because "A secret has no partner but the confidant; a secret is not in the ear of the denier of secrets."

Mowlana employs the metaphor of the mirror. When we look into a mirror, we do not truly see the mirror itself, but our own image reflected within it. If one's gaze becomes fixed on the mirror itself—for instance, a physicist or a mirror-maker focusing on its material quality or structure—then their own image becomes secondary and vanishes. As the verse states: "No image would remain of him within it." If that 'imageless one' (meaning one whose image or mental construct is not in the mirror) becomes preoccupied with the mirror, they gain nothing from this intuitive gnosis.

This leads Mowlana to speak of fanā (annihilation): "Both his image and he himself would vanish; his knowledge would be effaced by ignorance." When both your image and your perceived self—that apprehended self—vanish, a state of "ignorance" (nādānī) emerges. Yet, this ignorance is not an end; rather, from the heart of this fanā, a "new knowledge" arises. This knowledge is not conceptual or intellectual; it is of the nature of rūʾyat (vision or direct seeing). This is the mystical knowledge that Mowlana said "untaught Sufis, without books, without teachers or masters" comprehend.

What does that "other knowledge from our ignorance" signify, which "manifested clearly, declaring 'Indeed, I am I'"? This "Indeed, I am I" is, without a doubt, an allusion to God's self-declaration to Moses in the Torah, where Moses asks God what he should tell his people, and God replies: "I am that I am." God here introduces Himself not through any attribute—not as Creator, Hearer, Seer—but as "pure, attributeless, imageless existence." Pure existence. This is absolute imagelessness.

I am convinced that Mowlana intends to convey that Moses, in the mirror of God, saw and experienced his own "imageless self." This is echoed elsewhere by Mowlana when he says: "If you see Jesus, you are Jesus." He adds: "He is neither this nor that, He is simple; He has placed your image before you." Meaning, God is simple and imageless; whatever we see in His mirror is our own image. Humans see themselves in God, and they see God in themselves. This is a discovery made by our mystics, and whatever is said about it falls short.

From this perspective, Mowlana addresses the Quranic verse, "Prostrate to Adam": "The call came, 'Prostrate to Adam,' saying, 'You are Adam; behold yourselves for a moment in him.'" Meaning, the angels were told, 'You too are Adam; see yourselves in Adam and prostrate to your own divine self.' Humanity has nothing superior to prostrate to; thus, the ultimate prostration is to oneself. God removed the 'duality' (ahwalī) from the angels' eyes, so that the earth became as the azure sky, and all became one. They declared lā ilāha (there is no god) and illā Allāh (except Allah), and unity bloomed. Not that God is one, but that existence is one; "Indeed, there is nothing but God." This is the mystic's view, which perceives existence as a singular being, with all else as His manifestations.

Mowlana himself is aware of venturing into a forbidden zone. He continues: "The time has come for our ear to be pulled… towards the spring, to wash our mouth from these words / Do not reveal what we have concealed from people." He knows he should not disclose these secrets, and even if he does, "It will not become manifest." But he offers an excuse: "But now I am distraught, weaving around myself / The speaker of this, and the listener of this, is also I." He says, 'I am distraught and revolve around myself; I myself speak this secret, and I myself listen to it; I have no concern with others. So, do not blame me.'

Key takeaways

• Prostration to God, in its deepest mystical sense, is prostration to oneself, as one beholds oneself in the mirror of the Real.
• Like a mirror, to see one's reflection, one must look through it, not at it; focusing on the mirror itself makes the image vanish.
• "Bī-khayālī" (here, imagelessness) and the annihilation (fanā) of image and self, open a gateway to intuitive, non-conceptual knowledge.
• "Indeed, I am I" (Anī Anā) alludes to God's pure, imageless essence, and Mowlana suggests the seeker sees their own imageless self in the mirror of the Real.
• Mowlana's interpretation of "Prostrate to Adam": angels saw themselves in Adam and prostrated to their own divine self.
• Mowlana acknowledges that some secrets remain hidden even when revealed and is aware of the consequences of speaking them, yet declares himself both the "speaker and listener" of his own words.