M6:2092 — امر معروف او و هم معروف اوست / کاشف اسرار و هم مکشوف اوست

Translation: He (the man of God) is both the commander to good and himself the good. He is both the revealer of secrets and himself a revealed secret.

Meaning: This couplet describes the Friends of God, who embody both the command to virtue and virtue itself; they are at once the revealers of mysteries and mysteries made manifest.

This couplet profoundly describes the Friends of God, those who have reached the pinnacle of gnosis and union. Mowlana here portrays two essential aspects—both ontological and functional—of these great figures.

First, he states: “He is both the commander to good and himself the good.” This is a far deeper statement than merely saying that the divine friends enjoin good, meaning they invite people to virtuous deeds. No, Mowlana asserts that they are the good itself (ma'ruf), they are the embodiment of virtue and excellence. The amr bi-ma'ruf (commanding good) emanates from their very being; their presence, their breath, their gaze, and their conduct are an invitation to goodness. They are not merely teachers of ethics, but the very form of excellent character and its perfect manifestation. This is the essence of naqd-i ḥāl (the immediate experience of the present moment) and the 'fruit harvested here and now,' which Mowlana frequently emphasizes. High values in them have transitioned from abstract concepts to concrete realities. They draw people to good not through mere words, but through their very existence. This resonates deeply with my understanding of the 'reed' at the Masnavi’s opening: the reed is the player, not merely from a reed. It is Mowlana’s own being that reflects this goodness.

Then he says: “He is both the revealer of secrets and himself a revealed secret.” Men of God unveil the secrets of existence: the mysteries of the unseen, the secrets of divine unity, the secrets of love, the secrets of bi-ṣūratī (formlessness) manifesting in the world of bā-ṣūrat (form). These are revealed through their hands and tongues. They are 'secret-knowers,' acquainted with the scent of truth. Yet, this is not the whole story. They are themselves makshūf (revealed); their very existence, their lives, their spiritual journeys, and even their words, constitute a secret that has been disclosed to us. They not only bring truths to light but are themselves truths to be discovered and understood. The life of a divine friend is an unveiled book, each page containing a riddle of divine mysteries. They are both the 'tongue of God' that utters the 'listen!' (bishnav) to our ears, and they are themselves the embodiment of 'that which is spoken.' Indeed, the sacred soul that reveals secrets is, more than anything else, the manifestation of that very secret. This is the paradoxical nature of mystical truth: both the mirror and the image in the mirror; both the guide and the path itself.

Key takeaways

• The Friends of God are the very embodiment of goodness, not merely its preachers or commanders.
• The presence and being of the mystic is itself a manifest, revealed divine secret.
• They both unveil the secrets of existence and are themselves a secret to be discovered.
• In divine men, virtues transcend abstract concepts and become tangible, lived realities.