M6:3769 — کاینچ می‌کاری نروید جز که خار / وین طرف پری نیابی زو مطار

Translation: What you sow will yield naught but thorns; and should you leap this way, you'll find no landing place (maṭār) in it. Meaning: This verse serves as a prophetic warning: ill deeds sown in this world will inevitably bear painful consequences, and there is no escape from their fruition.

My friends, this verse delivers one of those direct and decisive warnings that Mevlana conveys through the language of the prophets, or rather, from the very core of their teachings. I have stated before that the prophets bear an immense right over us, 'for they informed us of our ultimate end.' What is this ultimate end? This very verse eloquently answers that question. The prophets tell us that the trajectory of your actions will, without doubt, lead to a destination that may be hidden from your eyes today, but will one day be revealed.

I firmly believe this verse embodies the Quranic principle, 'This world is the farm of the hereafter.' This world is a field where we sow the seeds of good and ill deeds, and we will, without any doubt, harvest their produce in the other world. Mevlana asserts here with certainty: 'What you sow will yield naught but thorns.' If you plant seeds of thorns, you will not harvest wheat. This is not a prophecy, but an existential reality. Our actions, our words, our thoughts – all have forms that may remain hidden in this world, but will materialize and become tangible in the next.

As Mevlana beautifully expresses elsewhere:

What you sow daily, drink it up; What you stitch daily, wear it now. These words of yours, like snakes and scorpions, Will turn to snakes and scorpions and bite your breath.

These biting and hurtful words that we utter today, perhaps deeming them insignificant, will tomorrow turn into snakes and scorpions and seize us. That is to say, our action itself is the very reward or punishment; it is not that God imposes something upon us from outside. This is an existential metamorphosis.

And then, the second half-verse: 'and should you leap this way, you'll find no landing place (maṭār) in it.' This, too, is an unvarnished warning. Maṭār, as you know, in modern Arabic means an airport or a place of flight. Mevlana says that if you try to escape the consequences of your actions in this world, or leap to another direction, you will find no safe place to land and no refuge for escape. There is no way out. This is the retribution for one's deeds, which leaves no choice but confrontation. One cannot shirk the burden of responsibility for one's actions. This cosmic order is built upon justice, reward, and retribution.

Therefore, this verse is a fundamental invitation to 'far-sighted reason,' to a vision that sees beyond today. It is an invitation to 'measure what you do for yourself.' This measuring is the judicious assessment of the consequences of one's actions. And what is the way out of the thorny patch? Mevlana immediately shows us:

Take seed from me, that it may yield increase; Fly with my wing, that the arrow may reach its mark.

This 'me' refers to the prophets and saints; to those teachers who scatter the seeds of wisdom and give us the wings to fly towards a good destination. It is only with their wings that the arrow of our deeds strikes its target, and we are saved from the thorny patch. This is the guidance that leads us towards a virtuous end.

Key takeaways

• Our actions in this world are seeds whose fruits will be harvested in the hereafter.
• There is no escape from the consequences of one's deeds; what you sow, you shall reap.
• Harmful words and actions in this life will materialize as torment in the afterlife.
• Prophets and saints warn us to use 'far-sighted reason' to weigh the outcomes of our deeds.
• The path to salvation from the 'thorny patch' of ill deeds is to follow the guidance and teachings of the prophets.