M6:1367 — پیش ازین رمزی بگفتستیم ازین / این و آن را تو یکی بین دو مبین

Translation: Before this, We spoke a رمز (hint/mystery) of this; See this and that as one, do not deem them two.

Meaning: Rumi asserts that he has previously hinted at this truth: what exists now and what does not yet exist are fundamentally unified. We are urged to perceive them as a single reality, not as a dichotomy.

Rumi, in this verse, points to a profound and central insight that he had previously expressed in a cryptic manner: the essential unity of being and non-being. This is one of the rare instances where Rumi refers to his past statements within the Masnavi, which itself signals the profound significance he attached to this particular theme.

I interpret this to mean that 'non-existence' (نیستی), as Rumi declares, serves as the very treasury and wellspring of divine creation. The phrase 'non-existence in manifestation' (نیستی در انجلا) suggests that when these non-existent realities come into full view, one then comprehends that the primary source and reservoir of creation lie within them. Our present existence, 'what is,' does not encompass the entirety of reality; God's treasury is far grander and more abundant than what merely manifests as 'beings.'

Therefore, our gaze must always be directed towards the 'non-existents.' Towards the knowledge we have not yet acquired, the trees we have not yet planted, and the children yet to be born. We move with the 'vehicle of today' towards the future, indeed, towards these 'non-existents,' in order to actualize them, to bring them into being. This existent world is but a fragment of reality; its vast, generative, and originating portion lies within the realm of the potential and the unmanifested.

Rumi illustrates this meaning through various examples: unsewn fabric (which holds the potential to become clothing), untrimmed wood (which contains the potential for dozens of forms), and a broken leg (which carries within it the potential for healing). All of these are 'non-existents' that embody 'potency' and 'potential,' requiring an agent to bring them to actuality.

The core wisdom here is this: see this 'existent' (that which is now present) and that 'non-existent' (that which has not yet come into being but is potential) as one, not as two separate entities. These are but different aspects of a single, unified truth. Existence is the manifestation of prior non-existence, and non-existence is the fertile ground for future existence. This aligns with the concept of formlessness (بی‌صورتی), from which all forms emerge, much like water assumes the shape of any vessel, or the breath (دم) in the reed, formless in itself, becomes the origin of all musical forms. One must not view these as opposing poles, but rather as two stages in the continuous flow of divine creation.

Key takeaways

• Non-existence (نیستی) is the divine treasury and source of creation; the potential wellspring of all being.
• Rumi emphasizes that existence and non-existence should not be seen as a dichotomy, but as two facets of a single, unified reality.
• What currently exists is only a fraction of reality; the greater part resides in the 'unmanifested' and 'potential'.
• Rumi's rare self-reference underscores the foundational importance of this unity of being and non-being.
• Through examples like unsewn fabric and untrimmed wood, Rumi illustrates that actualization depends on potentials inherent in non-existence.