M2:148 — گفت اگر من نیستم اسرارخوان / هم تو بر خوان نام را بر استخوان

This couplet marks a shift in the foolish companion's pleading. Initially, he demanded to be taught the secret Name of God that Jesus uses to resurrect the dead. Jesus refused, explaining that such power requires immense spiritual purity and capacity, which the man lacks. He compares giving the man this power to putting Moses's staff in an ordinary hand—the tool is useless without the inner state of the prophet.

Having been rebuffed, the man changes his tactic. He concedes his own unworthiness (agar man nīstam asrār-khwān — "if I am not a reciter of secrets"). Instead of asking to learn the secret, he now simply asks Jesus to perform the miracle for him. This reveals the core of his desire: it is not for spiritual attainment but for the spectacle of power, for a kind of spiritual entertainment. His request is a form of stubborn insistence, shifting from "teach me" to "show me," highlighting his spiritual immaturity and his focus on the external miracle rather than the inner transformation required to wield such a gift.