M6:1665 — اندر آن هنگامه ترکی از خطا / سخت طیره شد ز کشف آن غطا

Translation: Amidst that uproar, a Turk from Khata, Grew intensely agitated by the unveiling of that secret (ghatā). Meaning: A Turk, hailing from the city of Khata, became extremely angered and disturbed by the public disclosure of the tailors' hidden deceits.

This verse is plucked from the narrative of the sweet-tongued storyteller, who is busily revealing the cunning tricks and deceits of tailors. Here, Mowlana paints a vivid picture of a Turk, originating from the city of 'Khata' – a city in northern China famed in Persian literature for its beautiful people, though I must confess, my own travels there yielded no such encounters! – who, upon hearing these revelations, 'grew intensely agitated' (sakht tirah shod). To 'grow tirah' means to become inflamed with anger or disturbance. What provoked him so? The 'unveiling of that secret' (kashf-i ān ghaṭā), the tearing away of those veils and hidden matters. It appears this Turk was either a tailor himself or felt such a deep affinity with them that he perceived this disclosure of professional secrets as a direct affront.

However, Mowlana, with his characteristic depth, extracts a profound theological point from this seemingly mundane incident. He remarks that on that night, the storyteller was revealing secrets 'like the Day of Resurrection' (shab cho rūz-i rastakhīz). This is an immensely significant phrase, for the Quran itself, in describing the Day of Judgment, proclaims: Yawm tublā al-sarā'ir, 'the Day when secrets are tested and revealed.' Mowlana, with a striking analogy, presents us with an earthly instance of this 'Mahshar' (Resurrection): 'Wherever you enter into a conflict, / There you will see two revealing secrets. / Deem that time a known Mahshar.' This means, wherever you witness two individuals in a quarrel, busily exposing each other's hidden faults and flaws, know that a 'Mahshar' has been set in motion right there. Just as on Judgment Day the 'Soor' (trumpet) is sounded and secrets are laid bare, so too 'deem the throat of the secret-teller as the Soor'; as if the voice of this storyteller, or indeed anyone who reveals secrets in a dispute, is the trumpet of Israfil, announcing a localized judgment day.

These occurrences are not accidental. In Mowlana's view, 'God has prepared the means of anger' (khudā asbāb-i khashmī sākhta ast) and willed that these disgraces be cast into the open. It is here that the dual attribute of God becomes manifest. The Almighty is inherently Sattār al-ʿUyūb, the Veiler of His servants' faults. Yet, this veiling has a limit. If a servant 'transgresses the boundary' (līk chūn az ḥadd barī ghammaz-i ūst), that same Veiling God transforms into a Ghammaz (informer, revealer of secrets). Mowlana warns elsewhere: 'If God wills to tear someone's veil, / He inclines them to slander the pure.' This implies that if God intends to expose someone's deeds, He first prompts them to find fault with and criticize the righteous, and this very act becomes the cause of their own self-exposure. This Turk, too, finds himself subject to such a revelation, and his anger stems from the lifting of his perceived veil.

Key takeaways

• The Turk's anger symbolizes an internal discomfort with the exposure of secrets with which one identifies or feels complicit.
• The unveiling of secrets in this world mirrors the 'Yawm tublā al-sarā'ir' (Day when secrets are revealed) on Judgment Day.
• Quarrels and conflicts often become the arena for the revelation of hidden faults and secrets; Mowlana views such moments as minor 'Mahshars'.
• God is the 'Veiler of Faults' (Sattār al-ʿUyūb), but if a servant crosses the line, the same Veiler transforms into an 'Informer' (Ghammaz).
• Anger and agitation in the face of disclosure signal resistance to a reality that one wished to keep concealed.