M6:37 — آن یکی ذره همی پرد به چپ / وآن دگر سوی یمین اندر طلب

Translation: That one particle flies towards the left, And that other one to the right, in its quest. Meaning: This couplet illustrates how every particle in the universe is in constant, spontaneous motion, heading in various directions with an inherent drive or quest. These minute movements serve as a vivid image of the perpetual conflict governing the natural world.

I have often emphasized that Rumi's worldview perceives this cosmos as an arena of incessant war and contradiction. This couplet provides a vivid illustration of this profound perspective, portraying the movement and striving of every particle in the universe not as accidental, but as a manifestation of a hidden struggle and a perpetual quest. Rumi clearly states that the natural world possesses two fundamental characteristics that distinguish it from the higher realms: one is contradiction (tazādd), and the other is multiplicity (ta'addud). These opposition and plurality are intrinsic properties of this world, and the movement of particles left and right, up and down, is like a dance in the field of this ontological battle.

What we observe outwardly is an "active war" (jange fe'lī); particles constantly seeking something, moving in one direction while others move in another. But Rumi shrewdly points out that this "active war" originates from a "hidden war" (jange nahān). It is here that our interpretations must deepen. The "hidden war" can be interpreted in two ways. Firstly, it could be the inherent contradiction in the very essence of things; that is, these particles and components do not fall into conflict arbitrarily, but their nature is fashioned in such a way that they are antithetical to each other. Secondly, and more aligned with Rumi's own disposition, the "hidden war" is a manifestation of divine wrath and grace (Qahr and Luṭf), or God's majestic and beautiful attributes (Asmāʾ-e Jalālī and Jamālī). It is God Himself who instigates this "war" in the cosmos; it is He who incites the particles in this perpetual quest and opposing movement towards right and left.

Sometimes, the late Tabari, the Marxist intellectual, referred to Rumi as "the Hegel of the East," on the grounds that both addressed the concept of contradiction. However, I find this comparison superficial. Rumi lived centuries before Hegel, and his worldview is fundamentally different from Hegel's absolute idealism. Yes, Rumi elsewhere states: "This world is a thought from the Universal Intellect, the Intellect is like a king, and forms are its messengers," which bears some resemblance to Hegel's absolute idea—that the world is a manifestation of God's thought. But contradiction, in Rumi's view, is primarily an aspect of the natural world's essence, not the driving force of an absolute spirit through history.

This war of particles, this perpetual quest, and this contradictory movement only cease when all things return to their origin and become annihilated in God's being—the very Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un (to Him we belong, and to Him we shall return). In God's essence, there is no contradiction between His majestic and beautiful attributes. These conflicts and differences only appear in the realm of multiplicity and nature, meaning in specific manifestations. When every particle is absorbed into that divine "sun," there remains no movement or stillness, no left or right, and no contradiction in the earthly sense; rather, all abide in absolute peace and unity. The movement of these particles is the story of returning to this primordial unity.

Key takeaways

• The natural world is built upon contradiction and multiplicity, distinguishing it from higher realms.
• The perpetual, directional movement of particles in the cosmos is an aspect of an "active war" (jange fe'lī) stemming from a "hidden war" (jange nahān).
• In Rumi's view, this "hidden war" is the manifestation of Divine Wrath (Qahr) and Grace (Luṭf), or God's Majestic (Jalālī) and Beautiful (Jamālī) attributes in the world of multiplicity.
• Superficial comparisons between Rumi's worldview and Hegel's philosophy of contradiction are invalid; Rumi predates Hegel by centuries and held a distinct approach to this concept.
• This "war" ceases only when all things return to their origin and are annihilated in the unity of God.