M1:655 — پهلوی عیسی نشینم بعد ازین / بر فرازِ آسمانِ چارمین

This couplet is the climax of the devious vizier's farewell speech to his disciples. Having feigned extreme piety and retreated into seclusion, he now announces his final departure from the world. He uses the language of Christian and Islamic cosmology, where the fourth heaven is the traditional station of Jesus (ʿĪsā), who was raised there by God and did not die on the cross.

By claiming a seat next to Jesus, the vizier is making an audacious claim to sainthood and spiritual union, cementing his authority in the minds of his followers. His words are designed to make his self-imposed isolation seem like a holy ascension, rendering him untouchable and his final (divisive) commands unquestionable. For Rumi's audience, the vizier's speech is a masterful performance of false spirituality, using the very symbols of sanctity to enact a plan of pure deception.