In Rumi's *Masnavi* (Book Four), the dialogue between Pharaoh and his wife Asiya highlights the profound conflict between spiritual receptivity and entrenched ego. When Pharaoh consults Asiya about Moses's invitation to monotheism, she acts as a voice of divine grace and reason. She passionately urges him to accept the truth, abandon his worldly attachments and false claims of divinity, and humble himself before God. She recognizes the irreplaceable spiritual opportunity that Moses presents. However, Pharaoh's deep-seated illusion (*wahm*) and pride ultimately overpower her sincere counsel, leading him to reject the path of faith.

Asiya's Counsel to Pharaoh in the Masnavi

In Book Four of Rumi's *Masnavi*, Moses presents Pharaoh with a transformative spiritual proposal: if Pharaoh accepts one single counsel—to openly acknowledge and submit to the one true God—Moses promises him four profound divine virtues or rewards in exchange. This offer serves as a pivotal test of Pharaoh's ego and spiritual receptivity. It triggers a deep internal conflict, prompting him to seek counsel from his wife Asiya (who urges him to accept) and his vizier Haman (who appeals to his pride), ultimately setting the stage for Pharaoh's tragic rejection of divine grace.

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## Original content
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هین ز من بپذیر یک چیز و بیار 
پس ز من بستان عوض آن را چهار
گفت ای موسی کدامست آن یکی 
شرح کن با من از آن یک اندکی
گفت آن یک که بگویی آشکار 
که خدایی نیست غیر کردگار
خالق افلاک و انجم بر علا 
مردم و دیو و پری و مرغ را
خالق دریا و دشت و کوه و تیه 
ملکت او بی‌حد و او بی‌شبیه
گفت ای موسی کدامست آن چهار 
که عوض بدهی مرا بر گو بیار
تا بود کز لطف آن وعدهٔ حسن 
سست گردد چارمیخ کفر من
بوک زان خوش وعده‌های مغتنم 
برگشاید قفل کفر صد منم
بوک از تاثیر جوی انگبین 
شهد گردد در تنم این زهر کین
یا ز عکس جوی آن پاکیزه شیر 
پرورش یابد دمی عقل اسیر
یا بود کز عکس آن جوهای خمر 
مست گردم بو برم از ذوق امر
یا بود کز لطف آن جوهای آب 
تازگی یابد تن شورهٔ خراب
شوره‌ام را سبزه‌ای پیدا شود 
خارزارم جنت ماوی شود
بوک از عکس بهشت و چار جو 
جان شود از یاری حق یارجو
آنچنان که از عکس دوزخ گشته‌ام 
آتش و در قهر حق آغشته‌ام
گه ز عکس مار دوزخ هم‌چو مار 
گشته‌ام بر اهل جنت زهربار
گه ز عکس جوشش آب حمیم 
آب ظلمم کرده خلقان را رمیم
من ز عکس زمهریرم زمهریر 
یا ز عکس آن سعیرم چون سعیر
دوزخ درویش و مظلومم کنون 
وای آنک یابمش ناگه زبون

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## English translation
Heed! Accept one thing from me and bring it forth;
Then receive from me four things in return.

He said: O Moses, what is that one thing?
Explain to me a little of that one.

He said: That one is that you declare openly
That there is no god except the Creator—

Creator of the heavens and the stars on high,
Of humans and demons and fairies and birds;

Creator of sea and plain and mountain and wilderness,
His dominion without bound and He without likeness.

He said: O Moses, what are those four
That you would give me in exchange? Come, speak,

So that perhaps through the grace of that fair promise
The four nails of my unbelief may loosen;

Perhaps through those precious, sweet promises
The lock of my hundred-maund unbelief may open;

Perhaps through the effect of the river of honey
This poison of malice within my body may turn to sweetness;

Or from the reflection of that pure river of milk
My captive reason may be nourished for a moment;

Or perhaps from the reflection of those rivers of wine
I may become drunk and catch a scent of the taste of the Divine Command;

Or perhaps through the grace of those rivers of water
My ruined, salt-encrusted body may find freshness—

Some greenery may appear in my barren salt-land,
My thorn-field may become Jannat al-Ma'wā;

Perhaps from the reflection of Paradise and its four rivers
The soul may, through God's help, become a seeker of the Friend—

Just as from the reflection of Hell I have become
Fire itself, steeped in God's wrath;

Sometimes, from the reflection of Hell's serpent, like a serpent,
I have poured venom upon the people of Paradise;

Sometimes, from the reflection of the boiling waters of ḥamīm,
The water of my tyranny has caused people to decay;

I am zamharīr from the reflection of zamharīr,
Or I am like sa'īr from the reflection of that sa'īr.

I am now Hell to the poor and the oppressed;
Woe to the one whom I suddenly find helpless.

دفتر چهارم - بخش ۹۶ - گفتن موسی علیه‌السلام فرعون را کی از من یک پند قبول کن و چهار فضیلت عوض بستان / Book Four - Section 96 - Moses, Peace Be Upon Him, Telling Pharaoh: 'Accept One Counsel from Me and Receive Four Virtues in Exchange'

## Original content
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گفت موسی که اولین آن چهار 
صحتی باشد تنت را پایدار
این علل‌هایی که در طب گفته‌اند 
دور باشد از تنت ای ارجمند
ثانیا باشد ترا عمر دراز 
که اجل دارد ز عمرت احتراز
وین نباشد بعد عمر مستوی 
که بناکام از جهان بیرون روی
بلک خواهان اجل چون طفل شیر 
نه ز رنجی که ترا دارد اسیر
مرگ‌جو باشی ولی نه از عجز رنج 
بلک بینی در خراب خانه گنج
پس به دست خویش گیری تیشه‌ای 
می‌زنی بر خانه بی‌اندیشه‌ای
که حجاب گنج بینی خانه را 
مانع صد خرمن این یک دانه را
پس در آتش افکنی این دانه را 
پیش گیری پیشهٔ مردانه را
ای به یک برگی ز باغی مانده 
هم‌چو کرمی برگش از رز رانده
چون کرم این کرم را بیدار کرد 
اژدهای جهل را این کرم خورد
کرم کرمی شد پر از میوه و درخت 
این چنین تبدیل گردد نیکبخت

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## English translation
Moses said: the first of those four
Is enduring health for your body.
Those ailments spoken of in medicine
Shall be far from your body, O honored one.

Second, you shall have a long life,
Such that death refrains from your lifespan.
And this shall not come after an ordinary life
That you depart the world unfulfilled—

Rather, craving death as a suckling child craves milk,
Not from a suffering that holds you captive.
You shall seek death, yet not from the weakness of pain,
But because you see a treasure in the ruined house.

Then with your own hand you take up an axe
And strike the house without a second thought,
For you see the house as the veil over the treasure,
This one seed the obstacle to a hundred harvests.

So you cast this seed into the fire
And take up the manly path.

O one who remains with one leaf from a garden,
Like a worm driven from the vine's leaf—
When generosity (karam) awakened this worm (karam),
This worm devoured the dragon of ignorance.
The worm became a generosity full of fruit and tree;
Thus is the fortunate one transformed.

دفتر چهارم - بخش ۹۷ - شرح کردن موسی علیه‌السلام آن چهار فضیلت را جهت پای مزد ایمان فرعون / Book Four - Section 97 - Moses, Peace Be Upon Him, Explaining Those Four Virtues as the Wages for Pharaoh's Faith

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Moses's Offer of Four Virtues to Pharaoh in the Masnavi

## Original content
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دیدم اندر خانه من نقش و نگار 
بودم اندر عشق خانه بی‌قرار
بودم از گنج نهانی بی‌خبر 
ورنه دستنبوی من بودی تبر
آه گر داد تبر را دادمی 
این زمان غم را تبرا دادمی
چشم را بر نقش می‌انداختم 
هم‌چو طفلان عشقها می‌باختم
پس نکو گفت آن حکیم کامیار 
که تو طفلی خانه پر نقش و نگار
در الهی‌نامه بس اندرز کرد 
که بر آر دودمان خویش گرد
بس کن ای موسی بگو وعدهٔ سوم 
که دل من ز اضطرابش گشت گم
گفت موسی آن سوم ملک دوتو 
دو جهانی خالص از خصم و عدو
بیشتر زان ملک که اکنون داشتی 
کان بد اندر جنگ و این در آشتی
آنک در جنگت چنان ملکی دهد 
بنگر اندر صلح خوانت چون نهد
آن کرم که اندر جفا آنهات داد 
در وفا بنگر چه باشد افتقاد
گفت ای موسی چهارم چیست زود 
بازگو صبرم شد و حرصم فزود
گفت چارم آنک مانی تو جوان 
موی هم‌چون قیر و رخ چون ارغوان
رنگ و بو در پیش ما بس کاسدست 
لیک تو پستی سخن کردیم پست
افتخار از رنگ و بو و از مکان 
هست شادی و فریب کودکان

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## English translation
I saw in my house paintings and adornments;
I was restless in the house of love.

I was unaware of the hidden treasure—
Otherwise, my hand-gift would have been an axe.

Ah, had I given the axe its due,
By now I would have given sorrow its acquittal.

I cast my eyes upon the paintings;
Like children, I squandered loves.

Then well did that fulfilled sage say:
"You are a child, and the house is full of paintings and adornments."

In the Ilahi-nama he gave much counsel:
"Raise up the dust of your own lineage."

"Enough, O Moses—tell me the third promise,
For my heart has become lost in its agitation."

Moses said: "The third is a kingdom twice as large,
Two worlds wholly free from enemy and foe—

Greater than the kingdom you now hold,
For that was in war and this is in peace.

He who gives you such a kingdom in war—
See what He sets at your table in peace.

That generosity which gave you that in hardship—
In faithfulness, see what the bestowal will be."

He said: "O Moses, what is the fourth? Quickly,
Tell me again—my patience has gone and my desire has grown."

He said: "The fourth is that you shall remain young,
Hair black as pitch and cheeks like arghavan.

Color and fragrance are quite worthless before us,
But you are lowly, so we have kept the speech lowly.

Pride in color and fragrance and in place
Is the joy and deception of children."

دفتر چهارم - بخش ۹۹ - غره شدن آدمی به ذکاوت و تصویرات طبع خویشتن و طلب ناکردن علم غیب کی علم انبیاست / Book Four - Section 99 - Man becoming deluded by his cleverness and the imaginations of his own nature, and not seeking the knowledge of the unseen which is the knowledge of the prophets

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