M6:2431 — هم من و هم موسی و هم کوه طور / هر سه گم گشتیم زان اشراق نور

Translation: Both I and Moses and Mount Sinai / All three of us were lost in that effulgence of light.

Meaning: This verse speaks to the sublime experience of self, prophet, and even the physical world being dissolved in the boundless radiance of divine light, where the grandeur of God's manifestation obliterates all distinctions.

This verse, a jewel from Mawlana, recounts a singular dream, narrated by a Jewish traveler. Yet, I am certain that Mawlana here expresses his own profound and authentic mystical experiences, not merely the dream of that particular Jew. It is much like the 'Story of Daquqi' in the third book, which mirrors his own inner states. In this experience, three distinct entities — 'I' (the seeker), 'Moses' (symbol of the law-bearing prophet and God's interlocutor, Kalīm Allāh), and 'Mount Sinai' (symbol of material and stable existence) — are all 'lost' in the 'effulgence of Light' (ishrāq-i nūr) from the Divine. This 'being lost' is not annihilation, but rather a dissolution into the boundless expanse of Divine Light; an existential metamorphosis.

It brings to mind Moses' experience on Mount Sinai, as recounted in the Quran: 'And Moses fell down in a swoon' (wa kharra Mūsā ṣaʿiqan). This Divine Light is not merely a visual brilliance; it is a qawlan thaqīlan (a heavy saying), an existential weight that shatters all resistance and steadfastness. The mountain, a symbol of solidity and stillness, 'shattered apart' (mī-sikast az ham) and splintered into pieces before this manifestation. This is what Mawlana means when he says this light 'speaks without language, commands without speech.' This revelation (waḥy) is not an audible word, but a 'subtle sign' (ishāra-yi khafiya) that transforms existence: it sweetens the bitter sea, causes medicinal springs to gush from the earth, and melts the mountain beneath Moses' feet like ice.

This experience of dissolution is, in fact, a reflection of the truth of 'formlessness' (bī-ṣūratī). As I have often reiterated, one of the most crucial insights in the Masnavi is the narrative of formlessness, from which this world of forms has emerged. Light, in itself, is formless, yet it reveals every form and color, and in them, it dissolves itself. Here too, the effulgence of Divine Light absorbs and dissolves all forms and distinctions within itself; it does not destroy them, but returns them to their formless source. This is a great lesson: that to reach ultimate truth, one must move beyond naḥw (grammar and rules) to maḥw (annihilation and dissolution). This verse, through the language of dream and from the perspective of a Jewish seeker, lays bare before our eyes the pinnacle of this experience of annihilation in God (fanā fī Allāh).

Key takeaways

• In the face of Divine Light, three levels of existence (the seeker, the prophet, the material world) shatter and dissolve.
• Divine Light is not only guiding but also a transformative and overwhelming force that breaks down all material resistance.
• Being lost in the light is not total annihilation, but an effacement and integration that transcends the boundaries of individual existence.
• Dream and intuitive experience serve as pathways to grasp truths that intellect and reasoning cannot fully comprehend.
• This divine experience echoes the story of Moses on Mount Sinai, where the manifestation of Truth leads to a profound transformation and dissolution of being.