A narration is given in Mathnawi that once a sage had nothing to eat and he and his friends were hungry. A boy happened to pass by selling dessert. The sage ordered his friends to snatch the dish from the boy. They acted accordingly. The sage and his friends ate the dessert.
The boy wept and cried. His friends questioned the sage, ‘What was the wisdom in snatching the dish from a child.’
The sage said that dish was child’s total asset and he cried in extreme pain when he lost it. His painful cry resulted in relief from his difficulty and anguish that our prayers could not have accomplished. The boy was, then, appeased by giving him more than his right.
Similarly, at times, one faces hardships so that he may expeditiously attain a status destined for him.
(Malfuzat, Vol. 7, p. 363–364)