William Dalrymple, the novelist and researcher, wrote; "it seems unbelievable in the world of 9/11, Bin Laden and clash of civilizations, but the best selling poet in the US in the 1990s was not any of the giants of American letters -- Robert Frost, Robert Lowell, Wallace Stevens or Sylvia Plath -- nor was it Shakespeare or Homer or Dante or any European poet. Instead, remarkably, it was a classically trained Muslim cleric who taught the Islamic code of law in a madrasa in what is now Turkey."

If the great Maulana had been alive today, he would have described the phenomenon as a miracle; for he defined miracle as a circumstance that transports people from ignorance to the spiritual light, from darkness into enlightenment (Fihi-Ma-Fihi, Discourses of Rumi ).

What elements make the human being? One that elevates man to the rank of superiority over other creatures is "Aql" -- intellect or reason. There are two kinds of intellect. One acquired through schooling, instructions, and from traditional sciences. This intellect or knowledge, known as partial intellect, enables man to achieve the earthly ranks and fortunes. Says Rumi "You stroll with this intelligence in and out of the field of knowledge, getting always more marks on your preserving tablets (Masnavi)."

The other intelligence is what the Maulana calls "Aql-I-Kull," or universal intellect. Declares Rumi, "There is another kind of tablet, one already completed and preserved within you. A spring overflowing its springbox. A freshness in the center of the chest." (Masnavi, translated by Coleman Barks).

Universal intellect illuminates the horizon, while the partial intellect "blackens the book of action," because partial intellect is imperfect and may lead to unlawful acts. Maulana Rumi considers the whole world to be the outward form of universal intellect. "Normal partial intellect gains strength from there, and it is a solid guide to the "door of the beloved."

Rumi says in Fihi- Ma-Fihi, "whoever possesses partial intellect is in need of instruction. The universal intellect is the giver of all things."

An example is that of the mind being the mover of the organs of the body. "Relative to the mind, this body is coarse and gross, while the heart and intellect are subtle. The gross surrenders to the subtle, and from there it derives whatever it has. Without the subtle the gross would be useless, foul, coarse and unworthy. Similarly, relative to the universal intellect, partial intellects are tools that are instructed by, and benefit from, the universal intellect (Fihi-Ma-Fihi -- Rumi)."

The Maulana sings in Masnavi, "The knowledge of men of heart bears them up, the knowledge of men of the body weighs them down. When it is knowledge of the heart, it is a friend, when knowledge of the body, it is a burden."

God said, "As an ass bearing a load of books."(Quran XII 5)

The spiritual man's knowledge bears him aloft, and endows him with real knowledge. When learning acquires a soul, it is like a lifeless form coming to life. The Moulana clarifies, the prophets' converse with God in the non-phonic, non-sonic world in a way that cannot be comprehended by the imagination of these partial intellects. "Knowledge is the seal of the Kingdom of Solomon, the whole world is form, and knowledge its spirit" (Masnavi--translation by Nicholson).

The phenomenal world is the outward form of universal intellect, its essence is the divine knowledge that animates and rules it, as the spirit animates and rules the body. Cries the Maulana, "How long regard ye mere form, O form worshippers? Your souls, devoid of substance, rest still in forms."

Rumi says, the knowledge of man of external sense is a muzzle to stop them sucking the milk of that sublime knowledge. "But God drops into the heart of a single pearl drop which is not bestowed on oceans and skies." If people would realize that this world is frozen, their "partial intellects would behave like a donkey on ice (Divan)."

It would slip and lose its way. Only man is capable of spiritual development of the highest order, as man's spirit was breathed into him by God (Quran), thus imparting something of the divine in him.

The light that lights the eye is also the heart's light;

The eye's light proceeds from the light of the heart.

But the light that lights the heart is the light of God

Which is distinct from the light of reason and sense. (Masnavi -- translation by Whinfield)

Prophet Muhammad (pbh) was called "unlettered," says Rumi, not because he was unable to write; he was called that because his "letters," his knowledge and wisdom were innate, not acquired. Those who have united the partial with the universal intellect, and have become one, are prophets and saints.

Syed Rezaul Karim is a freelance contributor to The Daily Star.