M1:377 — صد هزاران دام و دانه‌ست ای خدا / ما چو مرغانِ حریص بی‌نوا

Translation: A hundred thousand traps and snares exist, O God; / We are like greedy, helpless birds. Meaning: This verse is a poignant confession of human vulnerability in the face of life's deceptions, asserting that our inherent greed draws us like defenseless birds into countless traps.

This beyt emerges as a fervent, heartfelt prayer from Mawlana's lips, woven into the narrative of the one-eyed Dajjal and the deceptive vizier. It reveals a moment where Mawlana, despite his characteristic spiritual strength and gnostic self-awareness, raises his hands in supplication, expressing profound helplessness. This confession underscores his deep understanding of the mutable human condition; even those of high spiritual station are not immune to pitfalls and errors.

Mawlana explicitly states that the world is replete with 'traps and snares' (dām-o dāne) – not merely overt deceptions but also those cloaked in apparent goodness, much like the cunning vizier who feigned pure Christian devotion. Humans, in their inherently 'greedy' (ḥarīṣ) and helpless nature, are akin to birds that, driven by the lure of a single grain, rush headlong into these traps. This 'greed' is not confined to material desires; it extends to the ambition for status, fame, and even spurious spiritual attainments.

The prayers in the Mathnawi, as I've often remarked, are spontaneous and arise organically from the specific situation. In this particular context, witnessing the minister's deceit and the entrapment of the gullible, Mawlana is moved to reflect on his own and humanity's vulnerability, immediately turning to God in earnest. He acknowledges that human destiny seems to involve moving from one trap to another, confessing that even if we escape one snare, we are prone to rushing towards another.

This admission of vulnerability serves as a prelude to the subsequent verses, which introduce the allegory of the 'mouse in the granary of good deeds.' There, Mawlana elaborates on how we accumulate the 'wheat of devotional acts' (gandom-e ṭāʿāt) in the granary of our own being, only for a 'mouse'—either internal or external—to steal these accumulated deeds, leaving us destitute. This 'mouse' is, in essence, the very greed, self-deception, and heedlessness that render humans susceptible to external snares. Thus, the verse 'A hundred thousand traps and snares exist, O God' does not merely point to external dangers; it implicitly addresses the internal predisposition—our 'greedy, helpless nature'—that makes humanity prone to falling into these traps.

Key takeaways

• The world is filled with countless overt and hidden traps and deceptions that threaten humanity.
• Humanity's innate greed and desire (like 'greedy, helpless birds') draw us towards these snares.
• Mawlana's prayers are sincere, unpretentious, and arise directly from lived experience and immediate circumstances.
• Even after escaping one trap, human nature predisposes us to fall into new ones.
• This verse is a profound confession of helplessness and an appeal for divine assistance against human vulnerability.
• External traps are often connected to internal weaknesses and heedlessness (the 'mouse in the granary').