M6:2306 — کای کریمی که در آن لیل وحش / گنج رحمت بنهی و چندین چشش

Translation: O Generous One, who in that terrifying night (layl-i wahsh)
Lays down a treasure of mercy (gandj-i raḥmat) and so many delights (čashish).
Meaning: This verse is a praise of the Generous God who, even in the midst of a dark and frightening night, bestows comfort, mercy, and the pleasures of sleep upon humanity.

Mowlana, in these wondrous verses, speaks of the experience of night and sleep as a deeply metaphysical phenomenon, not merely a physiological need. This is not a superficial interpretation but an exploration into the dissolution and renewal of human existence.

As I have often remarked, Mowlana, in a Kantian and even positivistic vein, views the world. Night, from his perspective, acts as a veil that severs the chain of causality and apparent connection. In slumber, our intellect, culture, reason, and skills all become 'like a ship submerged by water.' We can no longer assert with certainty that we are the same person who was awake during the day, for our senses are dormant, placed behind a curtain of unknowing. This is precisely like the example of salt dissolving in water; once dissolved, we cannot definitively say whether the same salt reappears after precipitation. It is here that Mowlana, with his sharp philosophical insight, tells us what treasures are hidden within the 'layl-i wahsh' – this terrifying night of unconsciousness and unawareness.

The beyt we are discussing is, in essence, the voice of the awakened servant at dawn. Mowlana likens the night to a 'whale of many paths' (nahang-i dhul-ḥubak), a leviathan that swallows all of us, with our intellect, senses, and daily existence, into its belly. The crucial point, however, is that this swallowing is not for annihilation but for a hidden mercy. Just as Jonah emerged from the fish, so too do we emerge each dawn from the belly of this nocturnal whale: 'Released like Jonah from the whale’s stomach, we become scattered into scent and color.' We return to the world of 'scent and color,' meaning the world of sensation and activity.

This particular beyt expresses the pinnacle of human gratitude in the face of this phenomenon: 'O Generous One, who in that terrifying night / Lays down a treasure of mercy and so many delights.' That 'layl-i wahsh' – the lonely night, the dreadful night of unconsciousness and self-abandonment – holds within its core a 'treasure of mercy.' This mercy is comfort, peace, and renewal; and the 'so many delights' refer to the pleasures of sleep, sweet dreams, and the sense of freshness and lightness that greets us upon waking: 'Sharp eyes and fresh ears, a light body.'

Fundamentally, terror and fear of darkness or difficult situations originate in a sense of 'loneliness' (tanhāyī) and 'helplessness' (bī-panāhī). Just as a child fears sleeping alone in the dark, or a prisoner in solitary confinement is driven to despair by loneliness. But in Mowlana's philosophy, when 'You are with us,' then 'we shall no longer flee from places of terror with one like You.' When the Generous One, this Absolute Generosity, lays down a treasure of mercy in the heart of that 'wild' darkness, it means we are never truly alone. The Generous One who bestows all these blessings during the nightly absence and dissolution, in fact, reveals Himself as the Absolute Presence. Therefore, what appears outwardly as 'terror' is inwardly 'mercy,' safeguarding us from all fear and insecurity.

Key takeaways

• For Mowlana, sleep and night are metaphysical events: a dissolution of the diurnal self and a return to unconsciousness, holding hidden mercy.
• The apparent 'terrifying night' (layl-i wahsh) conceals an inner 'treasure of mercy' (gandj-i raḥmat) in the form of sleep, comfort, sweet dreams, and renewal.
• Like Jonah saved from the fish's belly, humanity emerges each morning from the 'whale of night' with refreshed senses and a light spirit.
• Fear of darkness stems from loneliness; however, with divine presence and generosity, the 'terrifying night' becomes a sanctuary of mercy, devoid of true terror.
• This verse expresses gratitude to God who, even in the deepest states of unconsciousness and dissolution, never deprives His servants of His grace and blessings.