M6:2695 — تا حدث در گلخنی شد نور یافت / در در و دیوار حمامی بتافت

Translation: Until the ḥadath (impurity/excrement) found light in a golkhan (bathhouse furnace), / It shone brightly on the doors and walls of a ḥammām (bathhouse). Meaning: This couplet illustrates how an impure substance, through processes of natural purification and combustion, can become a radiant source of light and warmth, thereby symbolizing God's transformative power to transmute sins into virtues.

Mowlana, in these verses, speaks of God's 'universal grace' (luṭf-i ʿām), likening it to the sun's indiscriminate shining upon all things, pure or impure. The sun, without diminishing its own light, dries out impurities and excrement, referred to as ḥadath. These dried ḥadath then transform into fuel (hīzum), which is carried into the golkhan (furnace) of a bathhouse to be ignited.

It is precisely at this juncture that our beyt reveals a profound secret: "Until the ḥadath found light in a golkhan, / It shone brightly on the doors and walls of a ḥammām." What was once sheer defilement (ālayish) now, by the 'spell' (fusūn) of the sun and the action of fire, has become an adornment (ārāyish), a source of warmth and illumination. This is no mere natural description; it is a profound mystical allegory. God, in this world, possesses a 'factory' that "transforms poison into food, poison into nectar" (zahr rā tabdīl bi ghazā mīkunad, tabdīl bi shahd mīkunad). This, as Mowlana asserts, is the method by which sayyi'āt (bad deeds) are erased and transformed into ḥasanāt (good deeds).

The cycle of transformation does not end there. The sun also warms the 'stomach of the earth' (miʿda-yi zamīn) so that it may digest the remaining impurities. These impurities decompose into soil, from which 'plants' (nabāt) like narcissus and jasmine spring forth. This biological cycle in nature, for Mowlana, is an instance of God's 'alchemy,' demonstrating what He does "with ḥadath, which is the worst of things, / That He makes it into narcissus and jasmine." If God performs such transformations with something as vile and repulsive as ḥadath, imagine what He bestows upon the pure (ṭayyibīn)—a reward that is "neither seen by any eye, nor heard by any ear, nor conceived by any human heart."

This entire process not only speaks to God's universal grace but also reminds us that true knowledge transcends conceptual frameworks and rational molds. Mowlana states earlier in this section of the Masnavi that understanding this divine unity is "contingent upon the death of man" (mowqūf shod bar marg-i mard), meaning the silencing of the mind and a move towards non-conceptual, pre-conceptual perception. The transformation of ḥadath into light is itself an example of that 'supra-mental' realm, where our soul makes contact and touches truth beyond the veil of the mind. This is the factory where God transforms sayyi'āt into ḥasanāt, and this is His method: "Hākadhā yamḥī al-ilāhu al-sayyi'āt" (Thus does God efface evil deeds).

Key takeaways

• Divine universal grace shines indiscriminately upon all beings, pure and impure, without prejudice.
• This verse serves as an allegory for divine alchemy, transforming impurities (ḥadath) and evil deeds (sayyi'āt) into light, warmth, beauty, and virtues (ḥasanāt).
• The sun and the golkhan (furnace/fire) are symbols of transformative and purifying agents within the cosmic order.
• A full understanding of divine truths transcends mental concepts and requires the 'silencing of the mind' and the 'death of man' (non-conceptual perception).
• Even the most abject and repulsive things possess the potential for radical transformation into the most valuable and beautiful phenomena.
• The order of creation is an unparalleled 'factory' that transmutes poison into nectar and defilement into adornment.