M6:3334 — کوزه‌گر با کوزه باشد کارساز / کوزه از خود کی شود پهن و دراز

Translation: The potter is the agent (sāz-kār) with the pot; / When does the pot become wide and long by itself? Meaning: This verse asserts that no form arises spontaneously, emphasizing that the pot, by its very nature, cannot alter its own shape or dimensions without an external shaper.

This verse, among Mawlana's many analogies, is one of the clearest expressions of the fundamental principle of tawḥīd al-afʿāl (unity of divine acts). Here, Mawlana intends to convey that in the emergence of any form, one should not expect it to appear without the presence of an active, volitional agent. The pot, the wood, the garment, the water-skin — all are 'receptive causes' (ʿillat-i qābilī); that is, they are contexts for reception and malleability. But what bestows 'form' upon them is the 'agent' (fāʿil) and 'doer' (kārsāz). A pot does not spontaneously become wide and long; it is the carpenter who cuts and joins the wood; the tailor who sews the garment; and the water-carrier who fills and empties the skin.

It is my conviction that Mawlana here is not merely drawing examples from the external world, but is aiming to turn our gaze inward. He declares: 'Every moment you are filled, you are emptied; / Know then that you are in the hand of His making.' The human soul, our very spirit, is precisely like this. Prior to these verses, Mawlana refers to the 'tablet of effacement and affirmation' (lawḥ-i maḥw wa ithbāt) in the Quran, where God erases what He wills and establishes what He wills. He then extends this concept to the realm of human thought and spiritual states: 'Moment by moment, in the page of their thoughts, / That Unmarked One performs a hundred affirmations and effacements.'

Our shifting states, our spiritual contractions (qabḍ) and expansions (basṭ), our successive angers and satisfactions, and the urges towards avarice and generosity that appear and disappear within us moment by moment, are all examples of this divine 'effacement and affirmation' in our being. If we ask ourselves whether we are entirely the masters and choosers of these changes of state, the answer is undoubtedly no. How many times do we wish to be happy, only for a sudden sorrow to engulf us; we wish to be generous, but a hidden hand casts avarice into our hearts? It is here that Mawlana says: 'My perceptions, morning and evening, for half a moment / Are never empty of this affirmation and effacement.'

We are, in the face of these storms of states, like a straw in the grip of a fierce wind, or a ball under the mallet of divine decree. The Prophet (PBUH) himself stated that 'the heart is like a feather in a swirling wind.' These allusions collectively emphasize one point: we are in the hand of a 'painter'; a painter who 'moment by moment, in the page of our thoughts, / That Unmarked One performs a hundred affirmations and effacements.'

Of course, this discourse is not about fatalism (jabr), but about the omnipotence (jabbārīyat) of God. Mawlana himself has repeatedly stressed this point, stating that 'This is not compulsion, this is the meaning of omnipotence; / The mention of omnipotence is for lamentation.' That is, this awareness of the unseen hand that turns us does not lead us to passive surrender and inaction, but rather to supplication and need. If a person is 'vigilant' (murāqib), meaning they observe their changing states with precision and sensitivity, they will gradually see the traces of these divine interventions within themselves. But for this seeing to occur, the 'dust' of desires and whims must settle, for 'Do you not see that wherever dust rises, / The eye sees not, though the man be sighted?'

Key takeaways

• No form arises spontaneously; every phenomenon requires an intelligent agent.
• Human internal states and conditions are not self-originated but are influenced by a hidden divine hand.
• The human heart is like a 'tablet of effacement and affirmation,' constantly subject to divine change and intervention.
• Spiritual contraction and expansion, anger and contentment, and inclinations towards avarice or generosity are all examples of God's active shaping in our being.
• This divine intervention does not imply fatalism (jabr) but rather signifies God's absolute might (jabbārīyat), leading to supplication.
• Through vigilance (murāqaba) and careful observation of one's states, one can discern the traces of divine governance, provided the dust of desires and whims has settled.