The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi)

The reed-flute laments its separation from the reed-bed, telling how its notes move listeners though none fathoms its secrets; the text declares this plaint to be the fire of love, likens the flute to the confidant of lovers, and recounts Majnun's love. It exhorts the son to burst his bonds, praises Love as physician, and invokes Mount Sinai's quaking when Moses swooned, closing on the Beloved, the mirror, and the rust to be scoured. In "The Prince and the Handmaid," a prince takes a fair maiden by promising gold; she falls sick, physicians fail because they omit "God willing," and a heaven-sent physician diagnoses her love for a goldsmith of Samarcand. The prince fetches and marries the goldsmith to her; after six months the physician, by divine command, gives the goldsmith a poison, and the maiden returns to the king. "Description of Love" states love proves the lover through heart-pain and cannot be explained by tongue or reason, only by the sun itself. Shamsu-'d-Din of Tabriz importunes Jalalu-'d-Din to compose the Masnavi; a dialogue follows in which the speaker resists revealing the Friend's secrets and Shams presses him to speak from the beginning. In "The Oilman and his Parrot," a cat upsets an oil-jar; the oilman strikes the parrot, whose feathers drop; later, seeing a bald man, the parrot asks whose oil-jar he upset. Verses on confusing saints with hypocrites follow, comparing false Musailima with Muhammad. In "The Jewish King, his Vazir, and the Christians," the Vazir has himself mutilated and exiled, gains the Christians' trust, gives twelve captains contradictory volumes, appoints each his successor to slay the others, then kills himself. Sections on the Vazir's teaching, sleep, Laila and the Khalifa, and the contradictory twelve volumes follow.

A Jewish king, referenced in the Sura "Signs of the Zodiac," resolves to exterminate the Christian faith, sets up an idol, and orders that those refusing to worship it be cast into fire. His officers seize a Christian woman with her babe; when she refuses, they throw the babe into the fire. The babe calls to its mother that the fire cannot burn it. The other Christians leap into the fire unharmed. The king reproaches the fire, which replies it is God's servant, then blazes up and consumes the king and his Jews. Verses follow on second causes subordinate to the First Cause, and on praise likened to vapour rising and returning as rain. In the second story, from Kalila and Damna, a lion preys on the beasts, who propose delivering one victim daily if he ceases his raids. The lion doubts, but they persuade him to trust Providence, relating a man who fled to Hindustan yet was smitten by the angel of death. When the hare's turn comes, he asks to try a stratagem; the others scoff, but consent. Arriving late, the hare tells the lion a rival lion seized his companion. The enraged lion has the hare guide him to a well, sees his own reflection, plunges in, and drowns; the hare escapes. Verses debate trust in God against self-exertion, the lion's speeches urging effort, and wisdom granted to the weak. In the third story, the hare urges his companions to fight inward lusts, telling of an ambassador sent by the Emperor of Rum to Khalifa 'Omar, whom he finds under a palm-tree. 'Omar answers the ambassador's questions about souls descending and being imprisoned, discoursing on God's agency and man's freewill; the ambassador becomes a Sufi.

A merchant keeps a parrot in a cage. Before traveling to Hindustan, he asks the parrot for a message to its kinsmen; the parrot asks him to tell them it is confined in a cage. The merchant delivers this to a flock of parrots, and one falls dead. On returning, he rebukes his parrot, which then falls dead in its cage. The merchant laments and throws out the corpse, which revives and flies away, explaining the Hindustani parrot feigned death to show the way to escape confinement. The text then offers commentary that saints are preserved from harm; the prophet's saying warns against entering conflict with every foe, invoking Nimrod and Abraham; verses on swimmers, saints, and sinners follow. A section on the jealousy of God is given, then complaints of God's harsh dealings with His slaves, drawing on Hakim Sanai, and an address to Husamu-'d-Din. In the time of the Khalifa 'Omar, a harper with a voice like Israfil grows old and unemployable. He plays his harp to God at the burial-ground of Yathrub, then sleeps and dreams of heaven. A divine voice directs 'Omar to relieve the old man; 'Omar finds him, gives him money, and the harper casts away his harp in contrition. 'Omar instructs him about ecstasy and union. An apology follows for calling God "Bride," referencing Mustafa. 'Omar then rebukes the harper for brooding over the past, urging him beyond sobriety. The harper's heart is emancipated, and he is regenerated in ecstasy.

An Arab and his wife live in desert poverty and become a reproach. The wife loses patience and urges improvement; the Arab rebukes her covetousness, cites the Prophet's "Poverty is my glory," and threatens divorce, but her blandishments reduce him to obedience. She directs him to offer the Khalifa at Bagdad a pot of water; the Arab travels there, the Khalifa receives it graciously, fills the pot with gold, and sends him home up the Tigris. The poet notes digressions on Pharaoh, Salih, and Adam. Verses follow on men subdued by women, on Woman as a ray of God; on Moses and Pharaoh both walking rightly, with Pharaoh crying at midnight about his yoke; on husband and wife as reason and flesh; on outward forms as witnesses; on God making Adam superior to angels, teaching him the names, the angels' questioning and God's mercy prevailing; and on plurality subserving unity. A coward of Qazwin asks an artist to tattoo a lion on his back, but roars at each needle-prick, rejecting tail and every part, until the artist throws down his tools. The Prophet counsels 'Ali to seek refuge under the Pir and submit like Moses to Khizr. A lion hunts with a wolf and fox, catching an ox, ibex, and hare. He bids the wolf divide; the wolf apportions shares, and the lion slays him. The fox awards all to the lion, who gives all to the fox. A man knocks at his friend's door, answers "'Tis I," is refused, returns after a year and answers "'Tis Thou," and is admitted. An old friend visits Joseph and presents a mirror.

The Prophet's scribe writes down the texts from the Prophet's lips, then grows conceited, imagining the wisdom is his own, and becomes a renegade like Harut and Marut. The text then describes philosophers who deny the last day, Divine Providence, and the Devil, mentioning the blue turban and the seventy-two heresies lurking within believers. Next, the Chinese and Greeks dispute before the Sultan over painting; each is given a house. The Chinese use elaborate paints; the Greeks merely cleanse and burnish their walls, which win by reflecting the Chinese colours. A passage follows contrasting knowledge of the heart with knowledge of the schools. At dawn the Prophet asks Zaid how he fares; Zaid describes his ecstatic state and vision of the eight heavens and seven hells. The Prophet repeatedly commands him to hold his peace and not reveal what God keeps secret, using the warder analogy; Zaid submits. Anecdotes of Luqman, Solomon, and a conflagration under 'Omar are noted. The Prophet gives final counsels of Reserve, calling his companions stars; Zaid then flees. Next, 'Ali, the "Lion of God," fights a Magian chief who spits in his face; 'Ali drops his sword, explaining he slays only for God's will, and recounts that the Prophet foretold he would die by his stirrup-bearer Ibn Maljun, who begged to be killed first, but 'Ali refused. The Magian chief and fifty of his family embrace Islam. God rebukes Adam for scorning Iblis; Adam repents. The Epilogue to Book I speaks of the forbidden wheat, bread as "substance" versus "form," the camel and thorn, and counsels patience.