M6:4127 — چون ز من سازی به بالا نردبان / بی پریدن بر روی بر آسمان

Translation: If you make a ladder to the heights out of me, / You will ascend to the heavens without flying. Meaning: This verse underscores that through submission to a spiritual master, one can achieve profound spiritual ascent to the heavens, transcending the need for physical effort or material means.

I read this verse within the larger context of the indispensable role of the Pīr (spiritual guide) in one's journey. Rumi clearly states that to attain spiritual truths, one must take the hand of a "Pīr-e Rashād," not a "Pīr-e Gardūn" – that is, a guide matured and arrived at the destination on the path of spiritual growth and guidance, not merely someone aged by time. This specific verse follows the story of Abraham and Nimrod. The self-conceited and heavy-souled Nimrod, according to lore, sought to ascend to the heavens on a throne carried by four vultures, hoping to see God firsthand. Abraham, acting as the Pīr and guide, tells him that if he were to make Abraham his ladder, he would ascend to the heavens "without flying."

This phrase, "without flying," is the pivotal point. Rumi explicitly distinguishes the spiritual journey from physical, spatial voyages. Such flight is not possible with rockets, airplanes, or Nimrod's vultures; just as "Yuri Gagarin," upon returning from space, claimed he saw no God, and "Claude Bernard" believed he wouldn't acknowledge the soul until he observed it under a surgeon's knife. These are fallacies, searching for something where it is not. As Mulla Nasreddin might put it, searching for one's lost money in the illuminated street, rather than in the dark house where it was actually dropped.

The journey to the heavens here is a spiritual, intellectual, and heartfelt one. It is akin to how one's thoughts travel from East to West without any "zād-o rāhele" (provisions or conveyances), or how, in sleep, "the senses of people in cities" journey from alienation (eghterāb) to closeness (qorbat). Eghterāb here signifies distance and self-alienation. If one identifies oneself solely with this "earthly body," one falls into self-alienation. As Rumi says, "Who is the stranger? Your earthly body / For whose sake is your sorrow." This body, in reality, is merely our mount, not our true identity.

Thus, the Pīr exists to show the path to the realm of meaning, not the path of physical flight. This is a journey of the heart that, without mount or wing, ascends to the heavens and reveals truths. It is "the condition of submission" that makes this journey possible – submission to a master who has walked the path and reached the destination. This is the truth emphasized by mystics and believers: without a guide, we remain lost in the darkness of error, for even if our intellect is efficient in mercantile affairs, it is powerless on the path of ultimate felicity.

Key takeaways

• Spiritual ascent is achieved through submission to a Pīr-e Rashād (a mature guide), not through raw, individual effort.
• The verse distinguishes the spiritual journey from physical travel; ascending to the heavens is not literal flight.
• Seeking God or the soul with material tools (like rockets or surgical knives) is a fallacy; truth must be sought where it genuinely resides.
• Eghterāb (self-alienation) results from conflating one's true self with the "earthly body"; the guide aids in returning to one's authentic being.
• The principle of "submission" to the master is a prerequisite for traversing this path and utilizing the spiritual ladder of the Pīr.