M1:2792 — تا بدین جا بهر دینار آمدم / چون رسیدم مست دیدار آمدم

Translation: Until now, I came for dinars (gold coins); Once I arrived, I became drunk with the sight (of the Beloved). Meaning: This couplet expresses the state of a seeker who initially approaches the divine with worldly aims, but upon experiencing the Beloved's presence, all material desires vanish, replaced by ecstatic spiritual intoxication.

This couplet marks one of those luminous moments in the Masnavi where Mowlana pulls back the veil and, through a character, articulates his own inner state. The story of the Arab and his wife, one of the most famous narratives in Book Two, outwardly describes a poor man who, urged by his spouse, carries a pitcher of water to the Caliph, hoping for a reward in dinars. Yet, when the Arab enters the Caliph's court and is asked his identity and origin, Mowlana puts words into his mouth that are undeniably a description of his own spiritual condition. The Arab explicitly states, “I am a stranger from the desert, / I came hoping for the Sultan's grace.” And immediately follows with this couplet, which is the climax of his internal transformation: “Until now, I came for dinars; / Once I arrived, I became drunk with the sight.”

Indeed, this journey mirrors the inner path of a seeker who initially embarks on the spiritual quest with not-so-lofty motivations, perhaps even material or egoistic ones. However, the presence at the Beloved's threshold and the vision of His beauty so intoxicate the seeker that all initial goals vanish from memory. The pursuit of dinars, a symbol of any material or even secondary mystical desire, pales in comparison to “didār”—the direct gnosis and presence. This is a transformation from “should be” to “is”; from wanting to being. Mowlana himself, like any human, trod a path that perhaps began with “hope for grace” but ultimately culminated in “intoxication of sight.”

This couplet clearly demonstrates that in Mowlana's intellectual framework, whatever the seeker’s initial intention and motivation, if he sincerely steps towards the Beloved's court, the Beloved transforms him so profoundly that he becomes self-oblivious, and all previous desires are forgotten. This is the secret of divine attraction and pull, which shifts from an apparent goal to an inner and transcendent truth. It is akin to how, at the beginning of the Masnavi with the reed, we move from ‘complaint’ (which is the apparent state) to ‘narration’ (which is the true state). The outward appearance of the story is a complaint of separation, but its inward essence is a narration of longing and desire for union. Here too, the outward matter is the quest for dinars, but its inward essence is the yearning for didār. In this couplet, Mowlana not only narrates a story but also pours forth the essence of his own lived mystical experience, showing the path of transformation from the perspective of a true seeker.

Key takeaways

• Mowlana articulates his own mystical experience through the character of the Arab.
• Spiritual journeys often begin with superficial motives that transform upon encountering divine reality.
• The sight of the Divine Beloved is so potent that it erases all material desires from the seeker's mind.
• This transformation signifies the shift from outward appearances (dinar) to inner reality (didār) in the quest for truth.