M6:393 — ماند حیران گفت با میری دگر / که برو وا پرس رخت آن نفر

Translation: He remained bewildered, then said to another emir: "Go and inquire about the belongings of that group of people." Meaning:* The king, frustrated by his emir's incomplete report, instructs yet another emir to go and specifically ask about the caravan's goods, highlighting the sequential and fragmented nature of their inquiries.

This verse is a fragment of a profound and wise allegory by Mowlana, where a king tests his thirty emirs. The emirs are dispatched, one after another, to gather information about a caravan, but each time they return with incomplete reports. The king asks the first emir where the caravan is coming from; once he answers, the next question is where it is going? The first emir did not ask this. Another emir is sent to ascertain the destination, but he neglects to inquire about the caravan's belongings. Here, the king, seeing the previous emir's bewilderment, commands a new emir: "Go and inquire about the belongings of that group of people." That is, ask about the luggage and goods of that group of travelers.

I see this story, which repeats over thirty times, as an allegory for the quest for knowledge—indeed, for the very methodology of epistemology. The emirs here symbolize the 'not naḥw (grammar) but muḥw (effacement)' that Mowlana states at the beginning of the Masnavi. They are engaged in the 'grammar' of knowledge, meaning its dissection and fragmentation into parts. Each emir brings a piece of the puzzle, but no one sees the whole picture. The king seeks comprehensive knowledge, but the emirs are trapped in partial and superficial understanding. This is a method that Mowlana undoubtedly deems ineffective for grasping spiritual truths.

Truly, this story implicitly points to the need for 'self-knowledge' (khwīshṭan-shināsī). If the emirs had looked within themselves and at their method of inquiry, they would have understood that each question is necessarily linked to subsequent ones. True knowledge, from Mowlana's perspective, is unmediated and experiential; it brings union (wuṣūl) and certainty (yaqīn), not bewilderment and incompleteness. These emirs never achieve this union and certainty because they are oblivious to the 'formlessness' (bī-ṣūratī) and totality, focusing only on 'form' (ṣūrat) and appearances. Instead of seeing the ocean, they focus on a single wave. This allegory is a sharp and poignant critique of any knowledge that loses sight of the universal spirit and clings to externals; knowledge that leaves humanity adrift in a sea of bewilderment and fails to lead to the abode of certainty.

Key takeaways

• The pursuit of knowledge without a holistic and anticipatory view leads only to incomplete information and bewilderment.
• This story is an allegory for the inadequacy of a fragmented, analytical approach (naḥw) versus comprehensive, intuitive knowledge (muḥw).
• True knowledge, in Mowlana's view, must lead to certainty (yaqīn) and union (wuṣūl), not scattered answers and endless questions.
• This verse critiques a superficial gaze focused on appearances, which neglects the totality and inner essence of truth.
• Insight in inquiry entails the ability to anticipate and formulate related questions, rather than passively awaiting the next prompt from a higher authority.