M6:965 — پیش مشرق چارمیخش می‌کنند / تن برهنه شاخ خارش می‌زنند

Translation: Before the eastern sun, they crucify him, they stretch him on the cross, They strike his bare body with thorny whips. Meaning: This verse describes the torment of Bilal, the Prophet's companion, who was tortured under the scorching sun, stretched on stakes, and beaten with thorny whips on his naked flesh.

I maintain that in this verse, Mowlana presents a pure and poignant image of the sufferings that befall truth-seekers and lovers on their path. This is not merely a literary depiction; it is a remembrance of the ordeals endured by great figures of faith. Indeed, I must explicitly state that Mowlana here refers to the story of Bilal the Abyssinian, the muezzin of the Prophet Muhammad.

"Before the eastern sun, they crucify him, they stretch him on the cross": This means he is exposed to the scorching, rising sun, stretched on a cross or tied to stakes and columns, and severely tortured. The "east" (moshreq) is not merely a geographical direction but a metaphor for the burning intensity of the torment, devoid of any shade or refuge.

"They strike his bare body with thorny whips": Bilal's naked body was beaten with thorny branches, which served as whips. This stark depiction of the perpetrators' savagery and ruthlessness powerfully illustrates the depth of pain and agony endured by the saints of truth. In this state, as Mowlana continues in the next verse, "He says ‘Ahad’ and bows his head," meaning that even amidst extreme torture, he continuously utters the name of the One God and submits his head to His threshold.

This parable immediately follows the tale of the owls and the hawks. The owls are those who dwell in the ruins of this world, and when the truth-seeking hawks, who know of the palaces of spiritual sovereignty, invite them to the truth, the owls, filled with delusion and folly, accuse them of seeking leadership and worldly power. This is akin to the accusations leveled against the Prophet Muhammad: "The Hashemites played with kingship; no news came, and no revelation descended." Bilal, too, symbolizes that sincere and truth-seeking hawk who, despite such accusations and tortures, does not abandon his truth. He represents the ardent lover who, in the face of worldly pressure, shouts the oneness of God.

Subsequently, Abu Bakr advises Bilal to conceal his faith and to hide his head from the cursed Jews. But Bilal's response is that of a true lover. He is called a "lover" for whom "his Resurrection has come, and the door of repentance has been closed upon him." This interpretation is crucial: one who burns in the fire of divine love no longer has the opportunity to repent from this love or to endure it with conventional patience. Love has brought him to a station where repentance from it is impossible, for his death is his true Resurrection, and the door of repentance is closed at Resurrection. "Love and repentance with the possibility of patience / This would be a great impossibility, O soul." Patience and repentance are terms from the realm of Sharia law and worldly prudence; but love is a dragon that devours these. Love is an attribute of God, the Self-Sufficient; and if love is directed towards anything other than Him, it is merely metaphorical and vain. Mowlana states elsewhere that "my patience died the night love was born." Therefore, this verse is not merely a narration of physical suffering, but an exposition of the grandeur of love and its restlessness in the face of any compromise or concealment.

Key takeaways

• Truth-seekers and lovers have always faced persecution and accusations of worldly ambition.
• Bilal's endurance of torture symbolizes steadfastness in faith and divine love.
• True love leaves no room for compromise, concealment, or 'repentance'; the lover is restless and impatient.
• Mowlana employs historical narratives to articulate profound mystical and philosophical truths.