M6:3771 — تو ندانی واجبی آن و هست / هم تو گویی آخر آن واجب بدست

Translation: You do not know that that which is obligatory truly exists; / Yet you yourself will ultimately declare that that obligation was good. Meaning: This couplet asserts that a person may initially fail to comprehend the wisdom or necessity behind certain divine or existential imperatives. However, with the passage of time and the emergence of their deeper, 'final' self, they will come to discern the inherent goodness and rectitude of those very obligations.

This profound couplet from Mawlana unveils a philosophical and existential truth regarding the nature of our understanding. Mawlana states that many of life's essential truths and obligations remain veiled from us in our current state. We are unaware of their secrets and wisdom, unable to grasp why a certain action is obligatory or why something is forbidden. Yet, our ignorance does not diminish their reality; they 'exist' regardless of whether we perceive them or not. The profound turning point, however, lies in the climax of understanding, where 'you yourself will ultimately declare that that obligation was good.' This means that the imperative, far from being baseless, was in fact inherently good and righteous.

The pivotal question arises: Who is this 'you' that begins in ignorance and ends in gnosis? Here, Mawlana delves into the concept of 'multiple selves' or the 'multiplicity of the self.' He repeatedly emphasizes that we are not a singular, unified 'I'; rather, 'You are not one self, dear friend, / But a cosmos and a deep, profound sea.' We are composed of layers of self, 'I's that sometimes contend with each other and sometimes lie hidden, waiting. This is the 'final self' (tū-ye ākhir), the one 'who, in the end, comprehends the outcome,' meaning the self that ultimately awakens to truth and unveils secrets. This 'final self' is the evolved, gnostic self capable of illuminating the 'initial self' (our current, unknowing self).

This ultimate understanding is not a sudden, external imposition. Self-knowledge is the very key to this unfolding. Mawlana teaches that the deepest wonders reside within us: 'A hundred thousand snakes and mountains are amazed by him / Why then is he amazed and friend to snakes?' As modern psychoanalysts from Freud to Jung have demonstrated, dreams are a primary pathway to discovering our 'hidden selves.' Those aspects of ourselves that we suppress in waking life emerge in dreams in various guises – sometimes gentle, sometimes terrifying. This reveals that we deal with multiple facets of our being that demand introspection and 'excavation.'

It is for this reason that Mawlana uses the term khod-bini (self-seeing/introspection) in an honorific sense: 'I am a slave to such a self-seeing man.' Khod-bini signifies a deep immersion in oneself, an introspection, a gaze into the underlying layers and hidden mysteries of existence. This self-seeing leads to khod-shenasi (self-knowledge), fulfilling the dictum: 'Whoever knows himself, knows his Lord.' The essence of 'the soul of all knowledge' lies here: to know 'Who am I on the Day of Judgment?' – meaning, to understand one's ultimate destiny and where one's 'final self' will arrive.

It is this 'final self' that must rouse the 'initial self' and deliver it from heedlessness. However, because this inner awakening often falls short, God sent the prophets. Through their 'end-seeing' (ʿāqibat-bīnī) and 'eschatological vision' (ākhirat-bīnī), the prophets unveiled these truths and informed us of 'our end,' without asking for recompense. They are, in essence, the 'final self' made manifest, revealing truths in advance to pave the way for our 'initial selves.'

Key takeaways

• Many universal truths and obligations are currently incomprehensible to us, yet their existence is independent of our perception.
• Ultimate understanding of the wisdom behind obligations depends on the passage of time and the evolution of one's 'self'; the 'final self' attains true comprehension.
• Humans are beings with 'multiple selves' and hidden layers, often suppressed in waking life but revealed in dreams.
• Introspection (khod-bini) in its positive sense is the key to self-knowledge and achieving a profound understanding of one's nature and destiny.
• Prophets, through their 'end-seeing,' reveal truths that humanity's 'final self' will eventually grasp, thereby paving the way for the 'initial self.'