M6:2411 — ملک حق و جمله قسم اوستی / قسم دیگر را دهی دوگوستی

Translation: The entire dominion and all of it is His portion. If you were to assign it another portion, you would be giving it two shares. Meaning: This verse stresses God's absolute oneness in ownership and being; everything belongs to Him, and no separate realm or share exists apart from His singular reality.

This verse is nestled within Rumi's delightful narrative of the three travelers—the Jew, the Christian, and the Muslim—who, upon finding a quantity of halva, each recount their dream to decide who should eat it. As I have often emphasized, Rumi, more than delving into lexical definitions, illuminates profound existential truths through stories and parables. This particular couplet must be understood within Rumi's deep apprehension of tawḥīd (unity) and the oneness of existence; a unity that pervades not only creation and sustenance but also the ownership and influence over every particle of being.

In Rumi's view, the entire cosmos, every atom, everything that is and is not, is a manifestation of God and belongs to Him. The phrase 'His portion' (قسم اوست) in the verse does not imply a segment of a larger whole, with other parts belonging elsewhere. Rather, it signifies that the totality of existence, without any crack or rupture, pertains to the Divine. Where it is stated, 'If you were to assign it another portion, you would be giving it two shares,' a most subtle point is embedded. If one were to imagine that a part of existence or a segment of truth could lie outside the domain of divine ownership and will, they would, in fact, be committing an epistemological error. By such a conception, they would be dividing the absolute One into two parts: one that belongs to God, and another that belongs to an 'other.' Yet, in truth, that 'other' never truly exists; all that is, is 'Him.'

This epistemological error is not merely a conceptual fallacy; it is the source of many delusions and dualistic perceptions in the world. The lesson we derive from this verse is that existence is not 'two shares,' but 'one share.' There is no duality, no inherent opposition, and no independent portion confronting the Divine reality. Therefore, any attempt to compartmentalize existence into independent realms is a futile endeavor, stemming from the inability of our limited minds to grasp absolute unity. This unity, beneath the multiplicity of manifestations, remains ever-present, and the 'dominion of Truth' (ملک حق) always remains absolute and undivided. This is a lesson in true tawḥīd, a unity that flows not merely in language but in the very core of human perception and experience of existence.

Key takeaways

• Everything in existence is the absolute dominion and portion of God.
• Conceiving of a share independent of God is an epistemological error that divides unity into duality.
• The totality of existence, without any rupture, belongs to the Divine Truth.
• This verse critiques dualistic and polytheistic perspectives on existence.
• A deep understanding of this unity implies negating any otherness or independence before the Divine will.