M6:1935 — نی که اول دست یزدان مجید / از دو عالم پیشتر عقل آفرید

Translation: Not that the Glorious Hand of God, / Before the two worlds, created aught but Intellect. Meaning: This verse asserts that God's very first creation was Intellect (ʿaql), which predates the existence of both the material and spiritual worlds.

Though stated with remarkable brevity, this verse, in reality, holds a sea of meaning. Rumi here advances a profound argument: God's very first and supreme creation was the Intellect (ʿaql). The Intellect, by its very nature, is a perceptive entity, meaning that from the genesis of existence, perception and consciousness were inherent in creation. Consequently, all other beings in this world are submerged in the perception of that Primordial Intellect; the entire cosmos exists within the perceptual domain of this Universal Intellect. We, as human beings, who are ourselves effects and consequences of this very First Intellect, breathe together with the whole world in a shared “field of perception.” This implies that the universe is not a blind, unconscious reality, but a singular, perceptive whole whose root and origin trace back to the First Intellect. This is a point Rumi articulates concisely, hinting at it as a “manifest and hidden word”—a secret not every fly can be privy to, requiring a special insight for its full comprehension.

Key takeaways

• Intellect (ʿaql) is God's paramount first creation, predating both the material and spiritual worlds.
• All existence is immersed in the perception of this Primordial Intellect, making the cosmos a unified perceptive whole.
• Human beings are also effects of the First Intellect, sharing in this universal field of perception.
• The verse points to the profound perceptual unity and consciousness of the world, where everything originates from the Intellect.