Another Look at a Verse of Mathnavi

Some texts, especially mystical and literary, are so intricate and labyrinthine that can be interpreted differently. These various interpretations sometimes result from the interior aspect of the texts, based on semantical understanding, and sometimes arise from their exterior aspect, based on different ways of reading the texts. Accordingly, while in another article along with other interpreters of Mathnavi, the word “قدرت” in the following verse was read as ‘power’ (Qodrat), in this article it is read as ‘your value’ (Qadrat) and interpreted differently: If the world seems great and endless to you, You should know that it is nothing with His power (or with your value). Based on the first reading, this verse illustrates the infinite power of God who has ability over all things. Some mystics call it “the world of power”. On the other hand, according to the second reading the verse explains the boundless grandeur of man, which was read as “the greater world” by some mystics, and that: What exist in the world is not out of you, Ask for what you want from yourself, since you are everything. In this relation, we look at some other verses of Mathnavi, showing their intricacy and different meanings.