In Book Five, Section 137 of the *Masnavi*, Rumi addresses the unresolved debate between the deterministic infidel (*jabri*) and the Sunni believer representing free will (*qadari*). He emphasizes that rational discourse, arguments, and counterarguments are endless and cannot eliminate the core doubts and objections. Rumi asserts that only Divine Love (*'ishq-i haqiqi*) can truly resolve and transcend these intellectual conflicts. In the presence of Divine Love, the human intellect's preoccupation with debating personal agency versus divine compulsion vanishes, as the lover is entirely absorbed in the Divine Will, rendering theological disputations irrelevant.

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## Original content
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کافر جبری جواب آغاز کرد 
که از آن حیران شد آن منطیق مرد
لیک گر من آن جوابات و سؤال 
جمله را گویم بمانم زین مقال
زان مهم تر گفتنیها هستمان 
که بدان فهم تو به یابد نشان
اندکی گفتیم زان بحث ای عتل 
ز اندکی پیدا بود قانون کل
هم چنین بحثست تا حشر بشر 
در میان جبری و اهل قدر
گر فرو ماندی ز دفع خصم خویش 
مذهب ایشان بر افتادی ز پیش
چون برون شوشان نبودی در جواب 
پس رمیدندی از آن راه تباب
چونک مقضی بد دوام آن روش 
می دهدشان از دلایل پرورش
تا نگردد ملزم از اشکال خصم 
تا بود محجوب از اقبال خصم
تا که این هفتاد و دو ملت مدام 
در جهان ماند الی یوم القیام
چون جهان ظلمتست و غیب این 
از برای سایه می باید زمین
تا قیامت ماند این هفتاد و دو 
کم نیاید مبتدع را گفت و گو
عزت مخزن بود اندر بها 
که برو بسیار باشد قفلها
عزت مقصد بود ای ممتحن 
پیچ پیچ راه و عقبه و راه زن
عزت کعبه بود و آن نادیه 
ره زنی اعراب و طول بادیه
هر روش هر ره که آن محمود نیست 
عقبه ای و مانعی و ره زنیست
این روش خصم و حقود آن شده 
تا مقلد در دو ره حیران شده
صدق هر دو ضد ببیند در روش 
هر فریقی در ره خود خوش منش
گر جوابش نیست می بندد ستیز 
بر همان دم تا به روز رستخیز
که مهان ما بدانند این جواب 
گرچه از ما شد نهان وجه صواب
پوزبند وسوسه عشقست و بس 
ورنه کی وسواس را بستست کس
عاشقی شو شاهد خوبی بجو 
صید مرغابی همی کن جو بجو
کی بری زان آب کان آبت برد 
کی کنی زان فهم فهمت را خورد
غیر این معقولها معقولها 
یابی اندر عشق با فر و بها
غیر این عقل تو حق را عقلهاست 
که بدان تدبیر اسباب سماست
که بدین عقل آوری ارزاق را 
زان دگر مفرش کنی اطباق را
چون ببازی عقل در عشق صمد 
عشر امثالت دهد یا هفت صد
آن زنان چون عقلها درباختند 
بر رواق عشق یوسف تاختند
عقلشان یک دم ستد ساقی عمر 
سیر گشتند از خرد باقی عمر
اصل صد یوسف جمال ذوالجلال 
ای کم از زن شو فدای آن جمال
عشق برد بحث را ای جان و بس 
کو ز گفت و گو شود فریاد رس
حیرتی آید ز عشق آن نطق را 
زهره نبود که کند او ماجرا
که بترسد گر جوابی وا دهد 
گوهری از لنج او بیرون فتد
لب ببندد سخت او از خیر و شر 
تا نباید کز دهان افتد گهر
هم چنانک گفت آن یار رسول 
چون نبی بر خواندی بر ما فصول
آن رسول مجتبی وقت نثار 
خواستی از ما حضور و صد وقار
آنچنان که بر سرت مرغی بود 
کز فواتش جان تو لرزان شود
پس نیاری هیچ جنبیدن ز جا 
تا نگیرد مرغ خوب تو هوا
دم نیاری زد ببندی سرفه را 
تا نباید که بپرد آن هما
ور کست شیرین بگوید یا ترش 
بر لب انگشتی نهی یعنی خمش
حیرت آن مرغست خاموشت کند 
بر نهد سردیگ و پر جوشت کند

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## English translation
The deterministic infidel began his reply,
At which that logical man was bewildered.
But if I should recount all those answers and questions,
I would be held back from this discourse.
There are more important things for us to say,
Through which your understanding may find its mark.
We have spoken a little of that debate, O ignoramus;
From a little, the universal law is revealed.
Such is the debate, until the resurrection of mankind,
Between the determinist and the partisan of free will.
If they had failed to repel their opponent,
Their sect would have collapsed long ago.
Since they would have had no way out in their reply,
They would have fled from that destructive path.
But since the continuation of that way was decreed,
He nurtures them with arguments,
Lest they be bound by the opponent's objection,
And remain veiled from the opponent's success.
So that these seventy-two sects may continually
Remain in the world until the Day of Resurrection.
Since the world is darkness and this is the unseen,
The ground is necessary for the shadow.
Until the Resurrection, these seventy-two will remain;
The innovator will never lack words and arguments.
The value of a treasury lies in its worth,
On which there are many locks.
The glory of the destination, O tester,
Lies in the winding road, the steep passes, and the bandit.
The glory of the Kaaba and that valley
Lies in the highway robbery of the Bedouins and the length of the desert.
Every path and way that is not praised
Is a steep pass, an obstacle, and a bandit.
This path of the opponent and his resentment has become such,
That the mere imitator is bewildered between the two paths.
He sees the truth of both opposites in their course;
Each faction is content in its own way.
If he has no answer, he persists in contention,
At that very moment, until the Day of Resurrection,
Saying, 'Our leaders know this answer,
Even if the right way has been hidden from us.'
The muzzle of temptation and doubt is Love, and nothing else;
Otherwise, when has anyone ever bound doubt?
Become a lover, seek the beautiful beloved,
Go hunting the wild duck, stream by stream!
How can you benefit from that water when that water sweeps you away?
How can you grasp with that understanding which devours your understanding?
Other than these rational concepts, there are intellects
That you will find in love, with glory and splendor.
Other than this intellect of yours, God has intellects,
By which He ordains the causes of the heavens.
With this intellect you acquire provisions,
While with that other, you spread out the celestial spheres.
When you lose your intellect in the love of the Eternal,
He will give you tenfold or seven hundredfold.
When those women lost their minds,
They rushed into the palace of Joseph's love.
The cupbearer of life took away their intellect for a single moment,
And they were sated with reason for the rest of their lives.
The origin of a hundred Josephs is the beauty of the Majesty;
O you who are less than a woman, sacrifice yourself for that beauty!
Love swept away the debate, O dear soul, and that is all;
For it comes to the rescue from words and talk.
From love, a bewilderment comes over speech;
It has not the courage to carry on the dispute,
For it fears that if it returns an answer,
A pearl may fall out of its mouth.
It seals its lips tightly against good and evil,
Lest the pearl should fall from the mouth.
Just as that companion of the Prophet said,
When the Prophet read the chapters to us:
That Chosen Messenger, at the time of scattering bounty,
Required of us presence and absolute dignity.
Just as if a bird were sitting on your head,
At whose loss your soul would tremble,
So you dare not move from your place at all,
Lest your beautiful bird take flight;
You dare not draw a breath, you suppress a cough,
Lest that Huma bird fly away.
And if someone speaks to you, sweet or sour,
You place a finger on your lip, meaning 'Be silent!'
That bewilderment is that bird; it makes you silent.
It puts a lid on the boiling pot and makes you boil with fervor.

دفتر پنجم - بخش ۱۳۷ - باز جواب گفتن آن کافر جبری آن سنی را کی باسلامش دعوت می‌کرد و به ترک اعتقاد جبرش دعوت می‌کرد و دراز شدن مناظره از طرفین کی مادهٔ اشکال و جواب را نبرد الا عشق حقیقی کی او را پروای آن نماند و ذلک فضل الله یتیه من یشاء / Book Five - Section 137 - The deterministic infidel again answering the Sunni who was inviting him to Islam and to abandon his belief in determinism; and the elongation of the debate from both sides, because nothing can eliminate the source of objection and answer except real Love, which has no concern for such matters, 'and that is the grace of Allah which He bestows upon whom He wills.'

In Book Five, Section 130 of the *Masnavi*, Rumi outlines the Sunni believer's philosophical defense of human free will (*ikhtiyar*) against determinism (*jabr*). He describes the Sunnah as a middle path between two extreme wildernesses: absolute determinism (*jabr*) on the right, which denies moral responsibility and renders divine commands, prohibitions, Paradise, and Hell meaningless; and absolute free will (*qadar*) on the left, which mistakenly limits the Creator's power. To refute the determinist, Rumi uses common-sense arguments, noting that we do not command inanimate objects (such as stones or wood) or expect them to act, which demonstrates that our use of commands and blame inherently relies on an intuitive recognition of human choice and agency.

The Sunni Believer's Refutation of Determinism: The Middle Path and Common-Sense Proofs in the Masnavi

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The Transcendence of Theological Debates through Divine Love in the Masnavi

In Islamic theology, the prophetic saying 'the Pen has dried' (Jaf al-Qalam) has often been invoked to support absolute fatalism or predestination, suggesting that human effort is futile because all outcomes are pre-written.

In the *Masnavi* (Book Five, Section 135), Rumi explicitly rejects this fatalistic interpretation, reframing it as an assertion of **moral causality and the immutability of divine justice**:

- **No Ethical Equivalence:** The Pen has written that good and evil, obedience and disobedience, and trustworthiness and theft can never be equal before God.
- **Immutable Laws of Consequence:** The 'drying' of the Pen signifies that the moral law of the universe is fixed—crooked actions will inevitably lead to crooked results, while righteousness will always yield spiritual happiness.
- **Incentive for Action:** Instead of inducing laziness or resignation, this doctrine serves to incite humanity toward 'the most important work' (shoghl-e aham) by guaranteeing that no mor...

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