M6:4151 — جمله اندر کار این دعوی شدند / گردن خود را بدین دعوی زدند

Translation: All of them embarked upon this claim, And struck their own necks for this claim.

Meaning: This couplet serves as a stern warning against making grand, unfounded claims, emphasizing the grave cost—often lives—associated with such hubris and recklessness.

This couplet, voiced by the elder brothers admonishing a heedless prince, acts as a potent warning in the Masnavi. Mawlana, by relaying these words, reminds us how unfounded and ambitious claims can exact a heavy toll, costing countless lives. The phrase "struck their own necks for this claim" (گردن خود را بدین دعوی زدند) paints a chilling picture of the fate awaiting those who enter the arena of life based on hubris and ignorance, thereby bringing ruin upon themselves and others. Just prior to this couplet, Mawlana speaks of a "ditch full of severed heads" (خندقی پر ز سرهای بریده), a direct consequence of such excesses and unwarranted claims.

I have emphasized repeatedly, and do so again, that human life is supremely precious. Even if a ruler, under the guise of "expediency" (maslahat), were to "shed a hundred bloods" (صد خون کنند), this act in no way diminishes its inherent ugliness. This couplet is, in essence, Mawlana's cry of moral conscience against the cheapening of life. The "claim" (دعوی) alluded to here is not merely a philosophical argument but any baseless and reckless assertion that disrupts the natural order of existence and ethics. The brothers' counsel is clear: "do not conceive nor bring forth such a claim" (این‌چنین دعوی میندیش و میار), for its outcome is naught but destruction and ruin. In this part of the Masnavi, Mawlana acts as a moral guide, obliging us to view the grave consequences of carelessness and unwarranted ambition through the "eye of consideration" (چشم اعتبار) and to avoid repeating a bloody history. As the Quran states, "Do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands" (و لا تلقوا بایدیکم الی التهلکه).

Key takeaways

• Unfounded claims inevitably jeopardize lives.
• Hubris and impulsiveness in pursuing goals lead to fatal consequences.
• Human life is sacred and precious, never to be cheapened.
• Bloodshed is never justified, neither by expediency nor ambition.
• One must learn lessons from the fate of heedless claimants.