Thursday, August 14, 2025

To Visit the Friend is to Visit God

 

 

 بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

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بخش ۴۹ - وحی کردن حق تعالی به موسی علیه السلام کی چرا به عیادت من نیامدی


Mawlānā — Masnavī-ye Ma‘navī — Book Two
Section 49: God Most High Reveals to Moses (peace be upon him): “Why did you not come to visit Me?”

آمَد از حَقّ سُوْیِ مُوسَی این عِتاب


کای طُلوعِ ماه دیده، تو زِ جِیب  

Translation: 
A rebuke came from the Divine to Moses:
“O you whose eyes have beheld the rising moon from the hem (of the Unseen)!”

Explanation: 


God addresses Moses with affection and grandeur, reminding him of the privilege of witnessing divine glory—ṭulūʿ-i māh is a metaphor for spiritual illumination, the “moon” rising from the unseen hem of reality (jīb). Yet the praise is the prelude to correction.

 

مَشرِقَت کَردَم زِ نُورِ ایزَدی
 
مَن حَقّم، رَنجور گَشْتَم، نامَدِی

Translation: 

“I made you shine with the light of Divinity,
Yet I, the Truth, have fallen ill—and you did not come.”

Explanation: 


The paradox is deliberate: God, al-Ḥaqq, says “I have fallen ill.” This is the language of divine intimacy, hinting at the ḥadīth qudsī: “I was sick, and you did not visit Me,” where God identifies with the condition of His servant.


گُفت: سُبحانَا! تو پاکی از زِیان
 
این چه رَمز است؟ این بُکُن، یا رَبّ، بَیان

Translation: 


Moses said, “Glory be to You! You are far above all harm.
What mystery is this? Reveal it to me, my Lord.”

Explanation: 

Moses’ theological instinct protests—God is free from defect. The Prophet seeks to understand the ramz (hidden sign) behind such words. Rumi is careful to show that questioning God here is not doubt, but the seeking of wisdom

 

باز فَرمودَش که: در رَنجوریم
 
چون نَپُرسیدِی تو از رویِ کَرَم

Translation: 

The Divine replied again: “I am in affliction,
Because you did not inquire after Me in kindness

Explanation: 

The Divine brings the rebuke into focus: Moses’ lapse was a failure of compassion—he did not check on one in distress. The “I” is still veiled; the full identification will follow.


گُفت: یا رَبّ! نیست نُقصانی تو را
 
عَقل گُم شُد، این سُخُن را بَرگُشا

Translation:  

Moses said, “My Lord, You suffer no deficiency.
My reason falters—unfold this saying for me.”

Explanation: 

Even after repetition, the mystery remains: how can the Perfect say “I am ill”? Moses acknowledges his bewilderment and asks for disclosure—a key Sufi posture: ʿaql yields to kashf (unveiling).

گُفت: آری، بَندهٔ خاصِّ گُزین
 
گَشت رَنجور، او مَنَم، نیکو بُبین

Translation: 

God said, “Yes—one of My specially chosen servants
Has fallen ill. That servant is Me—look carefully and see.”

Explanation: 

Here the veil lifts: to wound a friend of God is to wound God; to comfort him is to comfort God. The saint is the locus (maẓhar) of divine presence.


هَست مَعذوریش مَعذوریِ مَن
 
هَست رَنجوریش رَنجوریِ مَن

Translation:  

“His feeling weak is My weakness;
His sickness is My sickness.”

Explanation: 

This is radical empathy: God fully identifies with His saint’s state. In Sufi theology, walāyah (sainthood) is a form of divine self-disclosure—honor or neglect of the saint is honor or neglect of God.

 

   

هَر که خواهد هَمنِشینیِ خُدا
 
تا نَشینَد در حُضورِ اَولِیا

Translation: 

“Whoever wishes to sit in the company of God
Must sit in the presence of His friends.”

Explanation: 

The practical conclusion: God’s companionship is accessed through the company of His awliyāʾ. This is an echo of prophetic tradition: “The saints of God are those who, when seen, remind you of God.”

  

از حُضورِ اَولِیا گر بَسکَلی
 
تو هَلاکِی، زانک جُزوی بی‌ کُلِّی

Translation: 

“If you turn away from the presence of the saints,
You are ruined, for you are a part cut off from the Whole.”

Explanation: 

The metaphor of part and whole (juzw/kull) frames spiritual community as an organism: to sever from it is to perish.


هَر که را دیو از کَرِیمان وا بَرَد
 
بی‌کَسَش یابَد، سَرَش را او خُوَرَد

Translation: 
“Whoever the demon draws away from the generous ones
Is left forsaken—and the demon devours his head.”

Explanation: 

Isolation from the spiritually generous leaves the seeker prey to destructive forces (dīv), here imagined with the stark image of head-devouring—total ruin.

 

یَک بَدَست از جَمع رَفتن یَک زَمان
 
مَکرِ دیو است، بَشنَو و نیکو بُدان

Translation: 

“To withdraw even for a moment from the assembly of the devoted—
That is the demon’s trick; hear this and understand well.”

Explanation: 

Rumi ends with a sharp warning: separation from the circle of God’s friends, even briefly, is spiritual danger. The counsel is both mystical (about presence) and practical (about solidarity).


Thematic takeaway

Rumi reframes compassion as a mystical covenant: visiting the sick, aiding the distressed, keeping company with the righteous—all are direct encounters with God. The parable binds theology and ethics: the saint’s body becomes the theater of divine presence, and community with the awliyāʾ becomes the very “company of God.”    




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