M6:3685 — در سبب چون بی‌مرادت کرد رب / پس چرا بدظن نگردی در سبب

Translation: When the Lord made you fail through (reliance on) a cause, / Then why should you not become suspicious of the cause? Meaning: This verse suggests that if your efforts repeatedly fail and apparent causes do not lead to your desired outcome, you should become skeptical of those causes and recognize a hidden force at play.

This beyt by Mowlana encapsulates one of his most crucial teachings regarding the inherent unpredictability and indeterminacy of the world. Through it, he destabilizes our absolute reliance on apparent causes and invites us to discern hidden realities.

I contend that Mowlana here instructs us not to perceive the world as a perfectly wound clockwork, where every action yields a predetermined outcome. He illustrates this point with numerous examples: you shoot an arrow to the right, yet it veers left; you intend to hunt a deer, only to find yourself hunting a pig; or, driven by greed for profit, you end up in prison instead of accumulating wealth. Perhaps you dig a pit for someone else, but fall into it yourself. His example of marriage is also highly illustrative: one marries a woman and becomes wealthy, while another, hoping for riches, marries and ends up burdened with debt. These are all instances where outward causes produce unexpected results, and our careful plans go awry.

As we find in the Nahj al-Balaghah, Amir al-Mu'minin Ali (a.s.) states: “I came to know God through the thwarting of intentions and the breaking of resolutions.” Mowlana operates within the same intellectual framework. He posits that these breaches in the causal chain are not flaws in creation, but rather indicators of the limits of human knowledge and planning. It is not that God is sometimes absent and then returns; rather, He is continuously engaged, “Every day He is in a new state” (Quran 55:29). These frustrations are, as it were, meant to awaken us to the fact that the world does not operate solely by its own mechanisms, and ultimate control does not rest in our hands.

Mowlana's argument here is, without a doubt, a fundamental critique of all philosophical and intellectual schools that advocate for historical determinism or absolute predictability of the future. I have often argued that Marxism, with its claim to have discovered the scientific laws of historical movement, ultimately failed in predicting the future and achieving a classless society due to this very “poverty of imagination.” Mr. Fukuyama, with his “End of History” thesis, repeated the same error. Such certainties simply do not exist in our world. A small incident, a mere pebble beneath the wheels of the train of history, can completely alter its course. Therefore, reliance on causes must be accompanied by prudence and caution, acknowledging that nothing is guaranteed.

Mowlana likens these causes to a “donkey’s tail”: “If the cause-turner is like a donkey’s tail / It is better to rely less on it.” The donkey’s tail appears to move and turn, but the donkey itself has a rider. This ultimate director remains hidden. We must grasp this, and consequently, cultivate both intellectual and practical humility in relation to knowledge and nature. Our knowledge is scant and fragile, yet we must not cease striving to strengthen it. Practical humility means acknowledging that we are not the “masters” of this world, and not everything is subject to our will.

Furthermore, Mowlana points out that God sometimes inverts realities in our perception: “For God is the Changer of sights / Who turns hearts and thoughts.” This is not sophistry, which denies or invents truth; rather, it is divine “taqlīb” (inversion). He is the one who sometimes makes a pit appear as a pleasant house, or a snare as an elegant grain. This is a reminder that beyond appearances, other realities are concealed, and these inversions are meant to awaken us, liberating us from blind reliance on causes, and guiding us to the ultimate root of all affairs: the dominant divine will.

Key takeaways

• The world is fundamentally uncertain and unpredictable, even regarding apparent causes and effects.
• Absolute reliance on superficial causes and human plans is flawed, as a hidden Will always operates behind them.
• The thwarting of intentions and the disruption of plans are signs of God's active and ever-present hand in managing affairs.
• Intellectual and practical humility before the cosmos and history: we are not masters of the world, and the future is not predetermined.
• Claims of absolute predictability of the future or historical laws stem from a 'poverty of imagination' and self-deception.
• God sometimes inverts our perception of realities to free us from blind trust in appearances and guide us to the true source of all phenomena.