M4:59 — گرچه خوی آن عوان هست ای خدا / که هماره خلق را خواهد بلا

This couplet is part of a prayer offered by a lover who, fleeing a watchman (ʿasas), accidentally found his beloved. The lover, in a state of ecstatic gratitude, prays for the very man who chased him, recognizing that the apparent threat was the hidden cause of his joy.

Here, the lover speaks directly to God, conceding the watchman's wicked character. An ʿavān was a low-ranking, often brutal, agent of the state, and Rumi describes him as someone who thrives on the suffering of others. The lover's prayer is remarkable precisely because he does not ignore or excuse this malice. Instead, he acknowledges it fully—"I know this man is wicked, Lord"—and still asks for him to be blessed and transformed.

This act demonstrates a profound spiritual insight that Rumi will elaborate in the following verses: an event or a person is not good or evil in the absolute. The watchman, whose actions are poison to the general public, became an antidote (taryāq) for the lover. The prayer, therefore, is not naive; it is a sophisticated recognition that even from a source of ill-will, God can produce the highest good, a principle encapsulated in the Quranic verse Rumi cites in the story's title: "Perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you."