M6:2073 — هست اباحت کز هوای آمد ضلال / هست اباحت کز خدا آمد کمال

Translation: There is permissibility that stems from desire, leading to error;
And there is permissibility that stems from God, leading to perfection.
Meaning: This couplet distinguishes between two forms of antinomianism or spiritual license: one born of ego and leading to misguidance, and another that arises from a state of divine perfection, where conventional laws are transcended.

This couplet, nestled within the Masnavi's vast landscape, opens a profound yet deeply challenging vista onto the concept of abāḥat (permissibility or antinomianism). Here, Rumi explicitly speaks of two kinds of abāḥat: one that is a source of error (ḍalāl), and another that is the very essence of perfection (kamāl). This distinction is key to understanding Rumi's approach to both the outward religious law (sharīʿat) and inner truth (ḥaqīqat), indicating how he posits a realm of exception for the highest stations of spiritual journeying that finds no place in conventional jurisprudential systems.

The abāḥat that 'stems from desire, leading to error' refers to a state where an individual, driven by ego, caprice, and specious justifications, exempts themselves from religious and ethical obligations. This is self-deception, an evasion of responsibility, and it leads to nothing but misguidance. This is the very phenomenon that Ghazali and many jurists vehemently opposed, viewing it as destructive to faith and morality.

However, the second abāḥat, that 'stems from God, leading to perfection,' is where Rumi ventures into abstruse and audacious territory. He posits that there are individuals who attain the station of divine proximity and true perfection. For such beings, the ultimate goal of sharīʿat — union with God — has been realized; the ladder has reached the roof. Religious laws are meant for the imperfect, to guide them towards perfection. But one who has attained perfection is no longer subject to these commands. Rumi sees this not as a deficiency, but as the pinnacle of perfection, a kind of 'prophethood' whose sharīʿat emanates directly from God, without need for intermediaries. This is a theoretical self-sufficiency from sharīʿat that is proposed for special friends of God.

Rumi employs potent analogies to theoretically justify this abāḥat, such as the recurrent image of karr water (a large body of water). He argues that just as an ocean is not defiled by a dead carcass, nor the sun extinguished by a mere puff, a perfected individual, due to their profound inner purity and vastness, is immune to actions that would be considered sins for ordinary people. This perspective places the mystic and the spiritual master in a supra-legal domain, no longer bound by the outward criteria of sharīʿat.

Nevertheless, as Dr. Abdolkarim Soroush emphasizes, while Rumi builds a 'theoretical foundation' for abāḥat, this idea is 'dangerous' (fikr-i khaṭarnāk). The danger lies in the ease with which anyone can falsely claim such a high station, exploiting it to indulge their desires and justify illicit actions. The history of Sufism and Isma'ili Shi'ism, as Soroush notes, illustrates how excessive claims (ghuluw) regarding saints and Imams can lead to such antinomianism, potentially corrupting society. Rumi, however, distinguishes himself from this peril; he presents this concept not to license his own actions, but as an ultimate truth in mystical journeying. Like a prophet who returns from a celestial ascent (mi'raj) to guide creation, he himself never abandoned outward religious practices, yet he advances a theory that speaks of the summit of truth-realization, even if the path of return and guiding humanity obliges him to uphold the sharīʿat.

Key takeaways

• Rumi identifies two distinct types of abāḥat (permissibility/antinomianism): one originating from ego and leading to error, the other from God and embodying perfection.
• The abāḥat 'from desire' is mere indulgence and evasion of duty, resulting in misguidance.
• The abāḥat 'from God' applies to perfected mystics who have achieved such divine proximity that the ultimate goal of sharīʿat is realized, rendering conventional laws non-binding for them.
• Rumi considers this second type of abāḥat 'perfection' and even 'a kind of prophethood,' as their sharīʿat emanates directly from God.
• Rumi uses the analogy of karr water (an ocean) to illustrate that a perfected being, like the ocean, cannot be defiled by impurities, making them immune to certain acts deemed unlawful for ordinary individuals.
• Soroush highlights this as a 'dangerous idea,' prone to abuse and false claims, noting that Rumi himself, despite propounding the theory, never abandoned adherence to sharīʿat in practice.