M6:1092 — که بجویم اشپشت شیرت دهم / چارقت دوزم من و پیشت نهم

Translation: That I may seek your lice and give you milk / I will mend your worn-out sandal and place it before you. Meaning: Spoken by a simple shepherd, this verse offers examples of mundane, earthly services he imagines offering to God. Mowlana uses it to illustrate that the Divine accepts sincere, heartfelt devotion, regardless of how unsophisticated or outwardly inappropriate it may seem.

This verse is one of those rare instances where Mowlana, in the spirit of reminder, refers back to the story of the Shepherd and Moses, which he had previously narrated in the third book of the Masnavi. I believe this unusual self-reference signals the profound significance of this tale within Mowlana's intellectual framework; for him, the shepherd's story is the perfect embodiment of the true nature of worship. The 'simple' (salīm) shepherd, in his utmost purity and sincerity, offers services to his Creator that, in our conventional understanding, seem earthly and at times inappropriate—such as 'seeking out lice' and 'giving milk' (here, symbolizing caring for the Beloved's existence and alleviating suffering) or 'mending sandals' (an emblem of maintaining and attending to the beloved's daily needs).

The crucial aspect of this story and this verse lies in the divine response to such 'worship.' From the perspective of Moses, the shepherd's words were 'censure' (qadaḥ) and 'inappropriate' (nāsazā), as they did not align with formal reverence and sacred decorum. However, God Himself proclaims to Moses: 'God accepted his censure as praise.' This means that the divine essence, due to the shepherd's pure intention and inner clarity, accepted his outwardly improper words as genuine praise and adoration. This is, without doubt, a deep lesson in practical theology: God looks at the heart and intention of the worshipper more than the form and words. This is the very point to which Abū Bakr, later in the text, humbly refers when confronted with the Prophet's greatness, stating: 'These words are praise and eulogy for me / But for You, they are censure and an insult.' That is, these descriptions are praise for me, but in Your station, they may be a slight, for You are beyond all description. Here, Mowlana suggests that if the Prophet too accepts this 'censure' as 'praise,' it would not be surprising; just as God accepted the shepherd's 'censure' as 'praise.' This is the golden rule of Mowlana's mysticism: true love and supplication, transcending all forms, directly reach the heart of the Beloved.

Key takeaways

• Divine acceptance of worship hinges on pure intention and inner sincerity, not on outward forms or conventional rituals.
• The shepherd's simplicity and inner purity transformed his outwardly 'censure' into true 'praise' in the eyes of God.
• This verse serves as an allegory for human humility before divine majesty; the worshipper must realize that not every word is worthy of the Beloved's greatness.
• Mowlana's rare self-reference to this story underscores its fundamental importance in understanding the true nature of worship.