M6:1907 — دید در خواب او شبی و خواب کو / واقعهٔ بی‌خواب صوفی‌راست خو

Translation: One night he saw in a dream, but where was the dream? It was a sleepless wāqi'a (spiritual vision), befitting the truth-natured ṣūfī (Sufi). Meaning:* This verse describes a profound mystical vision, asserting that it was not an ordinary dream. For a genuine Sufi, such an experience is a 'wāqi'a', a clear spiritual insight that occurs in a state of inner wakefulness, far beyond mere slumber.

Mowlana, in this couplet, points to a subtle distinction that illuminates the boundary between ordinary dreams and true mystical revelations. He asks: "He saw in a dream one night, but where was the dream?" This rhetorical "where was the dream?" is, without doubt, a question of negation. It implies that what the true mystic witnesses is not a dream in the conventional sense of the word. I have asserted many times that for lovers and those who have attained union, ordinary sleep holds no meaning. How can one, at the peak of love and communion, close their eyes to the beloved's world and enter the realm of confused dreams?

As Mowlana himself states in the Divan-e Shams: "Last night I had a dream / But where is sleep for lovers?" Or the famous Arabic verse, which Saʿdi also incorporated: "How wondrous it is for the lover to sleep / Every sleep is forbidden to the lover." It is astonishing for a lover to sleep! Every form of sleep is forbidden to them.

Thus, what the truth-natured Sufi beholds is not a dream, but a wāqi'a: "It was a sleepless wāqi'a, befitting the truth-natured Sufi." A wāqi'a, in Sufi terminology, is a state beyond sleep, wherein truth shines unveiled upon the heart of the seeker. A wāqi'a is truthful, and falsehood has no access to it. Our mystics have greatly emphasized this point to distinguish genuine visions from false ones. When we hear a mystic say, "I saw such-and-such in a wāqi'a," they refer to an inspiration upon which they rely with absolute certainty; an inspiration that surged within their pure conscience.

Major decisions in Sufi hospices (khānqāhs), especially regarding the selection of a shaykh, were sometimes made through this very method; several elders would gather and await what they would "find in a wāqi'a." This process is somewhat akin to the election of the Pope among Catholics, where cardinals await the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. A wāqi'a is a true spiritual unveiling (mukāshafa), one experienced by the "truth-natured Sufi." A "truth-natured Sufi" is someone with an excellent character, a pure heart, and a conscience devoid of desires and passions. In such a conscience, Satan has no sway, and whatever is witnessed is nothing but truth itself, not the play of illusions and fantasies.

Key takeaways

• A mystic's vision is not an ordinary dream, but a profound spiritual unveiling.
• For true lovers, conventional sleep holds no place; their love demands absolute inner wakefulness.
• A wāqi'a in mysticism is a superior state to dreams, where truth manifests itself unveiled and without falsehood to the seeker.
• The 'truth-natured Sufi,' possessing a pure character and conscience, ensures their visions are free from satanic pollutions and vain imaginings.
• Important decisions in Sufi hospices and the selection of spiritual masters were sometimes based on wāqi'a and heartfelt inspirations.