M1:397 — خفته از احوال دنیا روز و شب / چون قلم در پنجهٔ تقلیبِ رَب

Translation: Asleep to the world's affairs, day and night, Like a pen in the turning hand of the Lord. Meaning: This verse describes the state of the mystic (ʿārif) who, though outwardly awake, remains oblivious to worldly concerns, perceiving themselves as a mere instrument in the hand of God's will.

This verse exquisitely portrays the peculiar and wondrous state of the mystic (ʿārif). Though outwardly among us and seemingly engaged, the mystic in truth lives neither in this world nor entirely in the present moment. They are “asleep to the world’s affairs, day and night.” This sleep is not a physical slumber; rather, it is a profound obliviousness to the superficialities of the world and its attachments, a state of profound attentiveness to the Divine that liberates them from the concerns of the phenomenal realm.

I see this as precisely what the Quran describes when it speaks of God taking souls in sleep: “It is Allah Who takes the souls at the time of their death, and those that do not die, during their sleep” (Surah Az-Zumar, 42). In sleep, the soul temporarily detaches from the body; a king becomes oblivious to his kingdom, a prisoner to his cell. This obliviousness, this equality and uniformity, is experienced by everyone in sleep. Yet, the ʿārif experiences this very state while awake. They live through that detachment and unawareness in wakefulness that others only know in slumber. A Quranic example is the Companions of the Cave, of whom it is said: “You would think them awake, though they were asleep” (Surah Al-Kahf, 18). This state is not only possible but realized by the mystic. The world, for them, is a series of dreamlike scenes; they perceive the backstage, the invisible hands that orchestrate this cosmos.

But the climax of this imagery is the comparison of the mystic to “a pen in the turning hand of the Lord” (taqlīb-i rabb). Taqlīb means to turn this way and that, to overturn, to rotate. The mystic sees themselves as a pen in the hand of God, not as an independent, self-acting entity. Indeed, I have often humorously remarked that “self-acting pen” (خودکار, khodkār) is an unsuitable name for this writing instrument, for no pen has ever been truly self-acting; it is always held in the grip of a writer. The mystic apprehends this truth intuitively and experientially: they, and indeed the entire universe, are wielded by that Absolute Power.

An ordinary person, who does not perceive that “hand,” attributes the movements of the pen to the pen itself; they imagine that the pen “deems its action to be from itself.” They believe themselves to be autonomous and independent, standing on their own feet and making their own decisions. But the mystic possesses a higher vision; the veils have been lifted for them, and they see that every motion, every stillness, every will, is rooted in the Divine Will. This is the Tawḥīd Afʿālī (unity of divine actions) that Mowlana repeatedly alludes to in the Masnavi; that the sole true Agent is the Divine Essence, and all others are instruments and manifestations of His action. This differs from sheer determinism, for the Divine force plays a different melody in the “reed of existence” of each individual.

Mowlana likens this state to our sensory sleep to facilitate understanding. He says that in sleep, you have no will or agency whatsoever. If you turn over or dream, it is not by your own volition; you are one hundred percent passive, in the hands of other forces. The mystic, even in wakefulness, experiences this same passivity and submission before the Divine Will, with the crucial difference that their understanding and awareness are complete, and they consciously delight in this instrumental passivity.

Key takeaways

• The mystic lives in the world as one asleep, oblivious to external affairs and solely attentive to the spiritual realm.
• This 'waking sleep' signifies a conscious obliviousness to worldly concerns and immersion in the realm of meaning.
• The analogy of the mystic as a 'pen in the hand of the Lord' negates any inherent independence or separate will for the self and the world.
• This verse encapsulates Mowlana's Tawḥīd Afʿālī (unity of actions); God is the sole true agent, and all else are His instruments.
• Understanding this state requires seeing the 'hand' behind the 'pen,' a perception lost to the ordinary person.