M6:1622 — بی‌چگونه بین تو برد و مات بحر / چون چگونه گنجد اندر ذات بحر

Translation: O viewer, behold the Sea's triumph and defeat (of 'how' and 'what'); For how can 'how' and 'what' fit within the Sea's essence? Meaning: This verse asserts that the Divine Essence, likened to an boundless and infinite Sea, transcends all material descriptions and qualities of 'how' and 'what', utterly subsuming these limited human concepts.

In this noble verse, Mawlana, with the full depth of his being, invites us to contemplate the boundless and nameless Divine Essence. As I have often stated, throughout the Mathnawi, Mawlana likens the Absolute Essence to a sea whose expanse transcends the confines of our words and concepts. Here, he reiterates this theme with great force: "O viewer, behold the Sea's triumph and defeat (of 'how' and 'what'); For how can 'how' and 'what' fit within the Sea's essence?"

The point Mawlana raises here is, in essence, the discourse of 'quality' and 'quantity' – 'how' (چگونه) and 'what kind of' or 'as what' (چون). These are our tools for understanding material and finite beings. Everything we see and know, we describe by its 'how-ness' and 'what-ness'; its height and stature, its color and scent, its place and time. But Mawlana unequivocally declares that these concepts are utterly "triumphed over and defeated" by the essence of the Absolute Sea; meaning, the infinite Sea of Existence crushes and eliminates these mental limitations of ours in a unilateral battle. How can these particular concepts possibly find a place within that infinite universality? It is impossible.

In explaining this verse, I always refer to the subsequent couplet where Mawlana himself elucidates this meaning: "The least of His toys is your soul; How and what did the soul ever rightly become?" This is profoundly significant. To demonstrate our incapacity to perceive the Absolute Essence, Mawlana first uses the example of our own soul; a soul which, in his words, is the "least of toys" – the smallest creation or product of that Sea of Existence. He then asks: Has anyone ever truly been able to describe how the soul is, or what quality it possesses? Who can place the soul under a surgeon's knife and say 'it is here' or its color is such? Renowned physiologists like Claude Bernard, or today's materialist neuroscientists, deny the soul when they search for it in the brain or under the surgical blade and fail to find it. They are oblivious to the fact that the soul is fundamentally not subject to the rules of time, space, and physical qualities. The soul has no place, no taste, no color. Can one ask of the intellect, 'where are you?' This is precisely the inadequacy of language in describing transcendent realities.

If the 'soul,' which is a small creation and product of the 'Sea of Existence,' is itself beyond quality and location and cannot be described by 'how' and 'what,' then how can the essence of that Sea possibly fit into our limited frameworks? Undoubtedly, these categories are humble and powerless before that Essence. That Sea is itself "without opposite and without like"; meaning, it has no antithesis to bring it to naught, nor any peer with which to be compared. These opposites and likenesses belong to the realm of plurality and the physical world, which exist like foam upon the unquantifiable and unqualifiable Sea. Thus, this Sea of Existence is simple and boundless, dissolving any description or limitation within itself.

Of course, as I have noted before, one must acknowledge that the composition of the Mathnawi in Mawlana's later years, especially the sixth book, sometimes presents linguistic difficulties, and profound meanings can cause his language to falter. Yet, even in these verses, where a degree of 'artifice' or effort might be perceived, Mawlana's depth of thought and existential allusions remain immeasurably rich.

Key takeaways

• The Divine Essence, like an infinite sea, transcends the finite concepts of 'how' and 'what,' admitting no material description.
• The categories of 'how' and 'what' (spatial, temporal, qualitative) are merely tools for understanding finite beings and are defeated when applied to the Absolute.
• Even the human soul, the 'least of Divine creations,' is free from spatial and qualitative constraints and cannot be grasped by material means.
• Mawlana, through this verse, challenges materialistic perspectives on existence and the soul.
• The Absolute Being is 'without opposite and without like'; meaning, it is singular and unique, devoid of any adversary or peer in its essence and action.