M1:227 — آنک جان بخشد اگر بکشد رواست / نایبَست و دستِ او دستِ خداست

Translation: That one who grants life, if he takes a life, it is permissible; He is God's vicegerent, and his hand is God's hand. Meaning: Rumi states that an individual acting under divine command, who is God's vicegerent, is justified in actions that might seem extraordinary to ordinary people, as their will aligns with God's.

Indeed, Rumi, in this verse, points to the principle of divine vicegerency and representation to justify the extraordinary and seemingly immoral actions of figures like Khidr. This couplet is key to understanding such narratives in the Masnavi, a story that has long been a source of profound questions for Quranic exegetes. Khidr kills a boy and scuttles a ship, and Moses cannot bear these actions. But Rumi says that Khidr "receives revelation and answer from the Truth"; meaning he was in direct communion with God, and whatever God commands him is "the essence of righteousness" and must be obeyed without question.

This justification effectively states that Khidr's hand is God's hand. How so? Through vicegerency. Just as Abraham, when commanded in a dream to sacrifice Ishmael, proceeded with the act, this divine physician (طبیب الهی), embodying Khidr's role in the story, acts upon a divine command. How can we complain about Azrael for taking lives? He is a divine agent, and his action is precisely his mission, not a sin. It is God who grants life, and therefore God has the right to take life. This divine physician, too, is God's servant and agent. He acts upon the world from a different "level and height," one that cannot be accused of immorality. This is precisely the meaning of "He is God's vicegerent, and his hand is God's hand" — that an action stemming from such a hand, however unjust it may appear to us, is in fact the very essence of divine wisdom and command, and "That one who grants life, if he takes a life, it is permissible."

Key takeaways

• The wisdom behind saints' actions transcends ordinary human understanding.
• Divine vicegerency signifies representation and alignment with God's will.
• Actions of God's vicegerent are based on divine revelation and command.
• Criticizing a divine agent is akin to criticizing God Himself.
• Both the granting and taking of life fall within God's absolute power.