M6:3509 — گه چو کابوسی نماید ماه را / گه نماید روضه قعر چاه را

Translation: Sometimes He makes the moon appear like a nightmare, Sometimes He makes the bottom of a well appear like a garden.

Meaning: This verse speaks to God's ultimate power to alter human perception, making beautiful things seem fearsome and dreadful places appear delightful, illustrating the divine capacity to invert apparent realities.

Mowlana, in this profound verse, speaks of the Divine Architect, God, who crafts the cosmos in the most harmonious and perfect manner. Yet, within this perfectly designed world, God engages in what Mowlana terms 'lawful magic' (sahar-e halal). This verse is a prime example of such divine enchantment; God can make the moon, a universal symbol of beauty, light, and tranquility, appear as an oppressive nightmare. The term kabus here, stemming from the Arabic kabs (to press), signifies not merely a bad dream but any pressing, distressing, or anxiety-inducing state. Conversely, He can transform the dark, fearful bottom of a well—a symbol of confinement and despair—into a lush, delightful garden. This is the essence of divine 'contraction and expansion' (qabz-o bast), by which God continuously governs and alters the perception and disposition of the human heart.

This inversion of perception, which stems from God's absolute power, prompted the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to offer a profound prayer: 'Rabb irnā al-ashyāʾ kamā hiya' (O Lord, show us things as they truly are). This prayer is a plea for release from divine 'lawful magic,' a request for pure, unveiled perception, so that one might grasp unadulterated truth and avoid regret and anxiety at life's end. God, in the Quran, refers to Himself as 'the best of schemers' (khayr al-mākirīn). Mowlana understands this divine 'stratagem' (makr) in its true sense: not merely as repelling the schemes of others, but as an active, comprehensive divine strategy that, for reasons of wisdom, sometimes veils realities and sometimes reveals them, sometimes twists perception and sometimes clarifies it. This is tied to God sealing hearts or, conversely, opening breasts to understanding.

This fluctuating state of perception and spiritual condition is further illuminated by the prophetic tradition that 'the human heart is between two fingers of God's majesty' (qalb bayn isbaʿayn kibriyāʾ), meaning it is constantly turned by divine power (representing both Jalāl and Jamāl, wrath and grace). The human heart is likened to a feather in a desert storm, swayed hither and thither by divine winds. These winds are the winds of God's self-sufficiency, constantly blowing, moving everything in the cosmos. Thus, the moon and the well are mere symbols illustrating that God is 'ever in a new state' (kullu yawmin huwa fī shaʾn), capable of altering realities in the eye of the beholder as He wills; this signifies not deception, but the ultimate expression of His power and wisdom.

Key takeaways

• God, through His 'lawful magic' (sahar-e halal), can completely invert human perception, making beauty fearsome and dread delightful.
• The term kabus signifies any oppressive or distressing state, not merely a nightmare, when referring to the moon appearing as such.
• Divine 'contraction and expansion' (qabz-o bast), the constant alteration of our spiritual states and perceptions, is central to God's wisdom and power.
• The Prophet Muhammad's prayer, 'O Lord, show us things as they truly are,' is a plea for liberation from these perceptual shifts to attain pure truth.
• The human heart is likened to a feather, constantly turned between the two fingers of divine power, subject to His continuous qabz-o bast.