M6:3201 — غیر راه این هوا و شش جهت / در میان روزن و خور مالفت

Translation: Beyond this path of air and the six directions, Between the aperture and the Sun, there is intimacy and kinship. Meaning: This verse suggests a profound, non-physical connection between a perfected human being (the mystic or prophet) and God, through which divine truth and grace manifest beyond the confines of the material world and its six dimensions.

This verse is among those where Mawlana delves into the essence of the perfected human's relationship with God, a connection transcending our sensory and mechanistic perceptions. He states that beyond the usual paths of the material world and its six spatial directions, which confine all physical phenomena, an invisible and immediate bond of intimacy and union (malafat) exists between the 'aperture' (rawzan) and the 'Sun' (khor). The 'aperture' here is a metaphor for the mystic's heart or the prophet's being, open to the world of meaning, and the 'Sun' is, without doubt, the eternal Divine Essence.

I have said many times that the righteous and perfected servant, through both 'supererogatory devotion' (qurb-i nawafil) and 'obligatory devotion' (qurb-i fara'id), approaches God so closely that their very being becomes imbued with divine attributes. This is like a piece of iron that, placed in a fiery furnace, becomes so incandescent that it assumes all the characteristics of fire: its heat, its burning, its luminosity. In that state, if you touch it, it will burn you. This is the meaning of the sacred hadith where God says, 'I become his ear, his eye, and his hand.' No distinction can then be made between the servant's action and God's action. This is why I insist that the Prophet's speech is God's speech; not merely that he serves as an intermediary for communication, but that the speech itself originates from him. This is the metaphysics of union (wisal), not the metaphysics of separation (firaq).

However, Mawlana emphasizes that this relationship does not pass through 'conventional paths and directions' (rah o su-yi ma'hud). This means it should not be measured by the mechanistic cause-and-effect structures of the material world. Our contingent world is merely one of many possible worlds, and material causes and effects are only one way for events to occur. He uses numerous examples to show how the sun of Truth can shine through an aperture that has no wick or oil, and how the sky is held aloft without ropes or pillars. This is an invitation to 'think differently'; to cleanse our inner eyes and remove the dust from our inner vision so that unclouded truths may become apparent. This is that 'connection without how or measure' (ittisali bi-takayyuf, bi-qiyas) that links the Lord of humankind with the soul of humankind; a connection that has no place, no time, is neither of the nature of fields or energy, nor does it follow physical laws.

This is why Mawlana states in subsequent verses that 'his praise and glorification are God's praise' (madhat-o tasbih-i u tasbih-i Haqq). That is, to praise this perfected servant is, in reality, to praise God. Or he gives a striking example of a 'tray' (tabaq) from which fruit grows, rather than merely being placed upon it. This signifies that the servant's very being is so intimately connected with God that their actions and words are the fruit of their God-manifesting essence. 'From this joyful basket, apples grow in segments / It is no fault if you call it a tree.' This basket has itself become a tree. This is the ultimate merging and dissolution into absolute Being, leaving no distinction. One who has reached such a station has had their being annihilated in God's Being, and no 'self' remains. This is what I have explained with the example of 'Omar-named in the city of Kashan'; a city where all shops are one, and if they disapprove of someone, not a single shop will sell to them. This analogy exquisitely illustrates the deep and eternal unity and connection; a unity in which the aperture and the sun, despite apparent differences, drink from the same truth.

Key takeaways

• Between the perfected human and God, there is an 'intimacy' transcending time and space.
• Divine proximity elevates the servant to the station of 'Tongue of God' and 'Hand of God,' where their words and actions are God's own.
• Divine manifestation does not follow 'conventional paths'; one must transcend material mechanisms and 'think differently' to grasp this connection.
• The 'aperture' (mystic's heart/prophet's being) can become so luminous that its light is not borrowed but emanates from itself.
• Praising the perfected servant is, in essence, praising God, and the fruit of their being springs directly from their God-manifesting essence.