M6:2170 — چونک حق قهری نهد در نان تو / چون خناق آن نان بگیرد در گلو

Translation: When God places His wrath in your bread, Like khonāq (diphtheria), that bread will seize your throat. Meaning: This verse illustrates God's absolute power to transform even the most fundamental blessings, such as bread, into instruments of torment and suffocation, should His wrath be upon someone.

Mowlana, in this verse and the following ones, points to a profound truth which I term the “inversion of the nature of things by divine wrath.” We tend to believe that every object has a fixed essence and a specific function: bread is for nourishment, clothing for warmth. But Rumi unveils the illusion of this perception, demonstrating that all these things are utterly dependent on God’s permission and pleasure. As you can see, bread—this “morsel that props up the body” and acts “like armor against the sword of hunger”—is normally humanity’s refuge from starvation. Yet, Mowlana states emphatically that if God “places His wrath in your bread,” that very bread, which is the source of life, transforms into khonāq (diphtheria), seizing and constricting the throat until it annihilates the individual. This is no longer mere bread; it is torment in the guise of bread. This is not a metaphor; it is the existential reality within Mowlana’s worldview. This principle is not limited to bread. Mowlana extends the same analogy to clothing. A garment that “protected from the cold” and offered refuge from its bite, if God imbues it with the “temperament of zamharīr” (bitter cold), itself becomes a source of chill and suffering, “cold as ice, biting as snow.” In essence, the natural properties are stripped from objects, and contradictory qualities are bestowed upon them. This perspective has deep roots in the Quranic and mystical understanding of the world. In numerous instances, such as the stories of the peoples of ʿAd, Thamud, and Qarun, God, in the Quran, showcases His power to transform the very essence of phenomena. Earth, a symbol of forbearance and patience, can, by divine decree, swallow Qarun and his treasures into its depths. Wind, a source of life, can become a terrifying torment for the people of ʿAd. For me, the key point here is this: what we call “nature” or “laws of nature” is, in reality, the active and continuous divine will. It is not the case that God creates a phenomenon and then abandons it. No, “Every day He is in a new state” (Quran 55:29). He is constantly at work and can strip any quality from any phenomenon and impart a contradictory one. This verse warns us against a false confidence in “natural security” and emphasizes the active and permanent presence of divine will in every phenomenon and every moment. It is a reminder that nothing in the universe possesses an essence or stability independent of God’s will.

Key takeaways

• There is no limit to God’s absolute power to transform the inherent nature of things.
• Apparent blessings can, under God's wrathful decree, turn into afflictions and instruments of torment.
• This verse emphasizes that even the most fundamental necessities of life, like bread, can become vessels of divine wrath.
• The physical and chemical properties of objects hold no inherent authority against the active and continuous divine will.
• Awareness of this truth awakens one from false natural security and prompts constant attention to divine pleasure and wrath in every moment.