M6:31 — گر پلیدی پیش ما رسوا بود / خوک و سگ را شکر و حلوا بود

Translation: If filth appears loathsome to us, For the pig and dog, it is sugar and halwa. Meaning: This verse illustrates that what humans perceive as foul or base is not without purpose in the divine scheme of creation, serving as sustenance and delight for other creatures.

I have often stated that Mowlana's worldview, unlike that of some other great poets, is one where fault and imperfection find no ingress. This beyt stands as a brilliant example of this perspective. Mowlana here points to a subtle truth: what we humans deem “filth” (palīdī) or “loathsome” (rosvā), in fact, holds its own station within the vast cosmic order. For other creatures, such as pigs and dogs, it is like “sugar and halwa”—it is the very essence of desirability and sustenance.

This assertion, without a doubt, offers a profound elucidation of “Divine Providence” (tadbir-e Elāhī) in creation. God has fashioned this world in such a way that for every “poison” (zahr), there is an “antidote” (pādzahr), and for every “impurity” (palīdī), there is a “consumer” (moṭa’em). The excretions and impurities that we find abhorrent and defiling are, from the perspective of a dog or a pig, perfectly desirable and constitute their very nourishment. This signifies that nothing in the universe has been created in vain or without purpose; every atom of this magnificent cosmic body possesses a function and an end, even if that function remains hidden or disagreeable from our human viewpoint.

Mowlana, in essence, wishes to make us aware of the relativity of values within this world. What is acceptable in the “marketplace where He does what He wills” (bāzār-e yafʿal-e mā yashā’) for one type of creature may be disagreeable for another, and vice versa. This perspective is an approach that, instead of “complaining” (shekāyat) about the world, engages in “narrating” (ḥekāyat) and explaining its inherent wisdom. Our separation from that original essence leads us to this misunderstanding, making us believe there is a flaw in creation, when in reality, the flaw lies in our perception, not in the act of creation itself.

It is for this reason that Mowlana continues by saying, “If the foul commit these foul deeds / Waters strive to cleanse them.” This implies that even the existence of impurities is not haphazard, and a provision for their purification has also been made (the purifying waters). This is precisely the precise and unparalleled system of creation that brings opposites together, not for destruction, but for perfection and endurance.

Key takeaways

• What is foul to humans has a vital function for other creatures within the divine order of creation.
• This verse exemplifies divine wisdom and providence in the cosmos, where nothing is created in vain.
• Values are relative in the universe; what is desirable for one creature may be loathsome to another.
• Mowlana perceives the world as perfect, seeing even “filth” as part of a greater cosmic wisdom.
• This perspective lays the groundwork for understanding Mowlana’s concept of “contraries” coexisting for mutual completion within the universe.