M6:1669 — که خدا اسباب خشمی ساختست / وآن فضایح را بکوی انداختست

Translation: For God has fashioned the means of wrath, And cast those disgraces into the public street. Meaning: Mawlana suggests that human anger and conflict are, in fact, divine instruments through which God orchestrates the revelation of hidden secrets and the exposure of scandals.

This verse, nestled within the tale of the cunning tailor and the simple, laughing Turk, reveals a profound and foundational point about divine will and the hidden mysteries of the world. I have often emphasized that Mawlana, unlike philosophers seeking natural causes or jurists focused on legal rulings, consistently pursues a theological perspective on events. He aims to discern God's hand behind the curtain of happenings, to uncover the 'means' (asbāb) that God has fashioned to advance His purposes.

Mawlana here alludes to one of the manifestations of Yawm Tablī al-Sarāʾir – the Day when Secrets are Revealed – as mentioned in the Quran. He states that whenever two individuals engage in conflict, and in that commotion begin to expose each other's hidden flaws, this in itself is a miniature Maḥshar (Day of Resurrection). In that moment, concealed secrets are laid bare, and reputations are exposed to the elements. Mawlana interprets that the 'throat of the secret-teller' (gulū-yi rāz-gū) who begins to reveal disgraces acts like the 'Trumpet of Israfil' (sūr-i Isrāfīl), signaling the Last Day.

The crucial point, however, is that these disgraces and revelations are not accidental. Mawlana explicitly states: ki Khudā asbāb-i khashmī sākhta’st – that God Himself has placed the means of wrath and anger within human hearts. By stirring these angers, He creates conditions through which v-ān faḍāʾih rā bi-kūy andākhta’st – those disgraces are cast into the public street. This is a profound view of Tawḥīd-i Afʿālī (the Oneness of God's Acts), meaning that even human anger and conflict are not unconnected to divine will; rather, they can be instruments in the hand of divine providence for uncovering and manifesting what has been hidden.

Mawlana reinforces this meaning elsewhere, stating: Chun Khudā khāhad ki parda-yi kas darad / Maylash andar ṭaʿna-yi pākān barad (If God desires to tear the veil of someone, He inclines them to slander the pure). This means that if God wills to expose someone's flaws, He directs them towards slandering the virtuous; and this very act of slander becomes a pretext for the slanderer's own faults to be revealed. This is a warning: be mindful of your words and deeds, for slandering others can become a mirror reflecting your own defects, a mirror that God places in the hands of others.

Just as God, to render aid, mayl-i mā rā jānib-i zārī kunad (inclines us towards weeping) and makes tears a cause for mercy, so too for revealing disgraces, He asbāb-i khashmī (fashions the means of wrath). This indicates that in Mawlana's view, nothing in the world occurs without a divine cause. Even the tailor's cunning and the Turk's anger become instruments in the hand of divine decree for revealing truths. But the thought-provoking aspect here is that although God is Sattār al-ʿUyūb (the Veiler of Defects) and conceals His servants' flaws, if a servant crosses the 'limit' (ḥadd), this very concealing God transforms into a ghammāz (informer or revealer) and exposes hidden secrets. This is not only a theological description but also a profound ethical teaching: our conduct, our boundaries, can influence God's disposition towards veiling or unveiling.

Key takeaways

• Human anger and conflict can serve as instruments of divine will for the revelation of hidden truths.
• The exposure of secrets and disgraces during disputes is a miniature manifestation of the 'Day when Secrets are Revealed' (Yawm Tablī al-Sarāʾir).
• Such revelations are not accidental; God Himself creates the 'means of wrath' to lift the veils.
• If God intends to expose someone, He inclines them to slander the pure, which then becomes the cause of their own disgrace.
• God is the 'Veiler of Defects' (Sattār al-ʿUyūb), but if a person transgresses limits, this very Concealer becomes a 'Revealer' (Ghammāz).