M6:3691 — آنک چشمش بست گرچه گربزست / ز احولی اندر دو چشمش خر بُزست

Translation: He who closes his eyes, though he be shrewd, / From squint in his two eyes, sees a donkey as a goat. Meaning: This verse suggests that even the most astute and clever individuals, when they deliberately blind themselves to reality, become subject to distorted perception, seeing things inverted and contrary to truth, as if mistaking a donkey for a goat.

This couplet, in truth, marks the culmination of a profound discussion concerning the limits of human knowledge, the unpredictability of the future, and the role of divine will in the world, as articulated by Mowlana. I maintain that Mowlana here intends to convey that even the most cunning and sagacious of human beings, if they wilfully close their eyes to reality and place absolute trust solely in apparent causes and their own stratagems, will fall victim to perceptual error; an error that makes a donkey appear as a goat in their sight. This is not merely an optical illusion, but a spiritual aḥwalī or squint, stemming from a distorted inner vision.

Mowlana emphasizes that this perception of 'donkey as goat' does not arise from sophistry or the denial of truth, but rather from God's taqlīb – His 'turning over' or inversion of realities. God sometimes, especially when humans, by placing absolute reliance on causes, pursue a desired outcome, makes truths appear inverted. This divine taqlīb serves to awaken humans from their heedlessness and remind them that the world does not stand on its own feet, and the true reins of affairs reside elsewhere. As we find in Nahj al-Balagha: Araftu 'llāha bi-fasḵi 'l-ʿazāʾimi wa naqḍi 'l-himam – 'I came to know God through the annulling of firm resolves and the breaking of determined efforts.' The shrewdness (gorbazī) that Mowlana refers to, in the philosophy of ethics, is an excess of rationality; to use Nasīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī's term, 'intellectual mischief,' which transcends wisdom and leans towards cunning and cleverness. Even such cunning proves futile against the divine will and becomes subject to perceptual error.

I have previously stressed that one should not rely 100% on causes, for 'the turner of causes is like the donkey's tail.' The donkey's tail moves, but its movement is subservient to the donkey's rider, not the tail itself. Indeed, these 'exceptions' and the disruption of plans are precisely the 'bumps' in the road that veer the historical vehicle off its smooth course, waking the driver from the slumber of heedlessness to realize that riding the horse of nature is not solely by their own volition. It is here that Mowlana echoes Karl Popper, who argued that the absolute predictability of history and nature is but an illusion. All scientific laws, despite their precision, mathematics, and extensive experience, still lack guaranteed certainty and may be disproven tomorrow. Hence, intellectual and practical humility before the world and the future, of which Mowlana speaks, is the primary condition for correct insight. These perceptual distortions are warnings from the unseen, so that humanity may grasp that the true Governor of the world is an overpowering force that holds all things in the grip of its dominion.

Key takeaways

• Even the most astute individuals, if they wilfully blind themselves to truth, suffer distorted perception and see reality inverted.
• This distortion is a result of 'divine inversion' (taqlīb-i ḵudā), where God turns realities upside down to awaken humanity.
• Absolute reliance on apparent causes and human planning is a form of heedlessness leading to spiritual misperception.
• Excessive cleverness (gorbazī), a kind of intellectual mischief, deviates from true wisdom and is ineffective against divine will.
• The occurrence of 'exceptions' and frustrated plans indicates the presence of a greater, conquering force behind worldly affairs.
• Intellectual and practical humility is key to true insight when facing the unpredictable future and the non-absolute laws of nature.