M3:3278 — گفت ای موسی بیاموزش که ما / رد نکردیم از کرم هرگز دعا

This couplet marks the turning point in the story. Moses, caught between his prophetic wisdom (which sees the danger in the man's request) and his pastoral concern (not wanting to embitter the man's heart), turns to God for guidance. God's response is a profound statement on the nature of prayer and Divine Will.

The divine command, "teach it to him," is not an endorsement of the man's foolish desire. Rather, it reveals a principle of divine action: God's generosity (karam) is such that a persistent and heartfelt plea (duʿā) is answered. This act of granting the wish is itself a form of test and a lesson. The man has insisted, using the language of spiritual devotion to pursue a worldly whim. God allows him to have what he so desperately wants, thereby setting the stage for him to learn the consequences of his own ill-considered desires.

This principle is a recurring theme in the Masnavi. The fulfillment of a prayer is not always a sign of its rightness. Sometimes, the most severe trial is to be given exactly what one asks for, forcing a confrontation with the reality of one's own soul and the folly of its attachments. God's response shifts the responsibility from Moses onto the man himself, who will now have to live with the knowledge he so eagerly sought.