M6:1811 — آن موالید از زه این چار نیست / لاجرم منظور این ابصار نیست

Translation: Those births are not from the womb of these four (elements); / Thus, they are not seen by these (physical) eyes. Meaning: This couplet asserts that certain spiritual realities or phenomena do not originate from the material and natural causes of this world. Consequently, they cannot be perceived or understood by our outward senses, possessing instead a supra-material and unseen genesis.

Here, Mowlana unveils a profound ontological truth. He states, "Those births are not from the womb of these four (elements)." The term zah signifies birth or womb, while chār refers to the four classical elements: earth, air, fire, and water, which formed the basis of the material world in ancient philosophy. Mowlana asserts that the spiritual offspring, the inner fruits and emanations I speak of, do not originate from these four material elements. They lack material causes and natural conditions; they come into being in an entirely different manner, springing from another source. This is a crucial point: it implies that certain events and truths are not products of the chain of material causes and effects in this world, but rather step into existence from another realm.

Hence, he continues, "Thus, they are not seen by these (physical) eyes." Lā-jaram means inevitably or consequently, and "manẓūr-e în absār" means they cannot be perceived by our outward, physical eyes. Because these births traverse an unseen path, they remain invisible to outward sight. Mowlana himself provides a vivid illustration of this truth in Manāqib al-ʿĀrifīn: after composing and writing down many verses, he instructed for the furnace to be heated and cast all the pages into the fire, declaring, "They came from the unseen and return to the unseen." This is a clear example of how an event originates from an invisible path and rejoins the invisible, leaving no trace.

Mowlana then, in another verse reflecting this same meaning, says: "Those births are born of manifestation (tajallī); / Thus, they are veiled by a simple, unadorned curtain." This is an extraordinarily significant point. Our mystics, and subsequently philosophers like Mulla Sadra, ultimately arrived at the understanding that the world is not merely an ma'lūl (effect) of God, but rather a tajallī (manifestation) of God. The effect, in its authentic sense, is fundamentally a manifestation of its cause. Mulla Sadra, in his Asfār al-Arbaʿa, explicitly states that the emergence of an effect from a cause does not mean the cause projects something distinct from itself externally; rather, the cause itself transforms into another state, "tatṭawwuruhu bi-ṭawrin wa taḥīṣuhu bi-ḥaythiyya." This implies tashaʿʿun, meaning the effect is another form of the cause; the cause descends and occupies the rank of things and effects.

This idea stands at the pinnacle of mystical thought and has found philosophical substantiation. It implies that God is spiritual with the spiritual and corporeal with the corporeal. The entirety of this cosmos, both spiritual and physical, is not merely His effect, but both are His appearances, both are His manifestations. Mowlana articulates this profound truth with such simplicity, a truth he later concedes cannot be fully explained with ease. Therefore, "they are veiled by a simple, unadorned curtain" means they are hidden and concealed from sight, because they are born of manifestation. Not only physical eyes, but even philosophical thought cannot easily reach them. These births are hidden not due to complexity, but due to the absolute simplicity and unadorned nature of their existential veil, which is the direct manifestation of the Truth.

Key takeaways

• Spiritual realities originate beyond the material and natural causes of this world.
• Inner and spiritual 'births' are generated by Divine Tajallī (Manifestation), not material ʿilliyya (causality).
• The perception and understanding of these supra-material truths are beyond physical senses and outward vision.
• The cosmos is a manifestation of the Divine Essence, appearing in various forms, not an effect separate from its cause.
• The hiddenness of these 'births' is not due to their complexity, but to the absolute simplicity and unadorned nature of the veil of manifestation.