M6:3639 — تا به هر حیوان و نامی که نگرند / از ریاض حسن ربانی چرند

Translation: So that in every creature and every name they behold, From the gardens of Divine Beauty they graze. Meaning: Mowlana suggests that the entire cosmos, with all its beings and manifestations, is a revelation of God's beauty, and enlightened seekers perceive an aspect of the Divine in everything.

This couplet, following the previous one (M6:3638: For enlightened eyes, the Unique God / Made the six directions a manifestation of His signs), articulates the pinnacle of Mowlana's Sufi perspective on the world. Mowlana initiates his discourse by drawing an analogy from the story of Zuleikha and Yusuf: Zuleikha filled Yusuf’s room with her own images, compelling him to see her everywhere and thus fall into her trap of love or desire. However, Mowlana swiftly transcends this analogy, clarifying that God’s creation of the world, though similarly ‘filled with His images,’ is not for deception, but for revelation and manifestation.

I have often stated that mystics have long regarded the world as a mirror of God, and Mowlana articulates this truth with profound clarity in this verse. The world is a mirror in which Divine Beauty is apparent. Of course, the best and most complete mirror is humanity, whom God created in His own image, manifesting all His perfections within them. Yet, other beings, each in its own measure, are also smaller mirrors; every existent thing is an aperture, a window, through which God has extended His head, as it were, to show Himself to us. This is precisely what I mean by ‘the essence of religion, O master, is to see windows’—true religion is opening a window towards God, and, more profoundly, seeing everything as a window.

Mowlana supports this assertion by immediately referencing the Quranic verse (2:115): “Wheresoever you turn, there is the Face of God” (Fas: Aynama tuwallū fathamma wajh Allāh). This verse forms the foundation of Mowlana’s argument; God has no front or back, hence His Face is present everywhere. This cosmos, its every wall and corner, is adorned with God’s image; it is not merely His reflection, but He Himself, manifesting everywhere. When we pray facing the Qibla, it is not because God is exclusively there, but because the Qibla is a symbol for our corporeal existence, which is necessarily engaged with forms; otherwise, the Formless encompasses all.

Mowlana then distinguishes between the gaze of the lover and the non-lover. He says that for the ‘enlightened eyes’ and lovers, even if they drink water from a cup in thirst, ‘they behold God within the water.’ I have repeatedly said that a true lover perceives the Beloved present in every breath, much like the Arab poet who proclaims: “By God, no sun has risen or set / But your remembrance is joined to my breaths.” However, the non-lover, when looking into water or a mirror, ‘sees only their own image.’ Love liberates one from ‘self-centeredness’ (khod-bīni) and frees them from the clutches of the ego. When the ‘lover’s image becomes annihilated within Him’ (i.e., the Beloved), they see nothing but the Beloved, even in water.

It is here that Mowlana speaks of God’s ‘Jealous Craft’ (ṣanʿ-e ghayūr). God’s ‘ghayrat’ (divine jealousy) means that He does not permit anyone or anything else in the world to appear beautiful or become a true beloved. “His Jealousy left no other in the world / Therefore, He became the very essence of all things.” In other words, Divine Jealousy does not accept that there should be any other deity, beloved, or beauty apart from Him. This Jealousy is ‘partnership-consuming’ (sherkat-sūz); it burns away every rival in the arena of love, so that only the true Beloved remains. This jealousy is directed at lovers and the sincere, lest they fall into the trap of false beloveds and fleeting beauties; it is not directed at demons or beasts.

Key takeaways

• The world is a mirror, reflecting God’s beauty in every part and name, not for deception, but for manifestation.
• The mystic gaze perceives an aspect of the Divine in every being and phenomenon; the world is full of 'windows' to God.
• A fundamental distinction exists between the 'lover's' gaze and the 'self-centered' one: the lover sees God in everything, while the self-centered see only themselves.
• Love liberates humanity from the confines of self-centeredness and ego, turning one's vision towards absolute Truth.
• Divine 'Jealousy' (ghayrat) implies the negation of any rival in love and worship; God allows nothing but His own beauty to appear as a beloved or beautiful.