M3:3271 — عبرت و بیداری از یزدان طلب / نه از کتاب و از مقال و حرف و لب

This beyt contains the core of Moses's warning to the man who desires to learn the language of animals. The man's request, while seemingly pious, is fundamentally misguided. He believes that a special, hidden knowledge (ʿibrat, a cautionary lesson) can be found in a new source of information—the sounds of beasts—as if wisdom were a commodity to be acquired through a different channel.

Moses counters this by redirecting him from the medium to the source. He argues that all external forms of knowledge—books (kitāb), discourse (maqāl), letters (ḥarf), and lips (lab)—are secondary. True spiritual awakening (bīdārī) is not a piece of data to be learned but a state of being bestowed directly by God (Yazdān). The man is seeking a spiritual shortcut through a form of esoteric eavesdropping, but Moses insists that the path lies in turning one's heart to God, the giver of all insight.

The tragedy of the story, which unfolds after this verse, is that the man ignores this profound advice. He remains fixated on the external 'secret' and, by insisting on his desire, sets himself on a path to ruin. Rumi uses this exchange to critique the spiritual materialism of those who chase after paranormal abilities or esoteric information, forgetting that the goal is not to know more things but to be transformed by a direct relationship with the Divine.