M6:4105 — گوید او چون ترک گیرم گیر و دار / چون روم من در طفیلت کوروار

Translation: He says, "How can I abandon this struggle and commotion? How can I follow you blindly, as if I were a blind man?" Meaning: This verse expresses the listener's resistance to the spiritual guide's call, questioning how they can forsake their worldly preoccupations and surrender to a path that demands blind, unquestioning adherence.

This verse articulates the internal struggle of a seeker confronted with the spiritual master's call to relinquish attachments and surrender. The master, earlier, had invited the seeker to board "our ship" or "tow your ship to ours." But the seeker, with a questioning and somewhat resistant tone, asks: "How can I abandon this gir o dār (commotion, struggle) of life, these preoccupations, and these constant intellectual questionings I have with myself? And how can I follow you blindly, without question or sight, as if I were a blind man?"

The phrase gir o dār here carries two principal meanings, both justifying the seeker's resistance. First, it refers to worldly preoccupations and attachments: "How can I abandon this life, these possessions I have, and these involvements I am caught in?" These material concerns and daily routines act as barriers to spiritual journeying. Second, it signifies intellectual and philosophical inquiries: "How can I abandon these rational questions and answers I constantly engage in, thinking about this and that?" The seeker wishes to find the path through their own intellect, not through submission.

The term kurvār (blindly) is also a key point of the seeker's objection. They do not wish to follow someone with their eyes closed; they desire to be sighted and to proceed with insight. They presume that following a master means abandoning reason and moving blindly. This presumption, however, is mistaken from Mowlana's perspective, and he responds to it in the subsequent verse (M6:4106).

Mowlana, in his response, deems a surrender accompanied by insight as essential. He states that a blind person with a guide is better off than a sighted person who achieves certainty alone. This is because such solitary certainty is often illusion and imagination, not truth. As I have always stressed, "the least thing God has distributed among creation is certainty." And "most of what we think we know is nothing more than conjecture and supposition." These accumulated conjectures should not be mistakenly considered certainty.

Thus, in spiritual journeying, just as in worldly life, the need for a master and guide is indispensable. Just as you go to a surgeon and trust yourself completely to their scalpel, a similar surrender is necessary in spiritual medicine. Of course, choosing a master requires precision and discernment, but once chosen, "a kind of devoted allegiance and heartfelt surrender is a prerequisite. Not that you suspend your intellect, nor that you forgo consultation, but you must realize that, eventually, you have to submit to someone whose mastery you do not possess." Going it alone and relying on one's own delusory certainties leads nowhere. This is the "hundred disgraces" that Mowlana speaks of, in comparison to the single disgrace of following a pir. Abandoning the master is like falling among "turbulent rogues" or fleeing from a "mosquito" only to fall into the trap of a "scorpion." The goal is not to discard reason, but to attain "an anchor, an axis, a pillar" by utilizing the wisdom of masters – whether living or departed – so as not to lose our independent identity amidst the storms of daily life and the deceptions of contemporary "fashion and trends." This very Masnavi itself serves as such a pillar for insightful guidance.

Key takeaways

• The verse expresses the seeker's resistance to the guide's call, stemming from two fundamental concerns: abandoning worldly attachments and forsaking intellectual inquiries.
• Gir o dār refers both to material preoccupations and the seeker's philosophical and intellectual questions.
• The objection to following kurvār (blindly) highlights humanity's natural inclination towards insight and intellectual self-reliance.
• Mowlana considers this blind self-reliance more perilous in spiritual journeying than following a guide, as individual certainties are often illusory and imagined.
• In the spiritual path, finding a trustworthy master and subsequently surrendering to them is essential for overcoming confusion and reaching truth.
• This verse sets the stage for Mowlana's subsequent elaboration on the necessity of guidance and its distinction from unthinking submission.