M2:1863 — چونی ای عیسی ز دیدار جهود / چونی ای یوسف ز مکار و حسود

This couplet is part of a longer dialogue where Moses questions God about the suffering of the righteous at the hands of the wicked. Rumi uses the archetypal figures of Jesus and Joseph to represent pure spiritual beings or prophets. Jesus, despite his miraculous powers and divine breath, faced relentless persecution and rejection from the Jews of his time. Similarly, Joseph, a figure of beauty and purity, was subjected to the envy and cunning of his own brothers, leading to his enslavement and imprisonment.

The question 'How are you?' (چونی) is not merely a greeting; it expresses concern and wonder at their endurance. It highlights the immense spiritual burden of those who carry divine light in a world often hostile to it. The 'Jew' (جهود) here symbolizes not a specific ethnicity, but rather a spiritual state of blindness, obstinacy, and opposition to divine truth, as perceived in the narrative context of Jesus's story. The 'cunning and envious' (مکار و حسود) refer to those driven by worldly desires and malice, who seek to harm the pure-hearted. Rumi is exploring the paradox of divine purity existing amidst worldly corruption and the resilience required to maintain one's spiritual integrity in such circumstances.