M6:1437 — ای دهندهٔ عقلها فریاد رس / تا نخواهی تو نخواهد هیچ کس

Translation: O Giver of intellects, come to our aid! Unless You will, no one shall will anything. Meaning: In this heartfelt supplication, Mawlana identifies God as the ultimate source and bestower of intellect and will, emphasizing that no desire or intention in the world can materialize without divine volition.

This couplet marks one of those rare and luminous moments in the Masnavi where Mawlana's soul, unbidden and unreserved, bursts forth in an intensely passionate and fervent prayer. This is no artificial or contrived supplication; rather, it is a direct conduit connecting his ecstatic, self-forgotten spirit with his Eternal Beloved. In such states of bī-khudī (self-forgetfulness), Mawlana utters words from the higher realms, before returning to himself and continuing his discourse.

Prior to this beyt, Mawlana had been discussing the allegories of the soul (nafs) and intellect (ʿaql), and the roles of male and female in creation. But suddenly, he cries out that all these are nothing compared to what God bestows and wills. He calls God the “Giver of intellects,” a blessing that, in Mawlana’s view, is the most important and precious divine gift to humanity; God is the nurturer of reason. He then immediately insists on the truth that “unless You will, no one shall will anything.” This is, without doubt, a direct assertion of absolute divine will. Nothing in the world, neither in the realm of creation nor in the realm of human intentions, comes into being without His permission, leave, and management. Everything is by His command and will, and nothing is outside the sphere of His dominion. This theme is explicitly stated in the Holy Quran, including in Surah Ad-Dahr (Al-Insan), verse 30: “And you do not will except that Allah wills, Lord of the worlds.”

Of course, I am well aware that speaking in such a manner “smells of predestination” (jabr) and creates the temptation to think: if everything is by His will, then what role do we have? Our good and evil are products of His will, and our own will is ineffective. Mawlana himself is conscious of this point and immediately, in subsequent verses, moves to address this illusion of determinism. He later states: “Who are we? You are the first, You are the last / You are the speaker, You are the listener, You are the Being / We are all mere corpses, despite our every effort.” These words emphasize the utter non-existence of the creature before the absolute Being of the Creator. But this non-existence does not imply irresponsibility or lassitude. Rather, it signifies a return to the original source of existence and will. True prayer is also this: a yearning that wells up from the soul, not out of habit or obligation. A spring that suddenly gushes forth from the earth. In such moments, to use Mawlana’s own phrase, it is God who prays, meaning it is He who brings a person to this state and instills thirst and longing within them. This couplet is a cry from that pure thirst, in which intellect and will are also gifts from Him, and ultimately, are in need of His aid.

Key takeaways

• This couplet is a spontaneous, passionate prayer arising from Mawlana's soul in a moment of self-forgetfulness.
• God is the 'Giver of intellects,' signifying intellect as the most exalted divine blessing bestowed upon humanity.
• Divine will and volition are absolute: no desire or event in the universe occurs without God's permission and management.
• This theme directly echoes Quranic verses regarding God's absolute sovereignty.
• Mawlana himself is aware of the 'scent of determinism' in these words and addresses this potential misunderstanding in subsequent verses.
• True prayer is a yearning that wells up from the depths of the soul, in which God Himself is the initiator of that divine thirst.