M6:182 — از نظرهای خفاش کم و کاست / انجم آن شمس نیز اندر خفاست

Translation: From the defective, wanting gaze of the bat, Both the stars and that sun are likewise hidden. Meaning: This verse asserts that if the observer himself is flawed and deficient, even the grandest and most luminous truths of the world will appear hidden and unseen to him, for the flaw lies within his own perception, not in the manifest truth.

In this verse, Rumi speaks to those deniers and fault-finders who have lost the capacity to perceive truth, and there is a hidden prayer behind his words: “O God, keep the fault-finders far from this breath.” These are the ones who not only find fault in the Prophetic Shari'a but also turn away from the Masnavi itself. Rumi likens these individuals to a khuffāsh (bat); a creature that, due to its inherent defect, shies away from light and is incapable of seeing the sun and stars.

I have encountered this bat metaphor many times in the Masnavi; where he says: “The most deprived of all was the bat, for it was an enemy of the manifest sun. The little bat is not an enemy of the sun; it became its own enemy, veiled.” The bat is not truly an enemy of the sun, but rather an enemy of itself, imprisoned in the veil of ignorance and defect. In this verse, Rumi goes even further, stating that the bat's eye is not only deprived of the dazzling brilliance of the sun, but also perceives the stars as hidden. This means that any source of light, however less luminous than the sun, is concealed from its sight.

In my view, Rumi here makes a profound reference to the noble Prophetic Hadith: «اِنَّ اَصحابی کَالنُّجومِ بِاَیِّهِمُ اقتَدِیتُمُ اهتَدِیتُم» — 'My companions are like stars; by whichever of them you are guided, you will be guided.' In this analogy, the shams (sun) undoubtedly refers to the sacred presence of the Prophet Muhammad, who represents the sun of universal truth, and the anjum (stars) refer to his companions and, by extension, the Divine Saints and his spiritual successors. Thus, the fault-finding bats not only fail to comprehend the sun of prophethood but are also deprived of the guiding light of the stars, the companions and saints. This is not a defect in the sun or the stars; this kam o kāst (deficiency and defect) lies within the bat's own gaze, causing it to perceive truth as andar khafāst (hidden). It is an existential flaw in the perceiver that prevents the apprehension of divine manifestation, and this is the point Rumi repeatedly emphasizes: the fault is in our gaze, not in the world or its truths.

Key takeaways

• The defect lies in the bat's vision, not in the sun or stars.
• Lack of inner insight obscures even the most manifest truths.
• Rumi likens deniers and fault-finders to bats incapable of perceiving divine light.
• The verse emphasizes that the flaw is in our perception, not in the luminous truths of existence.
• The Prophet Muhammad is the sun of guidance, and his companions and saints are the guiding stars.