M6:4239 — در فلان موضع یکی گنجی است زفت / در پی آن بایدت تا مصر رفت

Translation: (He was told:) "In such-and-such a place there is a vast treasure; For that, you must journey to Egypt." Meaning: This verse recounts an unseen message delivered in a dream to a bankrupt man. It reveals the location of a great treasure near his home, but stipulates that to acquire it, he must undertake a long and arduous journey to Egypt.

This verse, from the story of the treasure-seeker, illuminates one of the deepest teachings of the Mathnawi concerning the answering of prayers and divine wisdom. A man who has squandered all his inheritance and, in poverty and despair, turns to God, is addressed in a dream by a 'Hātif.' This Hātif (a term which in modern Arabic refers to a telephone, but whose roots lie in pre-Islamic Arab mythological culture as an unseen voice heard from beyond the veil) informs him of a vast treasure hidden in flān mawziʿ (such-and-such a place), right there in his own Baghdad. However, the condition for obtaining this treasure is not an immediate search in his vicinity, but an arduous journey to Egypt.

Mawlana teaches us through this narrative that the answering of prayers is not always direct and immediate. God sometimes does not place our desires directly in our hands, but instead shows us the path to achieving them. And often, this path is long and unexpected, a journey that itself entails the purification and discipline of the self. The journey to Egypt symbolizes this protracted and suffering-laden spiritual path (sulūk). It is as if the treasure that is within our own home can only reveal itself after we have distanced ourselves from home and endured hardships, because we are not yet ready or capable of seeing it in our immediate vicinity.

Another significant point in this story is the reference to Egypt as manbat-gāh-e qand (the source-place of sugar/candy). Both Mawlana and Hafez allude to qand-e Mesri (Egyptian sugar), emphasizing its sweetness and superior quality. This choice of Egypt is not merely a geographical designation; it imbues the destination with symbolic depth: a journey towards sweetness, towards a land that, in the culture of that time, represented the pinnacle of excellence and grace. This implies that the difficult path leads to a destination imbued with pleasantness and sweetness. Though this journey and spiritual striving (seyru solūk) is accompanied by hardship, it ultimately leads to a treasure that is not only materially abundant but also possesses spiritual delight. This is the wisdom inherent in the delay and complexity of divine responses, wherein the soul is refined, and the inner treasure becomes ready to manifest itself.

Key takeaways

• Divine answers to prayers are not always direct; divine wisdom often favors circuitous and unexpected paths to reach one's ultimate goal.
• The true treasure is often within ourselves, but the capacity to perceive and receive it requires spiritual journey (sulūk), travel, and enduring hardship.
• The journey to a distant destination symbolizes the purification of the self and inner readiness for discovering hidden truths within one's own being.
• The 'Hātif' (unseen voice) not only reveals the location of the treasure but also prescribes the path to acquire it, which is often arduous.