M6:3068 — نورشان حیران این نور آمده / چون ستاره زین ضحی فانی شده

Translation: Their light is bewildered by this Light (of the saints), Like stars, it vanishes in this dawn's brilliance. Meaning: Mawlana says that even the grand lights of the celestial realms and heavenly spheres are struck with awe by the light radiating from God's saints, fading away like stars that disappear with the rising sun's splendor.

Mawlana, in this profound couplet, offers his unique interpretation of the ‘Verse of Light’ (Surah an-Nur, 24:35). God in the Qur'an declares Himself the 'Light of the heavens and the earth' and likens His light to a lamp in a niche, enclosed in a brilliant glass: 'Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The example of His light is like a niche within which is a lamp, the lamp is in a glass, the glass as if it were a brilliant star.' Mawlana sees this Quranic simile reflected in the very being of God's saints, the awliyā.

I strongly argue that Mawlana’s approach here is not merely a literal commentary, but a deeply existential and ontological interpretation. Mawlana perceives the niche (mishkāt), the glass (zujāj), and the lamp (sirāj) not as abstract metaphors, but as living manifestations within the 'Perfect Human' (Insān-i Kāmil). He states: 'Their bodies are the lamp-niche, their hearts the glass; / This lamp shines upon the Throne and the heavens.' This means the physical form of these divine men serves as the niche, their hearts are the glass that contains the light, and the divine light radiating through them illuminates even the celestial realms. The heart of the believer, as conveyed in the Sacred Hadith, is the 'House of the Lord,' a treasury so vast that even the heavens and the earth cannot contain Him.

Our couplet marks the zenith of this imagery: 'Their light is bewildered by this Light, / Like stars, it vanishes in this dawn's brilliance.' 'Their light' refers to the light of the celestial Throne and heavens, while 'this Light' denotes the radiance manifesting from the hearts and souls of the saints. This implies that even the lights emanating from the highest orders of creation become awestruck and bewildered in the presence of this light embodied in the saints. This is the light of wilāyat (sainthood) that springs from the heart of the Perfect Human.

Just as stars disappear in the expanse of ḍuḥā—mid-morning—with the brilliance of the sun, losing their power to shine, so too do other lights dim and vanish before the manifestation of this blazing light. This is not merely poetic description, but an epistemological and mystical truth. The saints and perfected ones are mirrors that reflect the divine light. They are the conduits of God's grace. Without these mirrors, neither earth nor time would be able to bear the direct brilliance of the Truth's beauty. This is the 'all-encompassing Name of God' that manifests in the Perfect Human, and it is through them that divine blessings and effusions are distributed among all beings. This mirroring is both an honor for the mirror and a mercy for the worlds, as it displays absolute beauty within the capacity and scale that the world can bear.

Key takeaways

• Mawlana portrays the light of the celestial realms as bewildered by the light manifested in God's saints.
• This couplet expresses Mawlana's interpretation of the 'Verse of Light' (24:35) regarding divine manifestation in the Perfect Human.
• The bodies and hearts of saints serve as the mishkāt (niche) and zujāj (glass) for divine light, respectively.
• The light of wilāyat (sainthood) manifested in the saints is so brilliant that it eclipses other lights (of the Throne and heavens), much like stars disappearing at dawn.
• Saints act as conduits of divine grace; without them, the world could not bear God's direct brilliance.
• The beyt underscores the centrality of the Perfect Human in the cosmic order and their role in transmitting divine grace.