M6:1861 — از جهود و مشرک و ترسا و مغ / جملگی یک‌رنگ شد زان الپ الغ

Translation: From the Jew, the polytheist, the Christian, and the Magian, / All became one-colored from that Alp Ulugh (Great Man).

Meaning: The arrival of a great prophet, like Muhammad, inaugurates a new age where previous religious distinctions are unified and transformed by his spiritual light.

Mowlana places this verse in the midst of a profound discussion on 'newness' (nowī) versus 'oldness' (kohnagī). The world of meaning is eternally 'new' because it lies outside the dominion of time, and oldness is a child of time. Occasionally, a ray of that eternal newness falls upon this old world, renewing it as well. The greatest manifestation of this newness is the appearance of prophets.

'Alp Ulugh,' mentioned in the verse, is a Turkish expression meaning 'the great man' or hero, and it undoubtedly refers to the blessed person of the Prophet Muhammad. Mowlana is saying that when such a being appears, a 'new era' begins. This is a crucial point. The coming of a prophet is not merely the addition of one more religion to the existing list; it is the inauguration of a new history, the casting of a new design upon the world. Thoughts, ethics, standards, and identities are all transformed. The old is swallowed up by this newness, and darkness turns to light.

This 'becoming one-colored' must be understood within this framework. The light of that 'Great Man' shines so much like the sun that the various shadows—the Jew, the Christian, the polytheist, the Magian—are no longer seen. Just as with the rising of the sun, distinctions between short, long, and wide shadows lose their meaning and all are dissolved in light, so too with the appearance of that 'Sun of secrets,' the multiplicities of religion and creed are hidden in the unity of its radiance.

Of course, Mowlana reminds us that this world is, in its essence, the 'world of multiplicity' (ʿālam-i kasrat), the world of 'a hundred colors and a hundred hearts.' Absolute, unveiled one-coloredness belongs to the Day of Resurrection (mahshar), where unity will emerge from behind the veil of multiplicity and become manifest to all, good and bad alike. But in this world, that oneness is revealed to us through the light of the prophets, acquainting us with that unitive reality. This verse, then, describes the manifestation of that otherworldly unity right here in our world of multiplicity—a moment when history is split open, and a light from the timeless realm effaces all the time-worn colors of our world.

Key takeaways

• 'Alp Ulugh' is a Turkish term for 'Great Man,' referring here to the Prophet Muhammad.
• The appearance of a prophet marks the dawn of a 'new era,' transforming prior worldviews, ethics, and identities.
• The unity brought by prophetic light is like the sunrise, which dissolves all distinct shadows into itself.
• This worldly 'one-coloredness' is a foretaste of the absolute unity of the hereafter.
• The material world is inherently a realm of multiplicity ('hundred-coloredness'); true unity remains veiled within it.