Sultan's Pearl Test: Obedience to Authority Over Desire
1. Source : Mathnawi of Jalaludin Rumi (ra) , The Story of Sultan Mahmoud
2. One day the Sultan decided to test his ministers
and ordered them to crush the most prized pearl
of his treasury.
3. One by one, each of 65 ministers declined,
stating that the pearl was far too valuable to be
destroyed.
4. The King then summoned his closest and trusted
courtier, Ayaaz, and ordered him to crush the
pearl. Without any delay or hesitation, Ayaaz
crushed the pearl into fragments.
5. The ministers expressed disbelief and shock at
such audacity, the King asked Ayaaz to inform
them as to the reason for him having broken
the pearl.
6. In response, Ayaaz asked these ministers:
‘Which is more important, the Royal Decree or the
pearl?’
7. The question we pose to ourselves is:
‘Which is more important, the command of
my Allah or the desire of my heart?’
8. The desires of the heart are akin to pearls, which
appear to be quite beautiful but we should not
fulfil these desires at the cost of breaking the
decrees of Allah.
9. Ayaaz attained closeness to the king through his
loyalty and faithfulness and his obedience and
submission.
Similarly, we will gain the extreme nearness and
intimate closeness to the King of Kings through
loyalty and faithfulness.
This in turn is dependent upon sincere obedience and
complete submission to His decrees.
