M2:3483 — تا نشد زر مس نداند من مسم / تا نشد شه دل نداند مفلسم

This couplet uses two parallel metaphors to explain a core spiritual problem: self-ignorance. Rumi, continuing his discussion on the dangers of an unrefined character, argues that we are generally blind to our own flaws.

The first image is alchemical. A piece of base copper, in its raw state, has no concept of its own baseness. It is simply what it is. Only by being transformed into gold through the elixir (iksīr) does it gain the perspective to look back and understand its former, lesser nature. The transformation itself is what reveals the initial deficiency.

The second image is social and spiritual. A heart that is spiritually destitute—a 'bankrupt' (muflis)—is unaware of its poverty. It is only by attaining the state of spiritual royalty, of becoming a 'king' (shāh), that it can comprehend the utter destitution it came from. This 'kingship' is not worldly power but the inner wealth that comes from spiritual realization, often through the guidance of a master (the 'elixir' mentioned in the next verse). The point is that self-assessment without a higher frame of reference is impossible; we are like the arrogant mouse in the story, unaware of our true, lowly state until a real test or a true transformation reveals it.