In Book Six, Section 102 of the Masnavi, Rumi depicts the deceased inspector (muhtasib) of Tabriz directing a mediator through a dream to retrieve buried silver to pay off a living stranger's debt. This episode illustrates the spiritual concept of posthumous agency and altruism, where a saintly soul's generosity remains active beyond death. The inspector's absolute insistence that none of the silver return to his heirs reflects the Sufi ideal of complete renunciation and the fulfillment of vows made to God. Rumi uses this narrative to show that sincere devotion and charity transcend physical death, allowing the deceased to serve as channels of divine provision for those in need.

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## Original content
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بشنو اکنون داد مهمان جدید 
من همی دیدم که او خواهد رسید
من شنوده بودم از وامش خبر 
بسته بهر او دو سه پاره گهر
که وفای وام او هستند و بیش 
تا که ضیفم را نگردد سینه ریش
وام دارد از ذهب او نه هزار 
وام را از بعض این گو بر گزار
فضله ماند زین بسی گو خرج کن 
در دعایی گو مرا هم درج کن
خواستم تا آن به دست خود دهم 
در فلان دفتر نوشتست این قسم
خود اجل مهلت ندادم تا که من 
خفیه بسپارم بدو در عدن
لعل و یاقوتست بهر وام او 
در خنوری و نبشته نام او
در فلان طاقیش مدفون کرده ام 
من غم آن یار پیشین خورده ام
قیمت آن را نداند جز ملوک 
فاجتهد بالبیع ان لا یخدعوک
در بیوع آن کن تو از خوف غرار 
که رسول آموخت سه روز اختیار
از کساد آن مترس و در میفت 
که رواج آن نخواهد هیچ خفت
وارثانم را سلام من بگو 
وین وصیت را بگو هم مو به مو
تا ز بسیاری آن زر نشکهند 
بی گرانی پیش آن مهمان نهند
ور بگوید او نخواهم این فره 
گو بگیر و هر که را خواهی بده
زانچ دادم باز نستانم نقیر 
سوی پستان باز ناید هیچ شیر
گشته باشد هم چو سگ قی را اکول 
مسترد نحله بر قول رسول
ور ببندد در نباید آن زرش 
تا بریزند آن عطا را بر درش
هر که آنجا بگذرد زر می برد 
نیست هدیهٔ مخلصان را مسترد
بهر او بنهاده ام آن از دو سال 
کرده ام من نذرها با ذوالجلال
ور روا دارند چیزی زان ستد 
بیست چندان خو زیانشان اوفتد
گر روانم را پژولانند زود 
صد در محنت بریشان بر گشود
از خدا اومید دارم من لبق 
که رساند حق را در مستحق
دو قضیهٔ دیگر او را شرح داد 
لب به ذکر آن نخواهم بر گشاد
تا بماند دو قضیه سر و راز 
هم نگردد مثنوی چندین دراز
برجهید از خواب انگشتک زنان 
گه غزل گویان و گه نوحه کنان
گفت مهمان در چه سوداهاستی 
پای مردا مست و خوش بر خاستی
تا چه دیدی خواب دوش ای بوالعلا 
که نمی گنجی تو در شهر و فلا
خواب دیده پیل تو هندوستان 
که رمیدستی ز حلقهٔ دوستان
گفت سوداناک خوابی دیده ام 
در دل خود آفتابی دیده ام
خواب دیدم خواجهٔ بیدار را 
آن سپرده جان پی دیدار را
خواب دیدم خواجهٔ معطی المنی 
واحد کالالف ان امر عنی
مست و بی خود این چنین بر می شمرد 
تا که مستی عقل و هوشش را ببرد
در میان خانه افتاد او دراز 
خلق انبه گرد او آمد فراز
با خود آمد گفت ای بحر خوشی 
ای نهاده هوش ها در بیهشی
خواب در بنهاده ای بیداریی 
بسته ای در بی دلی دلداریی
توانگری پنهان کنی در ذل فقر 
طوق دولت بسته اندر غل فقر
ضد اندر ضد پنهان مندرج 
آتش اندر آب سوزان مندرج
روضه اندر آتش نمرود درج 
دخل ها رویان شده از بذل و خرج
تا بگفته مصطفی شاه نجاح 
السماح یا اولی النعمی رباح
ما نقص مال من الصدقات قط 
انما الخیرات نعم المرتبط
جوشش و افزونی زر در زکات 
عصمت از فحشا و منکر در صلات
آن زکاتت کیسه ات را پاسبان 
وآن صلاتت هم ز گرگانت شبان
میوهٔ شیرین نهان در شاخ و برگ 
زندگی جاودان در زیر مرگ
زبل گشته قوت خاک از شیوه ای 
زان غذا زاده زمین را میوه ای
درعدم پنهان شده موجودیی 
در سرشت ساجدی مسجودیی
آهن و سنگ از برونش مظلمی 
اندرون نوری و شمع عالمی
درج در خوفی هزاران آمنی 
در سواد چشم چندان روشنی
اندرون گاو تن شه زاده ای 
گنج در ویرانه ای بنهاده ای
تا خری پیری گریزد زان نفیس 
گاو بیند شاه نی یعنی بلیس

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## English translation
Hear now the justice [received by] the new guest;
I had foreseen that he would arrive.
I had heard the news of his debt;
I had tied up for him two or three pieces of jewels,
Which are [enough to] pay off his debt and more,
so that my guest's heart may not be wounded.
He owes nine thousand [pieces] of gold;
tell him to pay off the debt with part of this.
A large surplus will remain of this, tell him to spend it;
tell him to include me in a prayer too.
I wanted to give that to him with my own hand;
this portion is written in such-and-such register.
Death itself did not give me time, so that I might
secretly entrust it to him in Eden.
There are rubies and sapphires for his debt,
in a jar, and his name is written [on it].
I have buried it in such-and-such a niche;
I have suffered the grief of that old friend.
No one knows its value except kings;
so strive in selling, lest they deceive you.
In selling it, out of fear of deception, do what
the Messenger taught: a three-day option [of cancellation].
Do not fear its lack of demand and do not fall [into despair],
for its currency will never diminish.
Give my greetings to my heirs,
and tell [them] this will exactly, hair by hair.
So that they do not shy away from the large amount of that gold;
let them place it before that guest without heaviness [reluctance].
And if he says, 'I do not want this abundance';
say, 'Take it and give it to whoever you wish.'
Of what I have given, I will not take back a speck;
no milk ever returns to the breast.
He would be like a dog eating vomit,
the one who takes back a gift, according to the saying of the Messenger.
And if he closes the door and does not want that gold,
let them pour that gift at his door.
Whoever passes by there will carry away gold;
the gift of the sincere ones is not to be taken back.
I have laid it aside for him since two years ago;
I have made vows with the Lord of Glory.
And if they deem it lawful to take anything from it,
twenty times as much loss will indeed befall them.
If they agitate my soul,
a hundred doors of tribulation will quickly open upon them.
I have fitting hope from God,
that He will deliver the right to the deserving one.
He explained two other matters to him;
I will not open my lips to mention them.
So that the two matters remain a secret and mystery,
and the Masnavi does not become so prolonged.
He leaped from sleep, snapping his fingers,
sometimes reciting lyrics and sometimes lamenting.
The guest said, 'What passions are you in?
O mediator, you have risen drunk and happy.
What did you see in your dream last night, O Abu'l-'Ala,
that you cannot be contained in the city or the desert?
Has your elephant dreamt of Hindustan,
that you have shied away from the circle of friends?'
He said, 'I have seen a passionate dream;
I have seen a sun in my heart.
I dreamt of the awakened master,
the one who surrendered his soul for the sake of the Vision.
I dreamt of the master, the granter of desires,
[who is] one like a thousand when an affair concerns me.'
Intoxicated and out of himself, he was recounting like this,
until intoxication took away his reason and senses.
He fell prostrate in the middle of the house;
a dense crowd gathered around him.
He came to himself and said, 'O Sea of Joy,
O You who have placed intellects in unconsciousness.
You have placed an awakening within sleep;
You have tied comfort to heartlessness.
You hide wealth in the abasement of poverty;
You have tied the collar of fortune within the iron collar of poverty.
Opposite is hiddenly contained in opposite;
blazing fire is contained in water.
The garden is contained in the fire of Nimrod;
incomes have grown from giving and spending.
As Mustafa, the King of Salvation, has said:
'Liberality, O possessors of blessings, is profit.'
Wealth has never diminished from charities;
good deeds are indeed an excellent tether.
The bubbling and increase of gold is in Zakat (alms);
protection from indecency and wickedness is in Salat (prayer).
That alms of yours is the guardian of your purse,
and that prayer of yours is the shepherd [protecting you] from your wolves.
Sweet fruit is hidden in the branch and leaves;
everlasting life is under death.
Dung has become the food of the soil by a certain way;
from that food, a fruit is born to the earth.
Existence has been hidden in non-existence;
within the nature of the prostrator is an object of prostration.
Iron and stone, their outside is dark;
inside is a light and a candle of the world.
Contained in a single fear are thousands of safeties;
in the blackness of the eye is so much brightness.
Inside the cow of the body is a prince;
You have laid a treasure in a ruin.
So that an old donkey may flee from that precious thing;
he sees the cow, not the king—that is, Iblis (Satan).

دفتر ششم - بخش ۱۰۲ - گفتن خواجه در خواب به آن پای‌مرد وجوه وام آن دوست را کی آمده بود و نشان دادن جای دفن آن سیم و پیغام کردن به وارثان کی البته آن را بسیار نبینند وهیچ باز نگیرند و اگر چه او هیچ از آن قبول نکند یا بعضی را قبول نکند هم آنجا بگذارند تا هر آنک خواهد برگیرد کی من با خدا نذرها کردم کی از آن سیم به من و به متعلقان من حبه‌ای باز نگردد الی آخره / Book Six - Section 102 - The master telling the mediator in a dream the ways of the debt of that friend who had come, and showing the burial place of that silver, and sending a message to the heirs that they should by no means consider it too much and not take any of it back, and even if he does not accept any of it or accepts [only] some of it, they should leave it right there so that whoever wants can take it, for I have made vows with God that not a grain of that silver shall return to me or to my dependents, etc.

In Book Six, Section 93 of the Masnavi, Rumi quotes the Arabic proverb, 'He who dies and finds rest is not dead; the truly dead is the dead among the living,' to introduce the spiritual contrast between physical death and spiritual death. Through the story of the deceased inspector of Tabriz whose generosity remains active after death, Rumi argues that true life is found in spiritual vitality, love, and divine connection, while a life devoid of spiritual awareness and generosity is a state of living death. This concept emphasizes that physical demise does not extinguish the soul's ability to act and benefit others, whereas spiritual apathy renders the physically living ineffective.

The Concept of Spiritual Life and Death in Rumi's Philosophy

In the Masnavi, Rumi uses the story of the indebted dervish who relies on the inspector of Tabriz to illustrate the Sufi concept of Tawakkul (absolute trust in God) and the spiritual error of relying on created beings (makhluq) rather than the Creator (Khaliq). While the inspector's generosity is real, Rumi warns that placing ultimate hope in a mortal creature is a form of spiritual distraction that leads to disappointment and spiritual stagnation. True Tawakkul requires recognizing that all human generosity and worldly provisions are merely secondary causes (asbab) through which divine grace flows. Placing one's trust directly in the secondary cause, rather than the Ultimate Cause, is a failure of spiritual vision that must be resolved through repentance (inabat) and a return to pure devotion to God.

The Concept of Tawakkul and the Spiritual Error of Relying on Created Beings in the Masnavi

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The Concept of Posthumous Generosity and Spiritual Agency in the Masnavi

In the Masnavi, Rumi uses the dervish's realization of the inspector's death in Book Six, Section 96 to illustrate the concept of tawbah (repentance) and the necessity of shifting one's ultimate reliance from creation (makhluq) to the Creator (Khaliq).

Upon hearing of the inspector's death, the dervish experiences a profound spiritual awakening. He realizes his error in relying on a mortal being rather than the eternal source of all grace. Rumi contrasts the limited, secondary gifts of human beings with the primary, foundational blessings bestowed by God:
- While a human benefactor may give a cap or a coat, God provides the intelligent head and the well-proportioned stature.
- While a human may give wealth, God provides the hand to count it and the intellect to utilize it.

Through this narrative, Rumi emphasizes that true spiritual progress requires recognizing God as the Ultimate Benefactor and the Primary Cause, viewing human generosity merely as a channel through which divine g...

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