M6:74 — لیک معنیشان بود در سه مقام / در مراتب هم ممیز هم مدام

Translation: But their meanings remained in three stations, In different ranks, both distinct and enduring.

Meaning: Mowlana asserts that while outward forms and words are transient, their true, inner meanings persist eternally in higher realms of existence, remaining both distinct and perpetual.

This couplet follows a series of verses where Mowlana discusses the demise of forms and the persistence of meaning. He emphasizes that words and forms are like the chaff and debris covering the clear water of a spiritual sea. The wind of wisdom must blow these away to reveal the true, undifferentiated water of meaning. I may have earlier stated that the Masnavi is an 'island for the thirsty of the spiritual sea' (M6:67-68), but here, I take it a step further: it is the sea itself, if one can transcend form and allow 'word, sound, and breath to become one'.

Mowlana tells us there is a spirit, a meaning, hidden within his words that must be seen beyond the literal form. It's like the story of the finger and the moon: do not look at the finger, look at the moon. Words are but pointers to the boundless ocean of meaning. He said in preceding verses, 'The speaker, the listener, and the words themselves / All three become soul in the end,' and 'The giver of bread, the receiver of bread, and pure bread / Become simple, shed their forms, and turn to dust.' All these material and apparent forms, he states, revert to dust and non-existence. But in this beyt, he immediately adds, 'But their meanings remained in three stations, / In different ranks, both distinct and enduring.' Their meaning persists, not merely persisting, but existing in three different existential ranks or stations, simultaneously distinct from each other and eternal.

These statements by Mowlana strongly resonate with Neo-Platonic philosophy and Platonic archetypes, echoing Suhrawardi's 'complete archetypes' (ṭabāʿ-i tām). The supra-natural world is the origin of all these forms. Consider the example of an architect's mental blueprint, which then becomes an external building; this building might collapse, perish, but the form and design of that building remain in the architect's mind, and its mental perception does not necessarily disappear with the destruction of the external structure. The higher realm is similar: from the formless world, these forms appear; whether it be bread, soul, or our thoughts, all have their origin elsewhere.

A crucial point in Mowlana's and mystics' philosophy is that in the natural world, nothing is the causa efficiens (agent and creator) of anything else. What we observe in this world is merely the causa praeparans; that is, it only prepares the ground for something to come into being. The true agency, the causality, comes from the higher realm. 'The giving of a morsel comes from one to another, / But the giving of a throat is the work of God alone' (M3). We only prepare the ground for that higher agent and ultimate cause to bestow existence upon a being. Thus, every form that appears here has its producer and giver of forms from beyond this world. 'The form turned to dust, but the meaning did not; / Whoever says it did, tell them, 'No, it did not.'' Meaning never turns to dust, never perishes. This meaning waits in the spiritual world to sometimes appear in forms, and by Divine Command (Amr), to again be disembodied from forms. In essence, this is the Quranic distinction between Khalq (creation) and Amr (command): 'Is not creation and command His?' (al-A'raf, 7:54). Khalq is the form, and Amr is the spirit; the spirit rides upon the form, like a rider on a mount, both being subject to the command of the absolute Sovereign.

Key takeaways

• True meaning persists and remains eternal even after the demise of outward forms and words.
• The world of forms (like speech and action) is transient, but their world of meaning in higher realms is everlasting.
• Mowlana here aligns with Neo-Platonic ontology and Platonic 'Forms,' considering material existence as a shadow of higher truths.
• True causality does not reside in the natural world; phenomena are merely causae praeparantes (preparatory causes), while the causa efficiens (creator) is from the higher realm.
• These verses emphasize Mowlana's essentialism: beyond transient appearances, there is an essential and enduring reality.