M6:4246 — باز نفسش از مَجاعَت برطپید / ز انتجاع و خواستن چاره ندید

Translation: Again his soul quivered from majāʿat (famine/hunger), / He saw no remedy but intijāʿ (seeking benefit) and asking. Meaning:* Overcome by extreme hunger, the man's inner being became agitated, leaving him no option but to resort to begging and seeking assistance.

This couplet unveils a stark yet profoundly meaningful reality: the human encounter with inner and outer destitution. The story is of a man who traveled from Baghdad to Egypt in search of a treasure, now penniless and famished. He is locked in a struggle with his nafs (soul/ego) which, from intense hunger, has "quivered" – meaning it has fallen into agitation and restlessness. This agitation of the nafs vividly portrays the inner turmoil that robs a person of their peace and compels them to undertake actions they might otherwise never consider.

I interpret this as an example of the "human condition" that Mowlana frequently explores. It's not a complaint about politics, nor a lament for the times, nor an outcry against rulers' oppression. Rather, it articulates a fundamental human state: the point where pride, status, and even grand aspirations (like finding a treasure) crumble before primal needs and material hunger. The man, once affluent and disdainful of begging, is now forced to become a "night-beggar" (shab-kūrī) under the cloak of darkness to conceal his shame. It is here that the nafs, sometimes a manifestation of vanity and ego, becomes so distressed by majāʿat (famine and hunger) that "it saw no remedy but intijāʿ (seeking benefit) and asking."

Majāʿat here is not merely physical hunger; it can symbolize spiritual famine, unfulfilled spiritual needs that render the nafs restless and compel an individual to engage in "seeking" and "asking" – be it from God or from creation, from the Beloved or from the realm of meaning. The agitated nafs can no longer bear waiting or refraining; it overtly steps into the arena of seeking and demanding. This is the point where a person moves from feigned self-sufficiency to unavoidable necessity, and this necessity itself often becomes a gateway to deeper insights.

From another perspective, Mowlana, in this seemingly worldly tale, alludes to the Sufi principle of being ibn al-waqt (child of the moment). The famished man can no longer dwell in his past honor and wealth, nor can he find solace in the future promise of treasure. He lives intensely in the present moment – the moment of hunger and desperation. The true Sufi is always a child of their time, submitting to what now transpires and learning from it. This conformity to the present moment, however bitter, is itself a form of liberation from the illusion of the past and the anxiety of the future. This couplet, inadvertently, invites one to live in the immediate moment and comprehend its raw needs – a need that tears away all veils of illusion and self-conceit.

Key takeaways

• The intensity of primal needs shatters pride and self-conceit.
• The restlessness and agitation of the nafs paves the way for seeking and asking.
• "Majāʿat" (famine/hunger) can be both material and spiritual, compelling humans to "ask" or "seek."
• Mowlana's storytelling about a worldly situation offers profound insights into the fundamental human condition.
• Necessity and living in the present moment (being ibn al-waqt) emerge from suffering and urgency.