M6:1018 — اسپر خود کرده حق آن سنگ را / بر گشاده آب مینارنگ را

Translation: God made that stone His shield, / And caused the enamel-colored water to gush forth. Meaning: God uses seemingly independent agents and material causes as mere shields or veils to manifest His own actions and will, just as clear, beautiful water springs forth from a stone.

Mowlana, in this couplet and the subsequent verses, addresses one of the most fundamental principles of his mystical thought: the singularity of the true agent in the universe. For me, this is an unequivocal and resolute statement: Mowlana believes that "lā muʾaththir fī al-wujūd illā Allāh" – there is no true effector or agent in existence but God. This means that in every phenomenon that occurs in the world, there is only one hand at work, and that is the hand of God.

This perspective radically transforms how we perceive the world. We outwardly observe water gushing from a stone, medicine healing an illness, or the eye seeing. Yet, Mowlana asserts that all these are mere "roopoosh" – coverings over reality, shields for the hand of the primary agent. As he says: "God made that stone His shield / And caused the enamel-colored water to gush forth." The stone is merely a locus of manifestation, not the true source of the water. The "Minā-rang" (enamel-colored, meaning blue, clear, and transparent) water comes from a place that is "bi-jehāt" – without directions, from the higher realm. The rough, inanimate stone is but a veil, behind which God pours forth the grace of His life-giving water.

This view stands in stark contrast to contemporary scientific perspectives that attribute every phenomenon to its material and natural causes. Modern thinkers would say vision is the work of neural pathways, or water gushing is a physical phenomenon. But from Mowlana's perspective, aligned with ancient philosophy, these are merely instruments and means; they are "preliminaries to the affair." Vision is a "supra-sensory" act, an act of the soul. As I myself have often stated, this represents a profound point of contention between ancient and modern thought, between religious and scientific perspectives. However, Mowlana, grounded in ancient principles, resolutely states that the eye is only a roopoosh, so that light may flow through it and perception may arise. It is He (God) who "caused it to flow without stinginess or weakness."

Thus, from the gnostic's viewpoint, these stones, eyes, and medicines are all "gloves on the hand of God." We may not outwardly see God's hand, but gnostics, possessing a "penetrating gaze," peel back these coverings and witness the hand of the true agent behind them. This is the essence of Mowlana's monotheistic vision, which perceives "every day He is engaged in a new affair" in every particle, attributing all activities back to the singular Essence of existence.

Key takeaways

• God is the sole true agent in all of existence; apparent causes are mere "coverings" (roopoosh) or "shields" for divine action.
• This monotheistic perspective divests material phenomena of independent agency, attributing it solely to the singular Divine Essence.
• What we outwardly perceive as natural causation is merely the manifestation of God's will and power from behind these veils.
• The "enamel-colored water" signifies the purity and beauty of the water flowing from an ultimate, unlocatable divine source, not merely from the inert body of the stone.