M6:2701 — چون خبیثان را چنین خلعت دهد / طیبین را تا چه بخشد در رصد

Translation: Since to the wicked He bestows such a robe of honor, What then will He grant to the pure, held in reserve?

Meaning: Mowlana posits that if God's boundless grace transforms even impurities and evils into beneficial and beautiful outcomes, then the rewards and blessings awaiting the virtuous and pure must be utterly beyond human imagination or expectation.

This verse emerges from a brilliant metaphor by Mowlana, illustrating God's alchemy in transforming evils and impurities into virtues and pure states. I believe this reveals one of the deepest insights Mowlana offers in the Masnavi, a testament to God's active monotheism (Tawḥīd-i Afʿālī) in creation.

Mowlana begins by invoking the notion of 'event' or 'filth' (ḥadath), representing impurity. He describes how the sun shines upon this ḥadath, drying it out. Does the sun suffer any diminution? Never. Rather, the sun's universal grace (luṭf-i ʿām) seeks no justification (sanad); it shines upon all things, making no distinction between pure and impure. Yet, this dried ḥadath is transformed into fuel. It is then taken to the 'furnace' (gulkhān) of a bathhouse and burnt. There, what was once pure defilement now becomes light and heat, illuminating the bathhouse walls. This, Mowlana declares, means 'it was defilement, now it has become adornment.'

This cycle does not end there. Mowlana continues by stating that this very sun warms the 'stomach of the earth' so that the earth can absorb and decompose the remaining ḥadath. These impurities become part of the soil, from which 'vegetation' (nabāt) springs forth. Plants and trees emerge from the heart of defilement, creating beauty and utility, just as narcissus and jasmine grow from ḥadath. It is here that Mowlana explicitly states: hākadhā yumḥī-l-ilāhu-s-sayyiʾāt — 'Thus God erases evils.' God extinguishes evils in this manner, transforming poison into honey, impurities into purity. This is a grand divine 'factory' where bad is turned into good, and vileness into sanctity.

Now, having laid out this powerful allegory, Mowlana turns to the verse in question: Chūn khabīthān rā chunīn khilʿat dihad / Ṭayyibīn rā tā chi bakhshad dar raṣad. He asks: if God deals with ḥadath—the most repulsive and vile of things—by transforming it into narcissus and jasmine; and if He deals with the 'wicked' (khabīthān) and their evils in such a way that ultimately good and benefit emerge from them—meaning, He bestows upon them this khilʿat (robe of honor, here signifying the grace of transformation from evil to good)—then what will He do for the 'pure' (ṭayyibīn) and the virtuous? What khilʿat and reward await them in 'reserve' (raṣad)?

This is a subtle point: this khilʿat is not necessarily a reward or encouragement for the wicked, but rather a manifestation of God's universal grace that does not impose 'worthiness' as a condition for bestowal (dād-i Ḥaqq rā qābiliyyat sharṭ nīst). The sun shines on filth without suffering any harm, and the filth dries and becomes useful. By analogy, the wickedness of the khabīthān, though rejected and to be resisted by us, can in the grand cosmic cycle be transformed into a form of good; not for their own benefit, but for the benefit of all existence, just as waste becomes fertilizer. This is divine wisdom, which, even from the heart of impurities, creates the ground for the growth of purities. Imagine, then, what He will do with the pure hearts and good deeds of the ṭayyibīn.

Mowlana's answer is that God gives the ṭayyibīn that which lā ʿaynun raʾat wa lā udhnun samiʿat wa lā khaṭara ʿalā qalbi bashar—'no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived.' This is the realm of the formless (bī-ṣūratī), beyond mind, imagination, and language. This is God's ultimate promise to those who have kept themselves pure; a promise that cannot even be grasped by imagination.

Key takeaways

• God's universal grace is unconditional; it does not require worthiness (qābiliyyat) from the recipient.
• From impurities (ḥadath), God creates beauty and utility (e.g., narcissus and jasmine); this is divine alchemy.
• While human wickedness must be resisted, Mowlana suggests it is part of a larger divine cycle that transmutes evil into good.
• If the 'wicked' receive such a transformative 'robe of honor' (where evil is turned to good), the rewards for the pure are beyond human comprehension.
• The reward for the pure resides in the realm of the formless (bī-ṣūratī), something 'no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered the human heart.'