M6:2278 — بر چه بگشادی بدل این دیده‌ها / یک به یک بئس البدل دان آن ترا

Translation: To what have you opened these eyes of yours instead of those [true realities]? Know that each and every one of those substitutes is the worst for you.

Meaning: Mawlana probes the reader, asking what trivialities they have chosen to focus their inner sight upon, instead of profound truths. He declares these choices to be truly wretched substitutes, akin to trading a precious gem for mere trifle.

Mawlana, like a skilled physician, first addresses the underlying conditions before diagnosing the ailment. This couplet follows one that speaks of the 'seal of destiny' (chashm-band-i khatm), an allusion to the Quranic verse, 'Allah has set a seal upon their hearts and upon their hearing, and over their eyes is a veil' (2:7). This sealing is not a divine coercion, but rather the consequence of willfully closing one's eyes to truth. Mawlana asks us: 'Since you understood the sealing of destiny, do you know what you have closed your eyes from?' This is a profound existential and introspective question.

Following this inquiry, Mawlana addresses the beyt in question: 'To what have you opened these eyes of yours instead of those [true realities]?' If the inner eye has been closed to those exalted truths, then what, in their stead, has it been opened to? What has been chosen as the badal (substitute)? We humans are constantly in a state of exchanging one thing for another; we avert our gaze from one thing and fix it upon another. However, this exchange is not always beneficial. Mawlana immediately renders judgment: 'Know that each and every one of those substitutes is the worst for you.' Bi's al-badal signifies the worst and most undesirable exchange. It means that what you have chosen as a substitute for the jewel of existence is an undue and harmful replacement. It is as if a jewel has been given to a child, who, in return, takes a mere piece of bread. This metaphor is well-known in our literature, and Mawlana skillfully employs it to illustrate the depth of this loss.

Yet, this critique is not a call to despair. While Mawlana indeed reproaches such undesirable substitutions, he immediately, in the subsequent verses, speaks of the 'Sun of Grace' (khurshīd-i ʿināyat). God even transforms ingratitude (kufr) into repentance (inābat). Here, we see that even if someone has exchanged the best for the worst and opened their inner eye to worthless matters, they are still not despairing of divine mercy. The ocean of God's generosity opens springs of affection (vadād) to transform the wretchedness of creation into felicity. This is the peak of Mawlana's compassion, for even in reproach, he does not close the door on hope.

Key takeaways

• Every choice to open the heart's eye to something means closing it to something else; this exchange demands intelligent discernment.
• Substituting profound truths with worthless matters is life's worst and most detrimental transaction.
• Mawlana's question prompts deep introspection: What genuine realities have our eyes closed to, and what ephemeral things have they opened upon?
• True value lies in the jewel of existence, not in the superficial 'bread' we may have traded for it.
• Even if we have made the worst substitutions, the 'Sun of Grace' still shines, and the path of repentance remains open.