In Book 3 of Jalaluddin Rumi's Masnavi, the deceased sorcerer answers his children in a dream, providing a decisive test to determine whether Moses is a mere magician or a genuine prophet. He instructs them to attempt to steal Moses's staff while he sleeps. The father explains the metaphysical distinction between human magic and divine miracles: a sorcerer's power relies on conscious effort and cunning, which cease during physical sleep. He compares a sleeping sorcerer to a sleeping shepherd whose flock is left vulnerable to wolves. Conversely, if Moses is a true messenger, his power is perpetually sustained by God. Because God is the eternal, unsleeping guardian, the staff remains fiercely protected regardless of the prophet's physical state. Rumi uses this narrative to illustrate that divine miracles are rooted in the Ultimate Reality, transcending human limitations and conscious exertion.

The Deceased Sorcerer's Test of Moses's Authenticity in the Masnavi

In Book Three of the Masnavi, Rumi describes the extraordinary feats of Pharaoh's sorcerers, such as milking the moon, riding a jar, and selling moonlight as linen. These supernatural feats represent sensory deceptions (magic or sihr) that trick worldly perception and leave the seeker empty-handed once the illusion fades. Rumi uses these metaphors to illustrate how the material world deceives human consciousness, contrasting transient magical illusions with the enduring, absolute reality of divine miracles.

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## Original content
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چونک موسی بازگشت و او بماند 
اهل رای و مشورت را پیش خواند
آنچنان دیدند کز اطراف مصر 
جمع آردشان شه و صراف مصر
او بسی مردم فرستاد آن زمان 
هر نواحی بهر جمع جادوان
هر طرف که ساحری بد نامدار 
کرد پران سوی او ده پیک کار
دو جوان بودند ساحر مشتهر 
سحر ایشان در دل مه مستمر
شیر دوشیده ز مه فاش آشکار 
در سفرها رفته بر خمی سوار
شکل کرباسی نموده ماهتاب 
آن بپیموده فروشیده شتاب
سیم برده مشتری آگه شده 
دست از حسرت به رخها بر زده
صد هزاران همچنین در جادوی 
بوده منشی و نبوده چون روی
چون بدیشان آمد آن پیغام شاه 
کز شما شاهست اکنون چاره‌خواه
از پی آنک دو درویش آمدند 
بر شه و بر قصر او موکب زدند
نیست با ایشان بغیر یک عصا 
که همی‌گردد به امرش اژدها
شاه و لشکر جمله بیچاره شدند 
زین دو کس جمله به افغان آمدند
چاره‌ای می‌باید اندر ساحری 
تا بود که زین دو ساحر جان بری
آن دو ساحر را چو این پیغام داد 
ترس و مهری در دل هر دو فتاد
عرق جنسیت چو جنبیدن گرفت 
سر به زانو بر نهادند از شگفت
چون دبیرستان صوفی زانوست 
حل مشکل را دو زانو جادوست

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## English translation
Book Three - Section 44 - Pharaoh sends to the cities in search of sorcerers. When Moses went back and Pharaoh remained, he called before him the people of judgment and counsel. They judged that from the regions of Egypt the king, the assayer of Egypt, should gather them. At that time he sent many people to every district to collect the magicians. In every direction where there was a renowned magician, he sent ten active messengers flying toward him. There were two young men, famous magicians; their magic was constant even in the heart of the moon. In plain sight they had milked the moon for milk; on journeys they had gone riding on a jar. They had made moonlight appear in the shape of linen cloth, measured it out, and quickly sold it. They took the silver; when the buyer realized, he struck his hands to his cheeks in regret. Hundreds of thousands of such feats in magic had been recorded, and none had been like these. When the king's message came to them, saying that the king now seeks a remedy from you, because two dervishes have come and arrayed themselves against the king and his palace; they have nothing with them except one staff, which turns into a dragon at his command; the king and the army have all become helpless, and all have cried out because of these two persons; some remedy is needed in sorcery, so that perhaps you may escape with your life from these two sorcerers. When this message was given to those two sorcerers, fear and affection fell into both their hearts. When the vein of affinity began to stir, they put their heads on their knees in wonder. For the Sufi's schoolhouse is the knee; for solving a difficulty, the two knees are magic.

دفتر سوم - بخش ۴۴ - فرستادن فرعون به مداین در طلب ساحران / Book Three - Section 44 - Pharaoh sends to the cities in search of sorcerers.

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Ganjoor

## Original content
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بعد از آن گفتند ای مادر بیا 
گور بابا کو تو ما را ره نما
بردشان بر گور او بنمود راه 
پس سه‌روزه داشتند از بهر شاه
بعد از آن گفتند ای بابا به ما 
شاه پیغامی فرستاد از وجا
که دو مرد او را به تنگ آورده‌اند 
آب رویش پیش لشکر برده‌اند
نیست با ایشان سلاح و لشکری 
جز عصا و در عصا شور و شری
تو جهان راستان در رفته‌ای 
گرچه در صورت به خاکی خفته‌ای
آن اگر سحرست ما را ده خبر 
ور خدایی باشد ای جان پدر
هم خبر ده تا که ما سجده کنیم 
خویشتن بر کیمیایی بر زنیم
ناامیدانیم و اومیدی رسید 
راندگانیم و کرم ما را کشید

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## English translation
After that they said, “O mother, come; where is father’s grave? Show us the way.” She brought them to his grave and showed them the path. Then, for the king’s sake, they fasted for three days. After that they said, “O father, the king has sent us a message from there: two men have brought him into straits and taken away his honor before the army. They have neither weapon nor army, except a staff, and in the staff there is tumult and trouble. You have gone into the world of the truthful, though outwardly you sleep in the earth. If that is sorcery, give us news; and if it is divine, O dear father, tell us that too, so that we may prostrate ourselves and strike ourselves upon an alchemy. We are despairing ones, and hope has arrived; we are outcasts, and grace has drawn us near.”

دفتر سوم - بخش ۴۵ - خواندن آن دو ساحر پدر را از گور و پرسیدن از روان پدر حقیقت موسی علیه السلام / Book Three - Section 45 - Those Two Sorcerers Calling Their Father from the Grave and Asking the Spirit of Their Father About the Truth of Moses, Peace Be Upon Him

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