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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## Original content
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چون به هوش آمد بگفت ای کردگار 
مجرمم بودم به خلق اومیدوار
گرچه خواجه بس سخاوت کرده بود 
هیچ آن کفو عطای تو نبود
او کله بخشید و تو سر پر خرد 
او قبا بخشید و تو بالا و قد
او زرم داد و تو دست زرشمار 
او ستورم داد و تو عقل سوار
خواجه شمعم دادو تو چشم قریر 
خواجه نقلم داد و تو طعمه پذیر
او وظیفه داد و تو عمر و حیات 
وعده اش زر وعدهٔ تو طیبات
او وثاقم داد و تو چرخ و زمین 
در وثاقت او و صد چون او سمین
زر از آن تست زر او نافرید 
نان از آن تست نان از تش رسید
آن سخا و رحم هم تو دادیش 
کز سخاوت می فزودی شادیش
من مرورا قبلهٔ خود ساختم 
قبله ساز اصل را انداختم
ما کجا بودیم کان دیان دین 
عقل می کارید اندر آب و طین
چون همی کرد از عدم گردون پدید 
وین بساط خاک را می گسترید
ز اختران می ساخت او مصباح ها 
وز طبایع قفل با مفتاح ها
ای بسا بنیادها پنهان و فاش 
مضمر این سقف کرد و این فراش
آدم اصطرلاب اوصاف علوست 
وصف آدم مظهر آیات اوست
هرچه در وی می نماید عکس اوست 
هم چو عکس ماه اندر آب جوست
بر صطرلابش نقوش عنکبوت 
بهر اوصاف ازل دارد ثبوت
تا ز چرخ غیب وز خورشید روح 
عنکبوتش درس گوید از شروح
عنکبوت و این صطرلاب رشاد 
بی منجم در کف عام اوفتاد
انبیا را داد حق تنجیم این 
غیب را چشمی بباید غیب بین
در چه دنیا فتادند این قرون 
عکس خود را دید هر یک چه درون
از برون دان آنچ در چاهت نمود 
ورنه آن شیری که در چه شد فرود
برد خرگوشیش از ره کای فلان 
در تگ چاهست آن شیر ژیان
در رو اندر چاه کین از وی بکش 
چون ازو غالب تری سر بر کنش
آن مقلد سخرهٔ خرگوش شد 
از خیال خویشتن پر جوش شد
او نگفت این نقش داد آب نیست 
این به جز تقلیب آن قلاب نیست
تو هم از دشمن چو کینی می کشی 
ای زبون شش غلط در هر ششی
آن عداوت اندرو عکس حقست 
کز صفات قهر آنجا مشتقست
وآن گنه در وی ز جنس جرم تست 
باید آن خو را ز طبع خویش شست
خلق زشتت اندرو رویت نمود 
که ترا او صفحهٔ آیینه بود
چونک قبح خویش دیدی ای حسن 
اندر آیینه بر آیینه مزن
می زند بر آب استارهٔ سنی 
خاک تو بر عکس اختر می زنی
کین ستارهٔ نحس در آب آمدست 
تا کند او سعد ما را زیردست
خاک استیلا بریزی بر سرش 
چونک پنداری ز شبهه اخترش
عکس پنهان گشت و اندر غیب راند 
تو گمان بردی که آن اختر نماند
آن ستارهٔ نحس هست اندر سما 
هم بدان سو بایدش کردن دوا
بلک باید دل سوی بی سوی بست 
نحس این سو عکس نحس بی سو است
داد داد حق شناس و بخششش 
عکس آن دادست اندر پنج و شش
گر بود داد خسان افزون ز ریگ 
تو بمیری وآن بماند مردریگ
عکس آخر چند پاید در نظر 
اصل بینی پیشه کن ای کژنگر
حق چو بخشش کرد بر اهل نیاز 
با عطا بخشیدشان عمر دراز
خالدین شد نعمت و منعم علیه 
محیی الموتاست فاجتازوا الیه
داد حق با تو در آمیزد چو جان 
آنچنان که آن تو باشی و تو آن
گر نماند اشتهای نان و آب 
بدهدت بی این دو قوت مستطاب
فربهی گر رفت حق در لاغری 
فربهی پنهانت بخشد آن سری
چون پری را قوت از بو می دهد 
هر ملک را قوت جان او می دهد
جان چه باشد که تو سازی زو سند 
حق به عشق خویش زنده ت می کند
زو حیات عشق خواه و جان مخواه 
تو ازو آن رزق خواه و نان مخواه
خلق را چون آب دان صاف و زلال 
اندر آن تابان صفات ذوالجلال
علمشان و عدلشان و لطفشان 
چون ستارهٔ چرخ در آب روان
پادشاهان مظهر شاهی حق 
فاضلان مرآت آگاهی حق
قرنها بگذشت و این قرن نویست 
ماه آن ماهست آب آن آب نیست
عدل آن عدلست و فضل آن فضل هم 
لیک مستبدل شد آن قرن و امم
قرنها بر قرنها رفت ای همام 
وین معانی بر قرار و بر دوام
آن مبدل شد درین جو چند بار 
عکس ماه و عکس اختر بر قرار
پس بنااش نیست بر آب روان 
بلک بر اقطار عرض آسمان
این صفتها چون نجوم معنویست 
دانک بر چرخ معانی مستویست
خوب رویان آینهٔ خوبی او 
عشق ایشان عکس مطلوبی او
هم به اصل خود رود این خد و خال 
دایما در آب کی ماند خیال
جمله تصویرات عکس آب جوست 
چون بمالی چشم خود خود جمله اوست
باز عقلش گفت بگذار این حول 
خل دوشابست و دوشابست خل
خواجه را چون غیر گفتی از قصور 
شرم دار ای احول از شاه غیور
خواجه را که در گذشتست از اثیر 
جنس این موشان تاریکی مگیر
خواجهٔ جان بین مبین جسم گران 
مغز بین او را مبینش استخوان
خواجه را از چشم ابلیس لعین 
منگر و نسبت مکن او را به طین
همره خورشید را شب پر مخوان 
آنک او مسجود شد ساجد مدان
عکس ها را ماند این و عکس نیست 
در مثال عکس حق بنمودنیست
آفتابی دید او جامد نماند 
روغن گل روغن کنجد نماند
چون مبدل گشته اند ابدال حق 
نیستند از خلق بر گردان ورق
قبلهٔ وحدانیت دو چون بود 
خاک مسجود ملایک چون شود
چون درین جو دیدعکس سیب مرد 
دامنش را دید آن پر سیب کرد
آنچ در جو دید کی باشد خیال 
چونک شد از دیدنش پر صد جوال
تن مبین و آن مکن کان بکم و صم 
کذبوا بالحق لما جائهم
ما رمیت اذ رمیت احمد بدست 
دیدن او دیدن خالق شدست
خدمت او خدمت حق کردنست 
روز دیدن دیدن این روزنست
خاصه این روزن درخشان از خودست 
نی ودیعهٔ آفتاب و فرقدست
هم از آن خورشید زد بر روزنی 
لیک از راه و سوی معهود نی
در میان شمس و این روزن رهی 
هست روزنها نشد زو آگهی
تا اگر ابری بر آید چرخ پوش 
اندرین روزن بود نورش به جوش
غیر راه این هوا و شش جهت 
در میان روزن و خور مالفت
مدحت و تسبیح او تسبیح حق 
میوه می روید ز عین این طبق
سیب روید زین سبد خوش لخت لخت 
عیب نبود گر نهی نامش درخت
این سبد را تو درخت سیب خوان 
که میان هر دو راه آمد نهان
آنچ روید از درخت بارور 
زین سبد روید همان نوع از ثمر
پس سبد را تو درخت بخت بین 
زیر سایهٔ این سبد خوش می نشین
نان چو اطلاق آورد ای مهربان 
نان چرا می گوییش محموده خوان
خاک ره چون چشم روشن کرد و جان 
خاک او را سرمه بین و سرمه دان
چون ز روی این زمین تابد شروق 
من چرا بالا کنم رو در عیوق
شد فنا هستش مخوان ای چشم شوخ 
در چنین جو خشک کی ماند کلوخ
پیش این خورشید کی تابد هلال 
با چنان رستم چه باشد زور زال
طالبست و غالبست آن کردگار 
تا ز هستی ها بر آرد او دمار
دو مگو و دو مدان و دو مخوان 
بنده را در خواجهٔ خود محو دان
خواجه هم در نور خواجه آفرین 
فانیست و مرده و مات و دفین
چون جدا بینی ز حق این خواجه را 
گم کنی هم متن و هم دیباجه را
چشم و دل را هین گذاره کن ز طین 
این یکی قبله ست دو قبله مبین
چون دو دیدی ماندی از هر دو طرف 
آتشی در خف فتاد و رفت خف

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## English translation
When he came to his senses, he said, 'O Creator,
I was a sinner, hoping in a creature.
Although the master had shown much generosity,
it was not at all equal to Your gift.
He gave a cap, and You a head full of wisdom;
he gave a cloak, and You stature and height.
He gave me gold, and You the gold-counting hand;
he gave me a beast of burden, and You the riding intellect.
The master gave me a candle, and You the bright eye;
the master gave me dessert, and You the capacity to eat.
He gave a stipend, and You lifespan and vitality;
his promise was gold, Your promise is good things.
He gave me a room, and You the sky and earth;
in Your dwelling, he and a hundred like him are sustained.
Gold is Yours, he did not create gold;
bread is Yours, bread came from You to him.
That generosity and mercy, too, You gave him,
since through generosity You increased his joy.
I made him my Qibla (direction of prayer);
I cast aside the original Maker of the Qibla.
Where were we when the Judge of religion
was sowing intellect in water and clay?
When He was bringing the firmament into existence from non-existence,
and spreading this carpet of earth?
From the stars He was making lamps,
and from natures, locks with keys.
Oh, how many foundations, hidden and manifest,
He concealed in this roof and this bed!
Adam is the astrolabe of the attributes of the Most High;
the description of Adam is the manifestation of His signs.
Whatever appears in him is His reflection,
just like the reflection of the moon in the river's water.
On his astrolabe, the marks of the spider (rete)
have permanence for the sake of the attributes of Eternity,
So that from the heaven of the Unseen and the sun of the spirit,
its spider may teach a lesson of commentaries.
The spider and this astrolabe of guidance
fell into the hands of the common people without an astronomer.
God gave the prophets the astronomy for this;
for the Unseen, a seer of the Unseen is required.
Into what well of the world these generations have fallen!
Each saw his own reflection within the well.
Know from the outside what appeared to you in the well,
otherwise that lion who descended into the well,
His rabbit led him astray, saying, 'O so-and-so,
at the bottom of the well is that fierce lion.
Go down into the well and take revenge on him;
since you are stronger than he, tear off his head.'
That imitator became the dupe of the rabbit,
he became full of boiling rage from his own imagination.
He did not say, 'This image is not the water's creation;
this is nothing but the inversion of that counterfeiter.'
You too, when you take revenge on an enemy,
O weak one, erring six times in every six!
That enmity in him is the reflection of the Truth,
which is derived from the attributes of wrath there.
And that sin in him is of the nature of your offense;
you must wash that disposition from your own nature.
Your ugly character showed your face in him,
for he was the surface of the mirror for you.
When you saw your own ugliness, O Hasan,
do not strike the mirror against the mirror.
A bright star shines upon the water;
you throw dust upon the reflection of the star.
'This inauspicious star has come into the water,
so that it may subjugate our auspicious one.'
You pour the dust of dominance upon its head,
because in your delusion you think it is its star.
The reflection became hidden and drove into the unseen;
you thought that that star did not remain.
That inauspicious star is in the sky;
its remedy must be applied in that direction as well.
Nay, you must bind your heart to the directionless;
the inauspiciousness of this side is a reflection of the inauspiciousness of the directionless.
The justice of the knower of God and his giving
is the reflection of that justice in the five and six (senses and directions).
If the giving of the base ones is more than sand,
you will die and that will remain as an inheritance.
How long will the mere reflection last in sight?
Make it your practice to see the Origin, O cross-eyed one!
When God bestowed gifts upon the needy,
with the gift He granted them long life.
The bounty and the one bestowed upon became immortal;
He is the Reviver of the dead, so pass on to Him.
God's gift mingles with you like the soul,
in such a way that you become it and it becomes you.
If the appetite for bread and water does not remain,
He gives you sweet nourishment without these two.
If fatness leaves, God gives you
a hidden, other-worldly fatness in leanness.
Just as He gives a peri nourishment from scent,
He gives every angel its soul's nourishment.
What is a soul that you make it your support?
God makes you alive by His own love.
Seek from Him the life of love and do not seek a soul;
seek from Him that provision and do not seek bread.
Consider the creation like pure, limpid water,
in which the attributes of the Lord of Majesty are shining.
Their knowledge, their justice, and their kindness
are like the star of heaven in the flowing water.
Kings are the manifestation of God's kingship;
the learned are the mirrors of God's awareness.
Generations have passed, and this is a new generation;
the moon is that moon, the water is not that water.
The justice is that justice, and the grace is that grace too;
but that generation and those nations have been replaced.
Generations upon generations have gone, O honored one,
and these meanings are established and enduring.
The water has been changed in this stream many times;
the reflection of the moon and the reflection of the stars are enduring.
So its foundation is not upon the flowing water,
but rather upon the regions of the breadth of heaven.
These attributes are like spiritual stars;
know that they are established upon the heaven of meanings.
The beautiful-faced ones are the mirror of His beauty;
their love is the reflection of His desirability.
This cheek and mole also go to their origin;
how can an image remain permanently in the water?
All forms are the reflection in the stream's water;
when you rub your eyes, all of them are Him.
Again his intellect said to him, 'Leave this squinting;
vinegar is grape-syrup and grape-syrup is vinegar.'
Since out of deficiency you called the master 'other',
be ashamed, O cross-eyed one, before the jealous King.
The master who has passed beyond the ether,
do not consider him of the genus of these mice of darkness.
See the master of the soul, do not see the heavy body;
see him as the marrow, do not see him as the bone.
Do not look at the master with the eye of the accursed Iblis,
and do not relate him to clay.
Do not call the companion of the sun a bat;
do not consider him who was prostrated to as a prostrator.
This resembles reflections, and it is not a reflection;
in the simile, the reflection of Truth is for showing.
He saw a sun, he did not remain frozen;
the rose oil did not remain sesame oil.
Since the substitutes (saints) of God have been transformed,
they are not turning the page away from creation.
How can the Qibla of Unity be two?
How can the dust become the prostrated of the angels?
When the man saw the reflection of the apple in this stream,
he saw his skirt filled with apples.
How can what he saw in the stream be a mere image,
when from seeing it a hundred sacks became full?
Do not see the body, and do not do that which the deaf and dumb do:
'They belied the truth when it came to them.'
'You did not throw when you threw', Ahmad was the hand;
seeing him has become seeing the Creator.
Serving him is serving God;
seeing this window is seeing the day.
Especially since this window is shining by itself,
not as a deposit from the sun and the Farqad (star).
That sun also shone upon a window,
but not from the customary path and direction.
Between the sun and this window is a path;
the windows did not become aware of it.
So that if a cloud comes up covering the sky,
in this window its light is boiling.
Other than the path of this air and the six directions,
there is an intimacy between the window and the sun.
Praise of him and glorification of him is the glorification of God;
fruit grows from the very essence of this tray.
Apples grow from this basket pleasantly, piece by piece;
it is no fault if you name it a tree.
You call this basket an apple tree,
for a hidden path came between the two.
Whatever grows from the fruitful tree,
the same kind of fruit grows from this basket.
So see the basket as the tree of fortune;
sit pleasantly beneath the shade of this basket.
Since it brings release, O kind one,
why do you call it bread? Call it Mahmudah (a purgative).
Since the dust of the road made the eye and soul bright,
see its dust as collyrium and consider it collyrium.
Since sunrise shines from the face of this earth,
why should I turn my face up toward Capella?
He became annihilated, do not call him existent, O insolent eye!
How can a clod remain dry in such a stream?
Before this sun, how can a crescent moon shine?
What is the strength of Zal against such a Rustam?
That Creator is seeking and prevailing,
so that He may bring destruction upon existences.
Do not say two, do not know two, and do not call two;
know the servant to be obliterated in his Master.
The master too, in the light of the Master-creator,
is annihilated, dead, passed away, and buried.
When you see this master separate from God,
you lose both the text and the preface.
Beware, pass your eye and heart beyond the clay!
This is one Qibla, do not see two Qiblas.
When you saw two, you remained away from both sides;
a fire fell into the boot and the boot was gone.

دفتر ششم - بخش ۹۶ - باخبر شدن آن غریب از وفات آن محتسب و استغفار او از اعتماد بر مخلوق و تعویل بر عطای مخلوق و یاد نعمتهای حق کردنش و انابت به حق از جرم خود ثُمَّ الَّذینَ کَفَروا بِرَبِّهِمْ یَعْدِلونَ / Book Six - Section 96 - That stranger becoming aware of the death of that muhtasib, his seeking forgiveness for relying upon a creature and depending on a creature's gift, his remembering the bounties of the Truth, and his repentance to the Truth for his sin: 'Then those who disbelieve equate [others] with their Lord'

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

In Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, repentance (*tawbah*) is depicted as a spiritual alchemy (*kimiya*) capable of transmuting the base dross of human error into spiritual gold. Drawing from the Bedouin husband's dramatic shift from anger to regret in Book One, Section 120, Rumi illustrates that genuine contrition invokes the boundless mercy of the Divine Court. In this state of total humility and self-correction, worldly dualities—such as infidelity and faith, or existence and non-existence—are reconciled and purified. By submitting the ego to this divine 'alchemy,' even the most hardened heart or 'copper' soul is transformed into the 'gold' of spiritual realization.

The Spiritual Alchemy of Repentance in the Masnavi

Root URL: https://ganjoor.net/
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Ganjoor

## Original content
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واقعهٔ آن وام او مشهور شد 
پای مرد از درد او رنجور شد
از پی توزیع گرد شهر گشت 
از طمع می گفت هر جا سرگذشت
هیچ ناورد از ره کدیه به دست 
غیر صد دینار آن کدیه پرست
پای مرد آمد بدو دستش گرفت 
شد بگور آن کریم بس شگفت
گفت چون توفیق یابد بنده ای 
که کند مهمانی فرخنده ای
مال خود ایثار راه او کند 
جاه خود ایثار جاه او کند
شکر او شکر خدا باشد یقین 
چون به احسان کرد توفیقش قرین
ترک شکرش ترک شکر حق بود 
حق او لا شک به حق ملحق بود
شکر می کن مر خدا را در نعم 
نیز می کن شکر و ذکر خواجه هم
رحمت مادر اگر چه از خداست 
خدمت او هم فریضه ست و سزاست
زین سبب فرمود حق صلوا علیه 
که محمد بود محتال الیه
در قیامت بنده را گوید خدا 
هین چه کردی آنچ دادم من ترا
گوید ای رب شکر تو کردم به جان 
چون ز تو بود اصل آن روزی و نان
گویدش حق نه نکردی شکر من 
چون نکردی شکر آن اکرام فن
بر کریمی کرده ای ظلم و ستم 
نه ز دست او رسیدت نعمتم
چون به گور آن ولی نعمت رسید 
گشت گریان زار و آمد در نشید
گفت ای پشت و پناه هر نبیل 
مرتجی و غوث ابناء السبیل
ای غم ارزاق ما بر خاطرت 
ای چو رزق عام احسان و برت
ای فقیران را عشیره و والدین 
در خراج و خرج و در ایفاء دین
ای چو بحر از بهر نزدیکان گهر 
داده و تحفه سوی دوران مطر
پشت ما گرم از تو بود ای آفتاب 
رونق هر قصر و گنج هر خراب
ای در ابرویت ندیده کس گره 
ای چو میکائیل راد و رزق ده
ای دلت پیوسته با دریای غیب 
ای به قاف مکرمت عنقای غیب
یاد ناورده که از مالم چه رفت 
سقف قصد همتت هرگز نکفت
ای من و صد هم چو من در ماه و سال 
مر ترا چون نسل تو گشته عیال
نقد ما و جنس ما و رخت ما 
نام ما و فخر ما و بخت ما
تو نمردی ناز و بخت ما بمرد 
عیش ما و رزق مستوفی بمرد
واحد کالالف در رزم و کرم 
صد چو حاتم گاه ایثار نعم
حاتم ار مرده به مرده می دهد 
گردگان های شمرده می دهد
تو حیاتی می دهی در هر نفس 
کز نفیسی می نگنجد در نفس
تو حیاتی می دهی بس پایدار 
نقد زر بی کساد و بی شمار
وارثی نا بوده یک خوی ترا 
ای فلک سجده کنان کوی ترا
خلق را از گرگ غم لطفت شبان 
چون کلیم الله شبان مهربان
گوسفندی از کلیم الله گریخت 
پای موسی آبله شد نعل ریخت
در پی او تا به شب در جست و جو 
وان رمه غایب شده از چشم او
گوسفند از ماندگی شد سست و ماند 
پس کلیم الله گرد از وی فشاند
کف همی مالید بر پشت و سرش 
می نواخت از مهر هم چون مادرش
نیم ذره طیرگی و خشم نی 
غیر مهر و رحم و آب چشم نی
گفت گیرم بر منت رحمی نبود 
طبع تو بر خود چرا استم نمود
با ملایک گفت یزدان آن زمان 
که نبوت را همی زیبد فلان
مصطفی فرمود خود که هر نبی 
کرد چوپانیش برنا یا صبی
بی شبانی کردن و آن امتحان 
حق ندادش پیشوایی جهان
گفت سایل هم تو نیز ای پهلوان 
گفت من هم بوده ام دهری شبان
تا شود پیدا وقار و صبرشان 
کردشان پیش از نبوت حق شبان
هر امیری کو شبانی بشر 
آن چنان آرد که باشد متمر
حلم موسی وار اندر رعی خود 
او به جا آرد به تدبیر و خرد
لاجرم حقش دهد چوپانیی 
بر فراز چرخ مه روحانیی
آنچنان که انبیا را زین رعا 
بر کشید و داد رعی اصفیا
خواجه باری تو درین چوپانیت 
کردی آنچ کور گردد شانیت
دانم آنجا در مکافات ایزدت 
سروری جاودانه بخشدت
بر امید کف چون دریای تو 
بر وظیفه دادن و ایفای تو
وام کردم نه هزار از زر گزاف 
تو کجایی تا شود این درد صاف
تو کجایی تا که خندان چون چمن 
گویی بستان آن و ده چندان ز من
تو کجایی تا مرا خندان کنی 
لطف و احسان چون خداوندان کنی
تو کجایی تا بری در مخزنم 
تا کنی از وام و فاقه آمنم
من همی گویم بس و تو مفضلم 
گفته کین هم گیر از بهر دلم
چون همی گنجد جهانی زیر طین 
چون بگنجد آسمانی در زمین
حاش لله تو برونی زین جهان 
هم به وقت زندگی هم این زمان
در هوای غیب مرغی می پرد 
سایهٔ او بر زمینی می زند
جسم سایهٔ سایهٔ سایهٔ دلست 
جسم کی اندر خور پایهٔ دلست
مرد خفته روح او چون آفتاب 
در فلک تابان و تن در جامه خواب
جان نهان اندر خلا هم چون سجاف 
تن تقلب می کند زیر لحاف
روح چون من امر ربی مختفیست 
هر مثالی که بگویم منتفیست
ای عجب کو لعل شکربار تو 
وان جوابات خوش و اسرار تو
ای عجب کو آن عقیق قندخا 
آن کلید قفل مشکل های ما
ای عجب کو آن دم چون ذوالفقار 
آنک کردی عقل ها را بی قرار
چند هم چون فاخته کاشانه جو 
کو و کو و کو و کو و کو و کو
کو همان جا که صفات رحمتست 
قدرتست و نزهتست و فطنتست
کو همان جا که دل و اندیشه اش 
دایم آن جا بد چو شیر و بیشه اش
کو همان جا که امید مرد و زن 
می رود در وقت اندوه و حزن
کو همان جا که به وقت علتی 
چشم پرد بر امید صحتی
آن طرف که بهر دفع زشتیی 
باد جویی بهر کشت و کشتیی
آن طرف که دل اشارت می کند 
چون زبان یا هو عبارت می کند
او مع الله است بی کو کو همی 
کاش جولاهانه ماکو گفتمی
عقل ما کو تا ببیند غرب و شرق 
روح ها را می زند صد گونه برق
جزر و مدش بد به بحری در زبد 
منتهی شد جزر و باقی ماند مد
نه هزارم وام و من بی دست رس 
هست صد دینار ازین توزیع و بس
حق کشیدت ماندم در کش مکش 
می روم نومید ای خاک تو خوش
همتی می دار در پر حسرتت 
ای همایون روی و دست و همتت
آمدم بر چشمه و اصل عیون 
یافتم در وی به جای آب خون
چرخ آن چرخست آن مهتاب نیست 
جوی آن جویست آب آن آب نیست
محسنان هستند کو آن مستطاب 
اختران هستند کو آن آفتاب
تو شدی سوی خدا ای محترم 
پس به سوی حق روم من نیز هم
مجمع و پای علم ماوی القرون 
هست حق کل لدینا محضرون
نقش ها گر بی خبر گر با خبر 
در کف نقاش باشد محتصر
دم به دم در صفحهٔ اندیشه شان 
ثبت و محوی می کند آن بی نشان
خشم می آرد رضا را می برد 
بخل می آرد سخا را می برد
نیم لحظه مدرکاتم شام و غدو 
هیچ خالی نیست زین اثبات و محو
کوزه گر با کوزه باشد کارساز 
کوزه از خود کی شود پهن و دراز
چوب در دست دروگر معتکف 
ورنه چون گردد بریده و مؤتلف
جامه اندر دست خیاطی بود 
ورنه از خود چون بدوزد یا درد
مشک با سقا بود ای منتهی 
ورنه از خود چون شود پر یا تهی
هر دمی پر می شوی تی می شوی 
پس بدانک در کف صنع ویی
چشم بند از چشم روزی کی رود 
صنع از صانع چه سان شیدا شود
چشم داری تو به چشم خود نگر 
منگر از چشم سفیهی بی خبر
گوش داری تو به گوش خود شنو 
گوش گولان را چرا باشی گرو
بی ز تقلیدی نظر را پیشه کن 
هم برای عقل خود اندیشه کن

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## English translation
The story of his debt became well-known; the mediator suffered because of his pain. Seeking alms, he wandered the city, and out of hope, he told the story everywhere. He gained nothing from begging except for a hundred dinars, that devoted beggar. The mediator came to him and took his hand, and they went to the grave of that wondrously generous man. He said, 'When a servant is granted the grace to host a blessed feast, sacrificing his wealth and rank in His path, thanking him is certainly thanking God. Since He paired grace with his beneficence, abandoning gratitude to him is abandoning gratitude to God. His right is undoubtedly joined to the Right (God). Thank God for His blessings, and also thank and remember the master. Although a mother's mercy is from God, serving her is also obligatory and fitting. For this reason, God commanded, 'Bless him,' because Muhammad was the means of connection. On Resurrection Day, God will say to a servant, 'Behold, what did you do with what I gave you?' He will reply, 'O Lord, I thanked You with my soul, since the root of that sustenance and bread was from You.' God will say to him, 'No, you did not thank Me, since you did not thank that master of generosity. You have wronged and oppressed a generous one; did My blessing not reach you through his hand?'

When he arrived at the grave of that benefactor, he wept bitterly and began to sing a lament. He said, 'O support and refuge of every noble one, the hope and savior of the travelers! O you who carried the grief of our sustenance in your heart, O you whose beneficence and goodness were like universal sustenance! O you who were a tribe and parents to the poor in tribute, expenditure, and fulfilling debts. O you who were like the sea for those near, yielding pearls, and yielding gifts and rain for those afar! Our backs were warmed by you, O Sun, the splendor of every palace and the treasure of every ruin. O you in whose eyebrow no one ever saw a knot, O you who were generous and a provider like Michael! O you whose heart was continuously connected to the sea of the Unseen, O you who were the unseen Simurgh on the Mount Qaf of generosity! You never brought to mind, 'What was lost from my wealth?' The roof of your lofty ambition never cracked. O, I and a hundred like me, through months and years, became your dependents like your own offspring. Our cash, our goods, our belongings, our name, our pride, and our fortune! You did not die; our comfort and fortune died, our life and our abundant sustenance died!

One like a thousand in battle and generosity, a hundred like Hatam at the time of giving blessings. If Hatam gave, he gave the dead to the dead; he gave counted walnuts. You give a life in every breath that, due to its preciousness, cannot be contained in a breath. You give a very enduring life, cash of gold, without slump and without number. Never was there an heir to even one of your traits; O heaven, bowing down to your street! Your grace is a shepherd for the people against the wolf of sorrow, like Moses (who spoke with God), a kind shepherd.

A sheep fled from Moses; Moses' feet blistered and his shoes fell apart, following it until night in search, and that flock had disappeared from his sight. The sheep became weak and stopped from exhaustion. Then Moses dusted it off, rubbed his hand on its back and head, and caressed it with love like its mother. Not a half-atom of irritation or anger, nothing but love, mercy, and tears. He said, 'Let us say you had no mercy on me, why did your nature inflict tyranny upon itself?' God said to the angels at that time, 'Prophethood befits such a one.' Mustafa (Muhammad) himself said that every prophet acted as a shepherd, whether as a youth or child. Without acting as a shepherd and that trial, God did not give him the leadership of the world. A questioner asked, 'You too, O hero?' He said, 'I too was a shepherd for a long time.' So that their dignity and patience become apparent, God made them shepherds before prophethood. Every commander who is a shepherd of humans acts in a way that is patient and fruitful. Like Moses, with forbearance in tending his flock, he fulfills it with management and wisdom. Necessarily God gives him a shepherdship above the spiritual moon of the sphere. Just as God, from this shepherding, exalted the prophets and gave them the shepherding of the chosen ones. O master, anyway, in this shepherdship of yours, you did that which blinds your enemy. I know there, in reward, your God bestows upon you eternal lordship.

In hope of your sea-like palm, on your dispensing of stipends and fulfilling promises, I recklessly borrowed nine thousand pieces of gold. Where are you so this pain can be cleared? Where are you so that, smiling like a meadow, you might say, 'Take that and ten times more from me'? Where are you to make me smile? To show kindness and beneficence like masters? Where are you to lead me to my treasury, to make me secure from debt and poverty? I would say, 'Enough!' and you, my generous one, would say, 'Take this too for my heart's sake.' How does a world fit beneath the clay? How does a heaven fit into the earth? God forbid! You are beyond this world, both during your lifetime and at this time. In the air of the Unseen, a bird flies; its shadow casts upon an earth. The body is the shadow of the shadow of the shadow of the heart; when is the body worthy of the rank of the heart? A sleeping man, his spirit is like the sun, shining in the sky, while the body is in bedclothes. The soul is hidden in the void like a hem, while the body tosses and turns under the quilt. The spirit, being from the command of my Lord, is hidden; any example I give is negated.

O wonder, where is your sugar-raining ruby (lips), and those sweet answers and secrets of yours? O wonder, where is that sugar-chewing carnelian, that key to the lock of our difficulties? O wonder, where is that breath like Zulfiqar, which made intellects restless? How long, like a ringdove seeking a nest, will I coo 'where, where, where'? Where is that place which is the attributes of mercy, which is power and purity and wisdom? Where is that place where his heart and thought were always there, like a lion in its forest? Where is that place where the hope of man and woman goes in times of sorrow and grief? Where is that place where, at the time of illness, the eye flies in hope of a cure? That direction which, for repelling ugliness, you seek wind for the crops and the ship? That direction to which the heart points, when the tongue expresses 'O He!' (Ya Hu)? He is 'with God,' without this 'where, where'; I wish, like a weaver, I had said 'shuttle' (maku, rhyming with ku). Where is our intellect to see West and East? A hundred kinds of lightning strike the spirits. His ebb and flow were in a sea of foam; the ebb ended and the flow remained.

Nine thousand is my debt and I am destitute; there is a hundred dinars from this alms-collection and no more. God drew you away; I remained in struggle. I go away despairing; O, may your earth be pleasant! Exert your high ambition in your full sorrow, O you whose face, hand, and ambition are blessed! I came to the spring and the source of springs; I found blood in it instead of water. The sphere is that sphere, but that moonlight is not there; the stream is that stream, but the water is not that water. Benefactors exist, but where is that excellent one? Stars exist, but where is that Sun? You went towards God, O honored one, then I, too, will go towards God. The gathering place and foot of the standard, the abode of generations, is God; 'All shall be brought before Us.' Forms, whether unaware or aware, are confined in the Painter's hand. Moment by moment, on the page of their thought, that Signless One registers and effaces. He brings anger, He takes away contentment; He brings stinginess, He takes away generosity. For half a moment my perceptions, evening and morning, are never empty of this affirmation and erasure. The potter works with the jug; when does the jug become wide and long by itself? The wood is confined in the carpenter's hand; otherwise, how would it be cut and joined? A garment is in a tailor's hand; otherwise, how would it sew or tear by itself? The waterskin is with the water-carrier, O wise one; otherwise, how would it become full or empty by itself? Every breath you become full, you become empty; therefore, know that you are in the hand of His creation. When does the blindfold go away from the eye one day? How does the creation become enamored of the Creator? You have eyes; look with your own eyes; do not look with the eye of an ignorant fool. You have ears; listen with your own ears; why should you be a pawn to the ears of the foolish? Make observation your practice, free from blind imitation; also think for the sake of your own intellect.

دفتر ششم - بخش ۹۸ - توزیع کردن پای‌مرد در جملهٔ شهر تبریز و جمع شدن اندک چیز و رفتن آن غریب به تربت محتسب به زیارت و این قصه را بر سر گور او گفتن به طریق نوحه الی آخره / Book Six - Section 98 - The mediator begging for alms throughout the city of Tabriz, gathering a small amount, and the stranger going to the tomb of the inspector for visitation, and telling this story over his grave by way of lamentation, up to the end

## Original content
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گر عمر نامی تو اندر شهر کاش 
کس بنفروشد به صد دانگت لواش
چون به یک دکان بگفتی عمرم 
این عمر را نان فروشید از کرم
او بگوید رو بدان دیگر دکان 
زان یکی نان به کزین پنجاه نان
گر نبودی احول و اندر نظر 
او بگفتی نیست دکانی دگر
پس زدی اشراق آن نااحولی 
بر دل کاشی شدی عمر علی
این ازین جا گوید آن خباز را 
این عمر را نان فروش ای نانبا
</div>

دفتر ششم - بخش ۹۷ - مثل دوبین هم‌چو آن غریب شهر کاش عمر نام کی از یک دکانش به سبب این به آن دکان دیگر حواله کرد و او فهم نکرد کی همه دکان یکیست الی آخره / Book Six - Section 97 - The parable of the double-sighted person, like that stranger in the city of Kash named Umar, who was referred from one shop to another and did not understand that all shops are one, etc.

The Concept of Repentance and Recognizing God as the Ultimate Benefactor in the Masnavi

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.

The Concept of Posthumous Generosity and Spiritual Agency in the Masnavi

In Book 2 of Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, the tense interrogation between Mu'awiya and Iblis (Satan) concludes when the devil finally confesses his true motive for waking the ruler for morning prayer. Iblis admits that his action was not an act of piety, but rather a calculated spiritual theft. He explains that if Mu'awiya had overslept and missed the congregational prayer, he would have been consumed by intense grief, shedding tears from profound remorse and spiritual pain. Rumi uses Iblis's admission to highlight a core Sufi concept: the burning need, sorrow, and genuine repentance born from missing a religious duty possess a "radiance" worth more than a hundred routine, mechanical prayers. By waking Mu'awiya, Iblis intentionally deprived him of this highly elevated state of spiritual yearning and sincere need.

Iblis's Confession and the Spiritual Value of Remorse in the Masnavi

In Book Four, Section 126 of the *Masnavi*, Rumi explores the deeper meaning behind the Hadith in which the Prophet Muhammad states he seeks God's forgiveness seventy times a day. Rather than viewing this as atonement for literal sins, Rumi interprets the Prophet's continuous repentance as a dynamic process of spiritual elevation and divine intoxication. In Sufi thought, this type of repentance signifies a constant turning away from a lower spiritual station toward a higher one, illustrating an unending journey into the boundless mercy and knowledge of God.

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