In Jalaluddin Rumi's Masnavi, the "Tale of the Bedouin Arab and His Wife" continues with the husband's profound rebuttal to his wife's bitter complaints about their earthly destitution. He counters her materialistic despair by invoking the prophetic tradition, "Poverty is my pride" (faqr fakhri). The husband explains that worldly wealth acts merely as a cloak that conceals human flaws, much like a deceitful slave-dealer uses clothes to hide a slave's physical defects. In contrast, spiritual poverty (faqr) strips away the ego's defenses, revealing the soul's true, unvarnished state before God. He warns his wife against judging the dervish's outward destitution, asserting that true mystics possess a hidden, boundless divine provision that transcends earthly kingdoms. Through this dialogue, Rumi fundamentally reframes poverty from a degrading state of material lack into an elevated state of spiritual liberation and complete contentment.