In Book 3 of Jalaluddin Rumi's Masnavi, the confrontation between Moses and Pharaoh continues as Pharaoh arrogantly requests a respite to devise further schemes against the prophet. God immediately delivers a revelation to Moses, instructing him to willingly grant Pharaoh a forty-day delay without any fear. Through this divine communication, Rumi underscores the absolute sovereignty of God over worldly plots. God assures Moses that He is ever-vigilant and will actively confound Pharaoh's machinations by inverting their intended outcomes. According to the revelation, whatever Pharaoh attempts to increase, God will diminish; the life-giving water Pharaoh's forces gather will be transformed into destructive fire; their sweet triumphs will turn bitter; and their political alliances will be dismantled. This passage illustrates the profound Sufi teaching that ego-driven human efforts, no matter how vast or cunning, are ultimately powerless against the divine will, which effortlessly turns the tyrant's own tools into instruments of his ruin.

Divine Revelation and the Inversion of Pharaoh's Stratagems in the Masnavi

In Book 3 of Jalaluddin Rumi's Masnavi, the confrontation intensifies as Pharaoh counters Moses by asserting his absolute worldly and bureaucratic dominance. Boasting that the 'register and bureau of rule' are under his command and that he possesses the adulation of the populace, Pharaoh dismisses Moses as a deluded self-admirer. In an attempt to publicly humiliate the prophet and expose what he perceives as ignorance, Pharaoh announces a grand plan to assemble all the sorcerers of the age. Acknowledging the logistical scale of this undertaking, the tyrant arrogantly demands a forty-day respite during the summer month of Tammuz. Rumi uses this exchange to illustrate the hubris of the ego, which mistakenly conflates political power and public consensus with ultimate truth, setting the stage for a dramatic contest between worldly illusion and divine reality.

Pharaoh's Assertion of Worldly Authority and Request for Respite in the Masnavi

## Original content
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right; line-height: 2; margin-top: 0.5rem;">

<p>گفت فرعونش ورق درحکم ماست<br />
دفتر و دیوان حکم این دم مراست</p>
<p>مر مرا بخریده اند اهل جهان<br />
از همه عاقلتری تو ای فلان</p>
<p>موسیا خود را خریدی هین برو<br />
خویشتن کم بین، به خود غره مشو</p>
<p>جمع آرم ساحران دهر را<br />
تا که جهل تو نمایم شهر را</p>
<p>این نخواهد شد به روزی و دو روز<br />
مهلتم ده تا چهل روز تموز</p>

</div>

## English translation
Pharaoh said to him: “The leaf/page is under our command; the register and bureau of rule at this moment are mine. The people of the world have bought/accepted me; are you wiser than everyone, O so-and-so? Moses, you have become your own buyer/admirer; go on, away! See yourself as less; do not be deluded by yourself. I will gather the sorcerers of the age, so that I may show the city your ignorance. This will not be done in a day or two; give me respite until forty days of Tammuz.”

دفتر سوم - بخش ۴۰ - پاسخ فرعون موسی را علیه السلام / Book Three - Section 40 - Pharaoh's Answer to Moses, Peace Be Upon Him

In Book Three of Rumi's *Masnavi*, Moses's response to Pharaoh's threats highlights a key spiritual teaching: the distinction between worldly status and divine reality. Moses expresses unconditional surrender to God's command, declaring that even if his blood is shed, he remains content and grateful. He contrasts being despised and ridiculed by creation (*khwar*) with being beloved and honored by God (*sharif*). This concept teaches that true honor (*'izzat*) belongs solely to God and His servants, rendering worldly threats of humiliation and death powerless against those who have achieved spiritual security.

Spiritual Dignity versus Worldly Humiliation in Moses's Reply to Pharaoh

## متن و ترجمه / Text and Translation
<div data-farsi-poem-layout="v1" style="overflow-x: auto; margin: 0.75rem 0;">
<table dir="rtl" aria-label="Persian poem with couplet translations" style="width: 100%; table-layout: fixed; border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 1.9;">
<tbody>
<tr data-poem-unit="0" data-kind="couplet">
<td data-source-line="1" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 1rem 0.2rem 0;">گفت با امر حقم اشراک نیست</td>
<td data-source-line="2" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 0 0.2rem 1rem;">گر بریزد خونم امرش، باک نیست</td>
</tr>
<tr data-translation-for="0">
<td colspan="2" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top; padding: 0.15rem 1rem 0.8rem; font-size: 0.92em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.28);"><em>He said: “I set no partner beside God’s command; if His command should spill my blood, I have no fear of it.</em></td>
</tr>
<tr data-poem-unit="1" data-kind="couplet">
<td data-source-line="3" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 1rem 0.2rem 0;">راضیم من شاکرم من ای حریف</td>
<td data-source-line="4" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 0 0.2rem 1rem;">این طرف رسوا و پیش حق شریف</td>
</tr>
<tr data-translation-for="1">
<td colspan="2" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top; padding: 0.15rem 1rem 0.8rem; font-size: 0.92em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.28);"><em>I am content, I am grateful, O opponent: disgraced on this side, yet noble before God.</em></td>
</tr>
<tr data-poem-unit="2" data-kind="couplet">
<td data-source-line="5" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 1rem 0.2rem 0;">پیش خلقان خوار و زار و ریش خند</td>
<td data-source-line="6" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 0 0.2rem 1rem;">پیش حق محبوب و مطلوب و پسند</td>
</tr>
<tr data-translation-for="2">
<td colspan="2" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top; padding: 0.15rem 1rem 0.8rem; font-size: 0.92em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.28);"><em>Before created beings, lowly, wretched, and mocked; before God, beloved, sought, and approved.</em></td>
</tr>
<tr data-poem-unit="3" data-kind="couplet">
<td data-source-line="7" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 1rem 0.2rem 0;">از سخن می گویم این ورنه خدا</td>
<td data-source-line="8" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 0 0.2rem 1rem;">از سیه رویان کند فردا تو را</td>
</tr>
<tr data-translation-for="3">
<td colspan="2" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top; padding: 0.15rem 1rem 0.8rem; font-size: 0.92em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.28);"><em>I say this only as speech; otherwise tomorrow God will make you one of the black-faced.</em></td>
</tr>
<tr data-poem-unit="4" data-kind="couplet">
<td data-source-line="9" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 1rem 0.2rem 0;">عزت آن اوست و آن بندگانش</td>
<td data-source-line="10" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 0 0.2rem 1rem;">ز آدم و ابلیس بر می خوان نشانش</td>
</tr>
<tr data-translation-for="4">
<td colspan="2" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top; padding: 0.15rem 1rem 0.8rem; font-size: 0.92em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.28);"><em>Honor is His and belongs to His servants: read its sign from Adam and Iblis.</em></td>
</tr>
<tr data-poem-unit="5" data-kind="couplet">
<td data-source-line="11" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 1rem 0.2rem 0;">شرح حق پایان ندارد همچو حق</td>
<td data-source-line="12" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 0 0.2rem 1rem;">هین دهان بربند و برگردان ورق</td>
</tr>
<tr data-translation-for="5">
<td colspan="2" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top; padding: 0.15rem 1rem 0.8rem; font-size: 0.92em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.28);"><em>The exposition of God has no end, like God Himself; now close your mouth and turn the page.”</em></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>

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## متن و ترجمه / Text and Translation
<div data-farsi-poem-layout="v1" style="overflow-x: auto; margin: 0.75rem 0;">
<table dir="rtl" aria-label="Persian poem with couplet translations" style="width: 100%; table-layout: fixed; border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 1.9;">
<tbody>
<tr data-poem-unit="0" data-kind="couplet">
<td data-source-line="1" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 1rem 0.2rem 0;">گفت فرعونش چرا تو ای کلیم</td>
<td data-source-line="2" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 0 0.2rem 1rem;">خلق را کشتی و افکندی تو بیم</td>
</tr>
<tr data-translation-for="0">
<td colspan="2" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top; padding: 0.15rem 1rem 0.8rem; font-size: 0.92em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.28);"><em>Pharaoh said to him: Why, O Kalim, have you killed the people and cast fear among them?</em></td>
</tr>
<tr data-poem-unit="1" data-kind="couplet">
<td data-source-line="3" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 1rem 0.2rem 0;">در هزیمت از تو افتادند خلق</td>
<td data-source-line="4" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 0 0.2rem 1rem;">در هزیمت کشته شد مردم ز زلق</td>
</tr>
<tr data-translation-for="1">
<td colspan="2" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top; padding: 0.15rem 1rem 0.8rem; font-size: 0.92em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.28);"><em>In fleeing from you, the people fell; in the rout, people were killed by slipping.</em></td>
</tr>
<tr data-poem-unit="2" data-kind="couplet">
<td data-source-line="5" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 1rem 0.2rem 0;">لاجرم مردم تو را دشمن گرفت</td>
<td data-source-line="6" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 0 0.2rem 1rem;">کین تو در سینه مرد و زن گرفت</td>
</tr>
<tr data-translation-for="2">
<td colspan="2" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top; padding: 0.15rem 1rem 0.8rem; font-size: 0.92em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.28);"><em>Therefore the people have taken you as an enemy; hatred of you has taken hold in the breasts of men and women.</em></td>
</tr>
<tr data-poem-unit="3" data-kind="couplet">
<td data-source-line="7" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 1rem 0.2rem 0;">خلق را می خواندی بر عکس شد</td>
<td data-source-line="8" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 0 0.2rem 1rem;">از خلافت مردمان را نیست بد</td>
</tr>
<tr data-translation-for="3">
<td colspan="2" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top; padding: 0.15rem 1rem 0.8rem; font-size: 0.92em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.28);"><em>You were calling the people, but it turned the opposite way; people see no harm in opposing you.</em></td>
</tr>
<tr data-poem-unit="4" data-kind="couplet">
<td data-source-line="9" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 1rem 0.2rem 0;">من هم از شرت اگر پس می خزم</td>
<td data-source-line="10" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 0 0.2rem 1rem;">در مکافات تو دیگی می پزم</td>
</tr>
<tr data-translation-for="4">
<td colspan="2" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top; padding: 0.15rem 1rem 0.8rem; font-size: 0.92em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.28);"><em>As for me, even if I draw back from your evil, I am cooking a cauldron of recompense for

دفتر سوم - بخش ۳۸ - تهدید کردن فرعون موسی را علیه السلام / Book Three - Section 38 - Pharaoh Threatening Moses, Peace Be Upon Him

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In Book 3 of Jalaluddin Rumi's Masnavi, the narrative of Moses and Pharaoh expands to include the internal spiritual conflict of the sorcerers summoned by the king. Tasked with countering Moses, whose staff has caused 'tumult and trouble' despite his lack of a conventional army, the sorcerers seek guidance from their deceased father. Fasting for three days at his grave, they ask him to discern whether Moses's power is mere sorcery or a genuine divine miracle. This pivotal moment highlights their underlying spiritual readiness; they declare that if Moses represents divine truth, they wish to submit, prostrate themselves, and experience spiritual alchemy. Rumi uses this episode to illustrate the transition from worldly despair to the hope of divine grace, showing that even those enlisted by a tyrant can harbor a sincere yearning for truth.

The Sorcerers' Inquiry at Their Father's Grave in the Masnavi

In Book 3 of Jalaluddin Rumi's Masnavi, the narrative of Pharaoh marshaling sorcerers to defeat Moses transitions into a profound psychological and mystical lesson. After Pharaoh bestows extravagant gifts upon the sorcerers, they boastfully guarantee victory. However, Rumi interrupts this historical tale to assert that it is not merely a story of the past. He introduces the concept that 'Moses and Pharaoh both dwell within your being,' representing the eternal internal struggle between the divine light of the spirit and the tyrannical ego. Rumi further uses the metaphor of light and glass: the divine light is eternal and singular, while the vessels, or lamps, are diverse. He warns that gazing only upon the 'glass' leads to the illusion of multiplicity and division, whereas focusing on the 'light' frees the seeker from duality, revealing the fundamental unity beyond outward differences such as those between the believer, the Gabr, and the Jew.

Pharaoh's Gathering of the Sorcerers and the Internal Adversaries in the Masnavi

## متن و ترجمه / Text and Translation
<div data-farsi-poem-layout="v1" style="overflow-x: auto; margin: 0.75rem 0;">
<table dir="rtl" aria-label="Persian poem with couplet translations" style="width: 100%; table-layout: fixed; border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 1.9;">
<tbody>
<tr data-poem-unit="0" data-kind="couplet">
<td data-source-line="1" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 1rem 0.2rem 0;">گفت با امر حقم اشراک نیست</td>
<td data-source-line="2" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 0 0.2rem 1rem;">گر بریزد خونم امرش، باک نیست</td>
</tr>
<tr data-translation-for="0">
<td colspan="2" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top; padding: 0.15rem 1rem 0.8rem; font-size: 0.92em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.28);"><em>He said: “I set no partner beside God’s command; if His command should spill my blood, I have no fear of it.</em></td>
</tr>
<tr data-poem-unit="1" data-kind="couplet">
<td data-source-line="3" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 1rem 0.2rem 0;">راضیم من شاکرم من ای حریف</td>
<td data-source-line="4" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 0 0.2rem 1rem;">این طرف رسوا و پیش حق شریف</td>
</tr>
<tr data-translation-for="1">
<td colspan="2" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top; padding: 0.15rem 1rem 0.8rem; font-size: 0.92em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.28);"><em>I am content, I am grateful, O opponent: disgraced on this side, yet noble before God.</em></td>
</tr>
<tr data-poem-unit="2" data-kind="couplet">
<td data-source-line="5" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 1rem 0.2rem 0;">پیش خلقان خوار و زار و ریش خند</td>
<td data-source-line="6" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 0 0.2rem 1rem;">پیش حق محبوب و مطلوب و پسند</td>
</tr>
<tr data-translation-for="2">
<td colspan="2" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top; padding: 0.15rem 1rem 0.8rem; font-size: 0.92em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.28);"><em>Before created beings, lowly, wretched, and mocked; before God, beloved, sought, and approved.</em></td>
</tr>
<tr data-poem-unit="3" data-kind="couplet">
<td data-source-line="7" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 1rem 0.2rem 0;">از سخن می گویم این ورنه خدا</td>
<td data-source-line="8" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 0 0.2rem 1rem;">از سیه رویان کند فردا تو را</td>
</tr>
<tr data-translation-for="3">
<td colspan="2" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top; padding: 0.15rem 1rem 0.8rem; font-size: 0.92em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.28);"><em>I say this only as speech; otherwise tomorrow God will make you one of the black-faced.</em></td>
</tr>
<tr data-poem-unit="4" data-kind="couplet">
<td data-source-line="9" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 1rem 0.2rem 0;">عزت آن اوست و آن بندگانش</td>
<td data-source-line="10" lang="fa" style="width: 50%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0.45rem 0 0.2rem 1rem;">ز آدم و ابلیس بر می خوان نشانش</td>
</tr>
<tr data-translation-for="4">
<td colspan="2" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top; padding: 0.15rem 1rem 0.8rem; font-size: 0.92em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.28);"><em>Honor is His and belongs to His servants: read its sign from Adam and Iblis.</em

Learn Before

متن و ترجمه / Text and Translation

Related

Learn After

گفت با امر حقم اشراک نیست	گر بریزد خونم امرش، باک نیست
He said: “I set no partner beside God’s command; if His command should spill my blood, I have no fear of it.
راضیم من شاکرم من ای حریف	این طرف رسوا و پیش حق شریف
I am content, I am grateful, O opponent: disgraced on this side, yet noble before God.
پیش خلقان خوار و زار و ریش خند	پیش حق محبوب و مطلوب و پسند
Before created beings, lowly, wretched, and mocked; before God, beloved, sought, and approved.
از سخن می گویم این ورنه خدا	از سیه رویان کند فردا تو را
I say this only as speech; otherwise tomorrow God will make you one of the black-faced.
عزت آن اوست و آن بندگانش	ز آدم و ابلیس بر می خوان نشانش
Honor is His and belongs to His servants: read its sign from Adam and Iblis.
شرح حق پایان ندارد همچو حق	هین دهان بربند و برگردان ورق
The exposition of God has no end, like God Himself; now close your mouth and turn the page.”