IS IT POSSIBLE TO FORCE THE SECRET INTO THE TIME? MAWLĀNA’S UNDERSTANDING OF TIME IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF MATHNAWĪ

Abstract

Time is one of the most essential truths that is at the centre of human life and that human beings contact with. It has always been the subject of the thought both because various dimensions it includes, because it is perceived differently in different situations, and with its ambivalence that prompt people to think about it intensely. For this reason, a wide range of literature has emerged over time. In sūfī sources, time is generally mentioned within the framework of the term ibn al-waqt (the son of time). In this study, Mawlānā Jalāl al-Dīn al-Rūmī’s understanding of time was discussed in focus of his book Mathnawī. The couplets in Mawlānā’s Mathnawī related wit time have been determined and his teaching has been compared with the classical sources of sufism and the time view of Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabī, one of the founders of sūfī thought. Mawlānā handles time in the framework of three main categories. The first of these is the transcendental understanding of time, which is not subject to division such as past and future, the second is horizontal/ linear/chronological time, and the third is the timeless dimension experienced by ibn al-waqt reaching the position of abu'l-waqt (father of time) by evolving and getting rid of the time. Mawlānā also mentions on the extent to which divine secrets and metaphysical truths can be expressed in the context of chronological time. According to him, it is impossible for such information to be fully expressed in horizontal time, that is, “the secret cannot be forced into time”. The determination of Mawlānā’s views on time has great importance in terms of revealing the time approach of mystical thought and tradition. Keywords: Sūfism, Mawlānā Jalāl al-Dīn al-Rūmī, Mathnawī, Ibn al-waqt/The son of time.