M6:2626 — هین بگردان از تحری رو و سر / که پدید آمد معاد و مستقر

Translation: Hark! Turn your face and head away from inquiry and seeking, For the place of return (maʿād) and the settled abode (mostaqarr) have become manifest. Meaning: This verse suggests that once the ultimate truth and humanity's final destination are revealed, there is no longer a need for further searching; one should simply move towards that known reality.

This verse, at first glance, appears as an invitation to cease inquiry and investigation once one's ultimate destination and abode are revealed. Mawlana posits that maʿād is the place to which one must return, and mostaqarr is where one is destined to settle. Once these truths are unveiled, he suggests, there's no longer a need to look around or question others; one should simply bow one's head and proceed towards that destination. However, I must immediately qualify this instruction. In our contemporary world, the notion that one should abandon 'inquiry' after 'discovering truth' is fraught with peril. This is not a lesson that can or should be universally taught or accepted. To me, it borders on an 'abdication of intellect' and 'ingratitude for the blessing of rationality,' which stands contrary to the spirit of our age. What Mawlana articulates here pertains to a very specific spiritual station (maqām), not a general rule for all. To clarify his meaning, Mawlana refers to the Qibla in subsequent verses: "When the hand of Truth made the Qibla manifest / Then inquiry thereafter is to be deemed rejected." This applies to one whose spiritual eye has seen the true Qibla and attained yaqīn (certainty). For such an individual, to neglect this Qibla (to become zāhel or heedless) is to fall prey to "every false Qibla." He warns that ingratitude towards the tamyīz-deh (the one who shows the right path) will cause one's "Qibla-knowing thought" (khaṭar-i Qibla-shenās) to flee, leading to a loss of the very sense of orientation. Yet, even for one who has reached this station of certainty, Mawlana offers a vital piece of advice: "If from this storehouse you wish to gain good harvest, / Do not part even for half an hour from fellow-sufferers." Who are these "fellow-sufferers" (ham-dardan)? They are the thirsty for truth, those who feel the 'pain' (dard) of seeking. This 'pain' is the engine of spirituality. As Mawlana says, "Do not seek water, but bring forth thirst, / So that water may gush from above and below." To accompany these fellow-sufferers, these thirsty ones, these seekers of truth, is itself a continuous 'inquiry,' not a cessation of it. Life without 'seeking' becomes meaningless. It is thirst and longing that give life meaning. If one becomes 'painless' (bī-dard) and 'without longing' (bī-ṭalab), they will neither understand the words of those who suffer nor grasp true meaning. Mawlana himself is our "fellow-sufferer"—a fellow-sufferer in love, in truth, in union and separation. To accompany him through his book is the highest form of "fellow-suffering." Here, "inquiry" is no longer about aimless wandering, but rather about "companionship in seeking" and "deepening one's findings." In this view, the door of inquiry and longing is never truly closed; rather, its nature and depth evolve.

Key takeaways

• The instruction to 'cease inquiry' in this verse applies specifically to a mystical station of yaqīn (certainty), not as a general rule for all.
• In contemporary times, a universal rejection of inquiry is considered an 'ingratitude for the blessing of rationality.'
• Mawlana discourages 'inquiry' for the Qibla after it has become manifest, not the cessation of the overall 'seeking' for truth.
• "Fellow-suffering" (ham-dardī) with those who thirst for truth is the path to divine knowledge and constitutes a continuous form of inquiry.
• Life without seeking and longing is meaningless; ṭalab (seeking) is what imbues human existence with purpose.