M6:3143 — از برون دان آنچ در چاهت نمود / ورنه آن شیری که در چه شد فرود

Translation: Know that what appeared to you in the well is from the outside; Otherwise, you are that lion who plunged into the well. Meaning: This verse warns that what we perceive as ugliness or enmity in the world is often a mere reflection of ourselves or a shadow of a higher truth. If we fail to recognize the true source of these reflections and do not seek their origin, we risk perishing like the naive lion deceived by its own image.

Mawlana, in this and the preceding and succeeding verses, alludes to a profound story he recounts in the first book of the Masnavi: the tale of the Lion and the Clever Rabbit. A lion in the jungle demanded a daily prey from the animals, and a cunning rabbit ingeniously brought about the lion's demise. The rabbit, arriving late to the lion, claimed that another lion had stolen its prey. It then led the lion to a well and asked it to look inside to see the other lion. The lion, with the rabbit in its embrace, saw its own reflection and the rabbit's in the well's water. Believing it to be another lion, it plunged into the well and drowned. This verse appears precisely at the conclusion of this narrative, encapsulating its core message.

I argue that this story is, in essence, a deep psychological lesson about 'projection.' Mawlana clearly states that the lion, instead of fighting the real lion, engaged with its own shadow in the water, which ultimately led to its destruction. Many of our own sufferings and fault-finding in life stem from this very phenomenon. The flaws we perceive in others often have their roots within ourselves, and we project them onto the external world. As Mawlana states in later verses: 'And that sin in him is of the nature of your own transgression / You must wash that habit from your own nature.' As long as these undesirable traits reside within our own character, they will be reflected in others.

This world, in all its forms and manifestations, is in reality a shadow of the Absolute Truth. This verse warns that one should not attack these forms or mistake them for reality itself. Just as the lion in the story mistook its own image for reality and perished, so too shall we be led astray if we become attached to the 'forms' of this world or contend with them, oblivious to the 'origin' (asl). This is precisely ruin.

Others are like mirrors in which we see ourselves. Our own ugliness is reflected in the eyes of others, and if we harbor enmity towards someone or seek fault in them, we must understand that that person is merely a mirrored surface for us. In fact, it is our own unsightly countenance that is reflected in them: 'When you saw your own ugliness, O beauty / Do not strike the mirror in the mirror.' What good is there in blaming the mirror? One must correct oneself, not break the mirror.

Mawlana further clarifies this meaning with another example: if we see an 'unlucky star' reflected in water and, to dispel its ill omen, throw dirt into the water, the star itself does not vanish; only its image is obscured. If ill fortune exists, it resides in the sky, and one must go 'towards the non-direction' (bī-sū) and the true origin of it. Therefore, everything we perceive in this world, be it enmity or the generosity of the ignoble, is a shadow of the 'Truth' (Ḥaqq); it is either a 'reflection of His attributes of wrath' or a 'reflection of His giving and generosity.' Nothing in this world is without an origin. Persisting in seeing the 'reflection' (ʿaks) and neglecting the 'origin' (asl) is the height of imprudence and leads us to 'dead man's inheritance' and annihilation, for 'How long can the reflection endure in sight? / Make seeing the origin your practice, O crooked-gazer.' One must transcend formalism and perceive the essence.

Key takeaways

• Seeing flaws in others is often a projection of our own shortcomings.
• This world is a mere form and shadow; the origin (aṣl) must be sought outside the well.
• Finding fault with others is like striking the mirror that reveals our own ugliness.
• The good and evil of the world are manifestations of divine attributes, not inherent in the world itself.
• Persisting in seeing the "reflection" (ʿaks) instead of the "origin" (aṣl) leads to ruin.
• The "generosity of the ignoble," which Mawlana likens to a "dead man's inheritance," is unstable and fleeting.