M6:2655 — طفل نوزاده شود حبر فصیح / حکمت بالغ بخواند چون مسیح

Translation: Should a newborn child become an eloquent scholar, / And read mature wisdom like Christ. Meaning: This verse speaks to the transformative power of divine wine (mystical experience), enabling even the most unlikely, like a newborn, to articulate profound and mature wisdom, much like Jesus speaking from the cradle.

This verse continues the discourse on the "divine wine" (mey-e elāhi) and its speech-bestowing power, the same wine that causes "the water of speech to gush from the mute." Here, Mawlana expands on the miraculous effect of this spiritual intoxication, stating that if one partakes of this wine, even a newborn child can transform into an "eloquent scholar" (ḥabr-e faṣīḥ). The term ḥabr denotes a scholar or learned person, much like aḥbār is used in the Quran for the scholars of the People of the Book.

The second part of the verse, "And reads mature wisdom like Christ" (ḥikmat-e bāligh bekhānad chon Masīḥ), is a precise and profoundly meaningful reference to the story of Jesus (PBUH) in the cradle. Mawlana alludes to a narrative found in the Holy Quran, specifically in Surah Maryam, where Jesus speaks as an infant, declaring, "Indeed, I am a servant of Allah. He has given me the Scripture and made me a prophet." This point is crucial because, as we know, in the canonical Gospels of Christianity, there is no such account of Jesus speaking in the cradle. In fact, many foundational doctrines of current Christianity, particularly after Jesus's ascension, were shaped by Paul the Apostle, rather than being direct teachings of Jesus himself. It was Paul who told Christians that the Mosaic laws were lifted and circumcision was no longer obligatory, contrary to Jesus's teachings which aimed to reinforce Moses's law. Mawlana here consciously highlights the Quranic narrative, utilizing it to express the pinnacle of the "divine wine's" power—a power that originates from a divine source and transcends the constraints of time, age, and conventional learning.

This verse demonstrates that true knowledge and wisdom sometimes do not emerge through schooling and textual exegesis, but rather gush from the wellspring of direct mystical unveiling and inner inspiration. This unmediated outpouring shatters natural rules and extracts the most sublime and profound expressions from the most improbable forms, such as a newborn child or a mute person. This is the state where the transcendent becomes immanent, and mature wisdom manifests in an unconventional, miraculous form.

Key takeaways

• True wisdom originates from a source beyond acquired knowledge and formal learning.
• The 'divine wine' (mystical experience) can activate human faculties in a miraculous way.
• Mawlana refers to the Quranic narrative of Jesus speaking in the cradle, which differs from canonical Gospels.
• Articulating the deepest truths requires no conventional age or experience; it can be spontaneous and divinely inspired.