M6:3337 — مشک با سقا بود ای منتهی / ورنه از خود چون شود پر یا تهی

Translation: O ultimate seeker, the water-skin is with the saqqā (water-carrier); Otherwise, how would it, of its own accord, become full or empty? Meaning: This verse suggests that human beings are like a water-skin, devoid of inherent agency, and their states, from being filled with joy to being emptied of it, are entirely orchestrated by an external, divine power.

I believe that in this verse, Rumi offers a pristine image of our human relationship with existence and with the unseen hand of the Divine. Earlier, I spoke of the potter and the pot, the carpenter and the wood, and the tailor and the cloth. These are all examples of "receptive causes" (ʿillat-i qābilī); that is, phenomena that lack their own will to take shape or change, and thus require an "active cause" (fāʿil) to imbue them with form. Now, the "water-skin" (mashk) enters in the same vein.

We humans are, in fact, in this very condition. Rumi asserts that the water-skin cannot fill or empty itself; it requires a "water-carrier" (saqqā). Who is this saqqā? It is that unseen hand which constantly performs "a hundred erasures and affirmations" upon the "page of our thoughts" (ṣafḥa-i andīsha). One moment it brings forth anger, the next it takes away contentment. Stinginess appears, generosity departs. These successive states that pass over us are so rapid and often involuntary that, if we observe closely, we will realize we are not their originators. If we had complete control over our states, we would undoubtedly always keep ourselves in a state of spiritual expansion (bast) and joy, but we cannot.

These internal fluctuations, these spiritual contractions and expansions (qabḍ-o basṭ), are evidence that our "book of existence is a tablet of erasure and affirmation" (lawḥ-i maḥw va isbāt). The signless God writes and erases upon this "book" of our being. This is not to imply fatalism (jabr); rather, it is to comprehend God's overwhelming power (jabbārīyat-i ḥaqq). Rumi is not saying we have no will, but rather that the power which overturns our states is another hand. We are in the grip of His creation (dar kaff-i ṣunʿ-i ū), just as the water-skin is in the hand of the saqqā.

A subtle point Rumi teaches is this: if we are "observant and alert" (murāqib va hushyār), we will perceive these "divine manipulations" within ourselves. That is, by carefully observing our inner states, we can grasp the roots and consequences of what befalls us. Of course, this perception and understanding is conditional upon the settling of the "dust" of inner desires and passions. Just as a seeing eye cannot perceive through dust, so too a darkened heart will not find the reality of God's artistry within itself. Thus, this verse is not a negation of human will, but rather a reminder of our profound dependence on the Absolute Agent and an invitation to self-observation to recognize this hidden Player.

Key takeaways

• Humans, in their spiritual states, are like a water-skin with no inherent will to be filled or emptied; the ultimate agent is the unseen Divine hand.
• This verse emphasizes God's "overwhelming power" (jabbārīyat-i ḥaqq) in shaping our inner states and emotions.
• Humanity's changing conditions, from anger to contentment, and stinginess to generosity, exemplify the "tablet of erasure and affirmation" upon which God writes and erases.
• Through inner "observation" (murāqaba) and "awareness" (hushyārī), one can discern God's subtle manipulations of their psychic states.
• To grasp the reality of this unseen artistry, one must clear the "dust" of desires and passions from the mirror of the heart.