M6:2908 — هر یکی خاصیت خود را نمود / آن هنرها جمله بدبختی فزود

Translation: Each one displayed its own quality and skill; Those very arts only increased their misfortune.

Meaning: Mawlana suggests that human efforts and worldly capabilities, when pursued in self-reliance and without divine grace, often lead not to liberation but to greater entanglement, deeper heedlessness, and increased spiritual suffering.

This beyt by Mawlana captures the very essence of his critique against humanity's reliance on its own capabilities in this world. I have often emphasized Mawlana’s extraordinary insight into the fundamental errors of human perception concerning existence and destiny. Here, he recounts the tale of thieves before Sultan Mahmud, each displaying their unique 'quality' or 'art' (khāsiyyat / honar) to secure their freedom. Yet, the outcome of their cleverness is only an increase in misfortune and deeper entanglement.

I interpret this as a profound commentary on the human condition – those of us trapped in the 'darkness of nature' and the 'prison of this world.' We imagine ourselves possessing various 'arts,' knowing 'clever tricks,' or mastering 'guile.' However, Mawlana asserts that these cunning strategies and skills do not bring us closer to truth. On the contrary, they lead to greater distance and alienation. These 'arts,' in reality, become 'ropes around our necks' (band-hā-ye gardan), our preoccupations, and most importantly, they are 'causes of heedlessness' (ghaflat-zā).

Consider the Quranic imagery of fi jīdi-hā ḥablun min masad (around her neck is a rope of palm fiber), which perfectly describes this predicament. Our worldly arts and self-admiration transform into ropes that pull us down, not lift us up. They keep us 'inverted in the well of self-admiration' (chāh-e khod-bīnī), for they delude us into believing in our own self-sufficiency. This delusion is identical to being deluded by the world itself; its least consequence is the heedlessness it engenders in the soul. One circles around their own being, oblivious to what lies beyond, seeing neither what is further nor what is higher.

Mawlana's critique of philosophers also stems from this perspective. The philosopher, through their thoughts, metaphorically 'kills' themselves; they imagine that by weaving concepts and words, they approach truth. Yet, they become trapped in a 'veil of words, concepts, and terminologies' (ḥijāb-e alfāẓ o mafāhīm o moṣṭalahāt), drifting further from the Beloved. They fail to transcend from conception to direct vision. Mawlana wishes to convey that 'we have done all this, yet in preparation / without God's graces, we are nothing, nothing' (īn hama kardīm, līken dar basīj / bī ʿenāyāt-e Khodā hīchīm hīch). Our actions, our arts, and our strategies are all mere 'copper'; it is only 'divine grace' (ʿenāyāt-e Ḥaqq) that can transmute this copper of deeds into 'gold,' making them weighty and acceptable in the divine reckoning.

In stark contrast to these valueless 'arts,' Mawlana esteems only one 'quality': 'that pleasant disposition / whose eye could recognize the King in the night' (khāsiyyat-e ān khosh-havāst / ke be shab bod chashm-e u solṭān-shenās). This is the unparalleled art of 'King-recognition' (Solṭān-shenāsī) – the ability to discern the Master of the world, the Sultan, in the darkness of this existence. This alone is what frees us from being preoccupied with transient blessings and oblivious to the Host. All other unproductive 'arts' are nothing but 'road-ghouls' (ghūl-e rāh) and bandits on this perilous journey. Salvation lies not in enhancing these skills, but in recognizing the singular hidden truth.

Key takeaways

• Relying on worldly arts and personal abilities traps one in heedlessness and self-admiration.
• Human skills and cleverness, without divine grace, act as bandits on the path to proximity with God.
• The only true and beneficial 'art' is 'King-recognition' (Solṭān-shenāsī) – discerning the Lord of existence in the world's darkness.
• Mawlana likens human arts and deeds to 'copper,' which requires 'divine alchemy' to transform into 'gold.'
• Preoccupation with oneself and reliance on false 'I's create a veil between humanity and transcendent truth.