M6:1138 — آب و گل می‌دید و در وی گنج نه / پنج و شش می‌دید و اصل پنج نه

Translation: That Amir (ruler) was unaware of the servant's state, for his gaze reached no further than the superficial. He saw the water and clay (body) but not the treasure within it. He saw the five (senses) and the six (directions), but not the essence of the five (inner senses). Meaning: This verse illustrates the tragedy of superficial perception: one can see a person's physical form and outward characteristics but remain utterly blind to their profound inner essence, spiritual treasures, and true faculties.

This verse continues a narrative in the Mathnawi where Mawlana elucidates the failing of a superficial mindset. The Amir in the story remains utterly unaware of his servant's true condition and essence because his gaze "reached no further than the superficial" (baliysān nazar). Indeed, the verse elaborates on this limited vision: such a person "saw the water and clay (body) but not the treasure within it." He perceives only the material, earthen vessel of a human being, oblivious to the immense spiritual and cognitive treasures harbored within that very form.

Furthermore, such a restricted eye "saw the five (senses) and the six (directions), but not the essence of the five." The "five" here refers to the five outer senses, which are tools for apprehending the material world, and the "six" denotes the six spatial directions (the material dimensions) within which a human exists. However, what remains unseen and ungrasped is the "essence of the five." This refers, unequivocally, to the ḥawāss-e bāṭina (inner senses), which Mawlana explicitly discusses in the second book of the Mathnawi: "There are five senses other than these five senses; those are like red gold, and these are like copper." These inner senses are like "red gold," revealing true value, in contrast to the outer senses, which are like "copper" and concern themselves only with external appearances. These inner faculties are the very capacities that qualify a person to receive divine revelation (waḥy) and inspiration (ilhāmāt-e ilāhī); they are the dormant potentials necessary for perceiving transcendent truths.

This inability to perceive the inner reality and to settle for mere appearances has been the shared suffering of all prophets and divine saints throughout history. People observed them eating, walking in marketplaces, and behaving like any other human being (as the Quran recounts: "What kind of a messenger is this who eats food and walks in the marketplaces?"). Yet, they failed to comprehend that beyond this outward bashar (humanity) lay an immense jān (soul) and bāṭin (inner reality) that distinguished them. Mawlana himself points to this in the first book: "The donkey here is sleeping, O so-and-so / Because you saw them as mere humans, not as soul." The problem begins when one perceives them merely as "human" and remains incapable of grasping their profound "soul." This is precisely the flawed vision that obstructs the perception of hidden treasures, keeping an individual confined to the level of "water and clay" and "five and six," thus depriving them of the "essence of the five."

Key takeaways

• Superficial perception blinds one to the profound inner treasures of existence.
• Beyond the five outer senses, there exist 'inner senses' (ḥawāss-e bāṭina) which are tools for perceiving unseen realities.
• These 'inner senses' serve as the gateway for receiving divine inspirations and revelations.
• A fundamental challenge in understanding prophets and saints is the inability to perceive their 'soul' (jān), settling instead for their mere 'humanity' (bashar).
• True discernment lies in transcending the 'water and clay' and 'five and six' to reach the 'treasure' and the 'essence of the five'.