M6:3746 — چون صور بنده‌ست بر یزدان مگو / ظن مبر صورت به تشبیهش مجو

Translation: Since all forms are but servants, speak not of God through them. Do not imagine any form is His likeness; seek Him not through resemblances.

Meaning: This verse warns against anthropomorphizing God or confining Him within any conceivable form or analogy. True understanding of the Divine comes through transcending the world of forms and denying all resemblances, rather than seeking Him within them.

In this verse and the surrounding passages, Mawlana introduces one of the Masnavi's most pivotal insights: the concept of "Formlessness" (bi-sūratī). He emphasizes that this world, replete with forms (sūrat), originates from the Formless (bi-sūrat). All forms, whether tangible and concrete or mental and conceptual, are dependent servants of that absolute Formless One. Therefore, speaking of the Formless God (Yazdān) using the language of forms is a futile and misleading endeavor. This aligns with what theologians call "negative theology" (tawḥīd-i tanzīhī), asserting that God transcends all description and analogy. We cannot comprehend Him through ordinary language and limited human concepts, for any attribute we ascribe to Him would reduce Him to a likeness of created beings.

I have often explained that Mawlana views the world as a "mask" or a veil that God has placed over His Formless countenance. We humans are compelled to perceive the Formless within forms, yet we lack the power to strip away this mask. However, seeing through forms should not be mistaken for perceiving the "essence" of the Formless. Forms are mere instruments in the hand of the Formless, much like an architect's idea that subsequently manifests as a building. This building is the shadow of the architect's thought, not the thought itself.

The verse warns: "Do not imagine any form is His likeness; seek Him not through resemblances." This implies not only that God should not be likened to forms, but that no form should ever be thought to resemble Him. It is an absolute rejection of any simile or analogy in the realm of the Divine essence. For one form to seek perfection from another form is "the very essence of misguidance" (ʿayn-i ḍalāl). This is a profound statement: it is like one needy person begging at the door of another needy person, or a blind person guiding another blind person. Mawlana stresses that all forms, whatever perfection, beauty, or power they possess, derive their sustenance from the Formless and are themselves dependent.

However, Mawlana suggests that the path to knowing this Formless One is not through "thought" (tafakkur), but through "supplication" (taḍarruʿ) and "self-annihilation" (ifnāy-i khwīsh): "Seek Him in supplication and in your own annihilation, for from reflection comes nothing but forms." As long as we are absorbed in mental and conceptual form-making, we will only create new forms and remain separated from the Formless. To reach the Formless, one must become "nothing," like digging a "pit for the rain to come." This means emptying our being of ego and mental constructs so that the absolute Formless existence may be reflected within us. This is the "effacement" (maḥw) that stands in contrast to "grammar" (naḥw); here, one must be effaced, not seek knowledge through rules and intellectual forms.

This rejection of absolute reliance on forms does not imply a rejection of their instrumental use. As I have often clarified, it does not mean idleness or abandoning material means, such as seeking medical treatment for illness. Rather, the intent is to keep our gaze fixed on the absolute Formless One beyond all means and forms, never assuming that a form possesses inherent independence or perfection. Every action in this world, even the pursuit of material pleasures, is ultimately a journey towards a "formless taste" (dhawq-i bi-sūrat). Thus, all of us, consciously or unconsciously, are seeking the absolute Formless One—God—even if we err in identifying its specific manifestations and cling to lower forms. This journey progresses from coarse forms to subtler ones, until it reaches the "Subtlest of Subtleties" and the absolute Formless.

Key takeaways

• God is utterly transcendent of all forms; He cannot be limited by analogy to the world of multiplicity.
• All forms in the world, whether material or conceptual, are dependent servants of the Formless Divine Being.
• True knowledge of God is not attainable through thought or mental constructs; it is found through supplication and self-annihilation.
• Seeking perfection from other forms is a delusion; the sole source of perfection is the Formless Divine essence.
• All human desires and pursuits, even for worldly pleasures, ultimately stem from a quest for the Formless.