M6:3565 — با خود آمد گفت ای بحر خوشی / ای نهاده هوش‌ها در بیهشی

Translation: He came to himself and said, "O Sea of Joy, / O You who has placed consciousness in unconsciousness." Meaning:* This verse addresses God as the ultimate source of joy, asserting that the order of creation is founded upon the intricate intertwining of apparent opposites, where consciousness and awareness emerge from unconsciousness.

In this verse, the dream-seer, after being overwhelmed by ecstasy and self-forgetfulness upon encountering the departed master in his dream, comes to himself and turns towards his Beloved. He addresses God, saying: "O Sea of Joy, O You who has placed consciousness in unconsciousness." The phrase "Sea of Joy" unequivocally refers to the sacred essence of God, the source of all delight and blessings. However, the profound insight lies in the second hemistich: "O You who has placed consciousness in unconsciousness." This statement by Mowlana guides us to one of the most fundamental ontological discussions in the Masnavi: the concept of azdad (opposites) and their interwoven nature within the order of creation.

I have repeatedly emphasized that azdad in Mowlana's thought is not merely a logical or literary concept; it is a pivotal principle in his philosophy. This world is founded upon the interaction and contention of opposites. As the ancients posited: "Lawla al-tadādd mā ṣaḥḥa dawām al-fayḍ ʿan al-mabdaʾ al-jawwād" (Were it not for opposition, the continuity of divine emanation from the Generous Originator would not be valid). This is a crucial principle, echoed even in physics, for example, in thermodynamics and Carnot's principle: without a potential difference, without heat flowing to cold, no work is performed in the world; no flow arises. Existence persists through these struggles and contradictions; it is through this "war" that the cosmos is maintained.

Mowlana, throughout the Masnavi, alludes to this truth and provides numerous examples of contradictions in both the natural and the supra-natural realms. We also find instances in the Holy Quran: "He brings forth the living from the dead, and He brings forth the dead from the living" and "He causes the night to enter the day, and He causes the day to enter the night". Night enters day, and day enters night. Consciousness is placed within unconsciousness, wakefulness within sleep, wealth within poverty, fire within burning water, the garden (paradise) within Nimrod's fire, and fruit emerges from dry branches and even from waste and fertilizer. These all demonstrate how from one opposite, another is born, or lies hidden within it.

Yet, Mowlana takes this principle a step further, elevating it to deeper levels of being. When he states, "A being hidden in non-existence," he means that beings emerge from the womb of non-existence into being, and this non-existence itself is a veil over existence, not an absolute void. The pinnacle of this discussion is reached when he says: "In the nature of the worshipper is the worshipped." This is one of Mowlana's most subtle and profound mystical insights, which, in my view, transcends its literal expression. It implies that within the very essence of the one who prostrates, the worshipped is also present, and to that one, prostration is made. This is the station of unity where the veil between observer and observed, worshipper and worshipped, is lifted. Shams-e Tabrizi also remarked that if the Kaaba were removed, all would prostrate to each other. The gnostic poet Ibn al-Farid declared: "Kilānā muṣallī, sājid wāḥid" (We are both praying, the prostrator and the prostrated are one). This is the essence of "An unconditional, incomparable connection / exists between the Lord of humanity and the soul of humanity." In reality, the worshipper and the worshipped, the lover and the beloved, ultimately merge. Iblis saw Adam but did not see God; but the angels saw the God who was seated within Adam. This means that worshipped-ness is inherent in worshipper-ness.

Thus, when Mowlana says, "consciousness in unconsciousness," he is not merely engaging in wordplay. He is pointing to a deep cosmic truth: how unities arise from the heart of contradictions, and how every apparent form conceals a contradictory yet complementary inner reality. This expresses the zenith of a gnostic vision that perceives the world not as a scene of fragmentation, but as the ground for unity.

Key takeaways

• God is the absolute source of joy and blessings, the ultimate "Sea of Joy."
• The order of creation is founded upon the intricate intertwining and interaction of opposites (azdad), such as consciousness within unconsciousness.
• The flow of divine emanation in the world is impossible without these contradictions; opposition is the driving force of existence.
• Mowlana extends the concept of opposites beyond sensory phenomena to fundamental realities like non-existence and existence, and the worshipper and the worshipped.
• The peak of the philosophy of opposites lies in the gnostic unity of the prostrator and the prostrated, where the veil between worshipper and worshipped is lifted.
• This insight teaches us that the world is not a scene of fragmentation, but a ground for the emergence of unity from diversity and contradiction.