M6:1605 — چون ز یک دریاست این جوها روان / این چرا نوش است و آن زهر دهان

Translation: Since these streams all flow from one sea, Why is this one sweet drink, and that one poison for the mouth? Meaning: This verse poses a fundamental question: If all existence originates from a single source, why do such diverse and contradictory phenomena as sweetness and bitterness, good and evil, appear in the realm of multiplicity?

In this verse and those immediately following, Mawlana eloquently and poetically articulates the Sufi's fundamental question to the “judge”—a question that has perpetually occupied philosophers and thinkers: What is the origin of multiplicity and contradiction from unity? This is a profoundly philosophical inquiry: If the origin of existence is singular, why do we encounter such vast differences and contradictions in the world of reality? If all streams flow from one sea, how can one be sweet drink and another poison? Philosophers have offered their rational answers to this question, but I believe Mawlana provides a different kind of response, one that stems not from logical argumentation but from intuitive knowledge and existential understanding. Here, Mawlana employs the metaphor of the “sea,” which throughout the Masnavi and Divan-e Shams, symbolizes the singular essence of being, absolute truth, or even Mawlana himself, who was “sea-like.” The streams, in turn, symbolize the world's pluralities, its diverse manifestations and forms. Mawlana's answer is that these differences and contradictions are, in fact, the “foam of the sea”—forms that have appeared upon the singular, formless reality of the water (the sea). As he states elsewhere: “The foam of the sea are the forms of the world / Pass beyond the foam if you are pure-hearted.” This sweetness and poison, this good and evil, this ugliness and beauty, are all manifestations that arise from the singular truth, but on the level of appearances, they present themselves as contradictory. It is here that we must transcend from “form” (surat) to “formlessness” (bi-surat), which Mawlana considers one of the key insights of the Masnavi. Therefore, the perception of sweetness and poison is based on appearance and our perception. Mawlana repeatedly suggests that if we see crookedness in the world, its root lies in the crookedness of our gaze, not the crookedness of the world: “If one crooked hair can veil the heavens, / What will happen if all your parts are crooked?” Meaning, the world is not fundamentally crooked, and sweetness and poison are not different in their essential unity. This understanding of the world, which sees it as a “paradise,” belongs to one who has “perpetual peace with this Father.” For those in the station of love, contradictions dissolve, and only unity is perceived. Accessing this insight is not through “grammar” (nahw) but through “effacement” (mahv); not through argument, but through servitude and an inner experience that reveals the answer.

Key takeaways

• The core philosophical question: If the origin of existence is singular, what is the source of multiplicity and contradiction in the world?
• Mawlana offers an answer rooted in intuitive knowledge (maʿrifat) rather than rational argumentation.
• The 'sea' symbolizes the singular Truth, while 'streams' represent the world's apparent pluralities and forms.
• Contradictions (sweetness and poison) are seen as the 'foam of the sea'—superficial manifestations atop a unified reality.
• The perception of crookedness and contradiction stems from our own 'crooked gaze'; in the station of love, contradictions vanish, and unity is revealed.