# List of stories in the Masnavi

The below list gives an overview of the stories in Rumi's Masnavi, as it appears in Reynold A. Nicholson's translation.

## Book I

* Preface (in prose)
* Proem
* The King and the Handmaiden
* The Greengrocer and the Parrot
* The Jewish King whose Vizier contrived a plot against the Christians
* The Caliph and Laylá
* The description of Mohammed in the Gospel
* Another Jewish King who persecuted the Christians
* The punishment inflicted on a man who scoffed at Mohammed
* The Wind which destroyed the people of ‘Ad .
* The Lion and the Beasts of chase
* Azrael and the man who took refuge with Solomon
* Solomon and the Hoopoe
* The Fall of Adam
* The Holy War against the Flesh
* The Caliph ‘Umar and the Ambassador
* How Adam acknowledged, while Iblis denied, responsibility for sin
* “And He is with you, wheresoever you be”
* “Let him who desires to sit with God sit with the Súfís”
* The Merchant and the Parrot which gave him a message to the parrots of India
* The Spiritual Birds that are Divine Intelligences
* Commentary on a saying of Faridu’ddín ‘Attár .
* The respect paid to Moses by Pharaoh’s magicians
* Commentary on a saying of Saná’í, and a Discourse on a Tradition of the Prophet concerning the jealousy of God
* The harmfulness of being honoured by the people
* “Whatsoever God wills cometh to pass”
* The Story of the Harper
* Explanation of a Tradition of the Prophet concerning Divine inspiration
* A Story of ‘A’isha and the Prophet
* Commentary on a verse of Saná’i
* “Take advantage of the coolness of the spring season”
* The Moaning Pillar
* A miracle performed by the Prophet in the presence of Abú Jahl
* The Prodigal for whom the angels pray
* The munificent Caliph
* The Arab of the Desert and his Wife
* False saints
* The power of Faith
* Light and colour
* Explanation of the Tradition that women prevail over the wise man, while the ignorant man prevails over them
* The mystery of Moses and Pharaoh
* “He has lost this life and the life to come”
* The prophet Sálih and the people of Thamúd
* The barrier between the righteous and the wicked
* What is meat to the saint is poison to the disciple
* The Divine Bounty and those who beg for it
* The two kinds of “poor”
* The World's lovers
* The proverb, “If you commit fornication, commit it with a free woman, and if you steal, steal a pearl”
* The Grammarian and the Boatman
* The Spiritual Guide
* The Prophet's injunction to ‘Alí
* The man of Qazwín who wanted to have a lion tattooed on his shoulder
* The wolf and the fox who went to hunt with the Lion .
* The man who knocked at his friend’s door and, on being asked who he was, answered, “‘Tis I”
* Description of Unification
* Noah as the God-man
* Why the Súfís who know God are seated in front of kings
* Joseph and the guest-friend who could find no suitable gift for him except a mirror
* Mohammed and the scribe who wrote down the Qur'anic Revelations
* Bal’am son of Bá’úr
* Hárút and Márút
* The deaf man and his sick neighbour
* Iblis the originator of analogical reasoning applied to the Word of God
* Mystical experiences must be kept hidden from the vulgar
* The contention between the Greek and Chinese artists
* The Vision of Zayd
* Luqmán and his fellow-servants
* The conflagration in Medina in the days of the Caliph 'Umar
* 'Alí and the infidel who spat in his face
* 'Alí and his murderer
* The self-conceit shown by Adam towards Iblís
* The unworldliness of the Prophet

## Book II

* Preface (in prose)
* Proem
* The Caliph ‘Umar and the man who thought he saw the new moon
* The fool who entreated Jesus to bring some bones to life
* The Sufi who enjoined the servant to take care of his ass
* The King and his lost falcon
* Shaykh Ahmad son of Khizrúya and his creditors
* The answer of an ascetic who was warned not to weep, lest he should become blind
* The peasant who stroked a lion in the dark
* The Súfis who sold the traveller’s ass
* The greedy insolvent
* Parable for those who say “if”
* The man who killed his mother because he suspected her of adultery
* The King and his two slaves
* The King's retainers who envied his favourite slave
* The falcon amongst the owls
* The thirsty man who threw bricks into the water
* The man who planted a thornbush in the road and delayed to uproot it
* Dhu'l-Nún and the friends who came to visit him in the mad-house
* The sagacity of Luqmán
* The reverence of Bilqís for the message of Solomon which was brought to her by the hoopoe
* The philosopher who showed disbelief in the Qur’án
* Moses and the shepherd
* The Amír and the sleeping man into whose mouth a snake had crept
* The fool who trusted the bear
* The blind beggar who said, “I have two blindnesses”
* Moses and the worshipper of the golden calf
* Galen and the madman
* The cause of a bird's flying and feeding with a bird that is not of its own kind
* Mohammed's visit to the sick Companion
* The gardener who separated three friends in order to chastise them singly
* Báyazíd and the Shaykh who said, “I am the Ka’ba”
* The novice who built a new house
* Dalqak and the Sayyid-i Ajall
* The Saint who rode a cock-horse
* The dog and the blind mendicant
* The Police Inspector and the drunken man
* Iblís and Mu’áwiya
* The Cadi who wept whilst he was being installed
* The bitter grief of a man who missed the congregational prayers
* The thief who escaped because his accomplice gave a false alarm
* The Hypocrites and the Mosque of Opposition
* The true believer's stray camel
* The four Indians who lost their prayers
* The Ghuzz Turcomans and the two villagers
* The self-conceit and ingratitude shown by the worldly towards the prophets and saints
* The old man who complained to the doctor
* Júhí and the child
* The boy who was afraid of an effeminate man
* The archer and the horseman
* The Arab of the desert and the philosopher
* The miracles of Ibráhim son of Adham
* The beginning of the gnostic's illumination
* The stranger who reviled the Shaykh
* The man who declared that God would not punish his sins, and Shu’ayb's answer to him
* The answer of the Prophet to ‘A’isha, who said that he performed the ritual prayer in unclean places
* The mouse and the camel
* The miracles of a dervish who was accused of theft
* The garrulous, greedy, and somnolent Súfí, and his reply to the Shaykh who enjoined him to observe moderation
* The nature of intuitive knowledge
* John the Baptist and Jesus
* Mute eloquence
* The search for the Tree of Life
* How four persons quarrelled about grapes, which were known to each of them by a different name
* How Mohammed established unity amongst the Ansár
* Solomon and the birds
* The ducklings that were fostered by a hen
* The miracles wrought by an ascetic in the desert

## Book III

* Preface (in prose)
* Proem
* The Travellers who ate the young Elephant
* Bilál’s mispronunciation in chanting the call to prayer
* Moses instructed by God how he should pray
* The response to sincere prayer
* The Countryman and the Townsman
* The people of Sabá and the Prophets
* How Jesus came forth from his cell and healed the sick
* The Falcon and the Ducks
* The people of Zarwán
* Majnún and Laylá’s dog
* The Jackal that fell into the dyeing-vat and pretended to be a Peacock
* The Braggart who pretended that he had dined well
* Bal’am the son of Bá’úr
* “And thou wilt surely know them in the perversion of their speech”
* Hárút and Márút
* Pharaoh's dream of the coming of Moses
* The Mughal and the Egyptians
* The conception and birth of Moses
* The Snake-catcher and the frozen Snake
* Pharaoh and Moses
* The two Magicians who summoned their father from the grave
* Comparison of the Qur’án to the rod of Moses
* The Elephant in the dark house
* Noah and Canaan
* Infidelity and Predestination
* The Barber and the Man with grizzled hair
* The answer of Zayd to his assailant
* The Companions of the Prophet and the Qur’án
* The Lover who read a love-letter in the presence of his Beloved
* The Poor Man who prayed that he might gain a lawful livelihood without work
* Knowledge and Opinion
* The Teacher who fancied he was ill
* The Dervish who broke his vow
* The far-seeing Goldsmith
* The Magicians whom Pharaoh threatened to punish
* The complaint of the Mule to the Camel
* The Ass of ‘Uzayr
* The Shaykh who showed no grief at the death of his sons
* The Blind Man who regained his sight when he read the Qur’án
* The patience of Luqmán
* Buhlúl and the Dervish
* The Visions and Miracles of Daqúqi
* Moses and Khizr
* The flight of Jesus from the Fool
* The Children's Tale of the Three Worldlings
* The Hares and the Elephant
* Noah and the building of the Ark
* The Thief who said he was beating a Drum
* The meaning of Prudence
* The Vow made by the Dogs every winter
* The Divine Providence manifested in the creation of Hell
* Kings compared to the Báb-i Saghír at Jerusalem
* The Súfí who fell into ecstasy on seeing an empty food-wallet
* Jacob's love for Joseph
* The Amir and the Slave who took delight in the ritual Prayer
* The Faith of the Worldly
* Hidden Saints
* Anas and the Prophet's napkin
* How the Prophet saved a caravan of Arabs from death in the Desert
* Miracles wrought by the Prophet on the same occasion
* Need and distress call forth the Bounty of God
* The Babe that bore witness to the Prophet
* The Eagle that carried off the Prophet's boot
* The Man who asked Moses to teach him the language of Beasts and Birds
* The Woman whose twenty children all died in infancy
* Why Hamza in his old age refused to protect himself with a coat of mail
* The advantages of Deliberation
* The death of Bilál
* The World and the Body
* Statute and Analogy
* The reverence due to the Shaykhs from their disciples
* Conventional and intuitive knowledge
* Faná and Baqá
* The Wakíl of Bukhárá and his Master
* The appearance of the Holy Spirit in human shape to Mary, the Mother of Jesus
* The most beautiful City
* The Lover in the haunted Mosque
* The worldliness of Galen
* How Satan deceived the Quraysh
* The Boy who beat a tomtom in order to scare a Camel on which they were beating a drum
* Comparison of the true Believer suffering tribulation to peas being boiled in a pot
* The Mathnawí and its critics
* The outer and inner sense of the Qur’án
* Why the Saints take refuge in mountains and caves
* How the mountains joined in the song of David
* The Foal that would not drink
* The cry of the Devil
* How each element in the Body is drawn to its original source, and the Soul likewise
* The Prophet and the Captives
* The Gnat and the Wind in the presence of Solomon
* The perfidious Lover

## Book IV

* Preface (in prose)
* Proem
* The perfidious Lover (continued)
* The Preacher who prayed for the wicked
* The answer of Jesus to the question, “What is the hardest thing to bear?”
* The Súfí who caught his wife with a strange man
* The Names of God
* Comparison of the World to a bath-stove
* The Tanner who fainted on smelling otto and musk
* The Jew who tempted ‘Alí
* The building of the Farther Mosque (the Temple of Solomon)
* “The Faithful are naught but brothers”
* The unspoken Sermon of the Caliph ‘Uthmán
* Man the Macrocosm
* Comparison of the Prophet and the Moslem saints to the Ark of Noah
* Solomon and Bilqís
* The Miracles of Shaykh ‘Abdullah Maghribí
* The Druggist and the Clay-eater
* The Dervish and the Carrier of firewood
* Ibráhím ibn Adham and his abandonment of his Kingdom
* The thirsty man who climbed a walnut-tree and dropped walnuts into the water
* Halíma and the infant Mohammed
* The Worldly and the Spiritual
* The Poet and the two Viziers
* Pharaoh and Hámán
* The Demon who sat on the throne of Solomon
* How Cain learned the grave-digger’s trade
* The Súfi who contemplated the beauty of the Garden in his own heart
* Worldly knowledge and power a dangerous weapon in the hands of the wicked
* “O thou that wrappest thyself”
* The Slave whose allowance was reduced
* Man half angel and half beast
* Majnún and his she-camel
* The Divine and the Thief who stole his turban
* The World's enticement and warning
* The food of the Saints
* Death the touchstone of pretension
* The hypocritical Encomiast
* The divine Physicians
* How Abd Yazíd (Báyazíd) Bistámí predicted the birth of Abu‘l-Hasan Kharraqáni
* How the wind blew perversely against Solomon
* Abu’l-Hasan at the tomb of Abú Yazíd
* The Man who took counsel with his enemy
* The Prophet's appointment of a Young Man of Hudhayl to command the army
* The Ecstasy of Báyazíd
* The wise, the half-wise, and the foolish
* The Three Fishes
* The ablutionary Prayers
* The Man who failed to profit by the wise counsels of a Bird
* Moses and Pharaoh as types of Reason and Imagination
* The spiritual vision in which all the senses become one
* Moses and Pharaoh
* The World's assault on the Unseen
* The Purification of the Heart
* “I was a Hidden Treasure”
* “Speak ye unto men according to the measure of their understandings
* The Prophet’s promise of Paradise to ‘Ukkásha
* The royal Falcon and the Old Woman
* ‘Alí’s advice to the Mother whose child was in danger of falling from the top of the water-spout
* Like attracts like
* The Prophet and the Arab Chiefs
* Paradise and Hell are the effects of Divine Mercy and Wrath
* The Argument between the Atheist and the Mystic
* The Purpose of Creation
* Why Moses was loved by God
* The King and his Boon-companion and the Courtier who acted as intercessor
* Abraham rejects the proffered help of Gabriel
* The mystery of Life and Death
* Body and Spirit
* The Prince and the Witch of Kabúl
* The Ascetic who laughed while the people were dying of hunger
* Live in harmony with Universal Reason
* The Sons of ‘Uzayr
* “Verily, I ask pardon of God seventy times every day”
* The weakness of the discursive Reason
* Submission to the Saints
* The Mule and the Camel
* The Egyptian and the Israelite
* The Pear-tree of Illusion
* The spiritual Evolution of Man
* Divine immanence in Creation
* Dhu’l-Qarnayn and Mount Qaf
* The Ant that saw the pen writing
* The Prophet's vision of Gabriel in his real form

## Book V

* Preface (in prose)
* Proem
* Parable of the Four Birds
* Description of the Duck
* The Prophet and the Greedy Infidel
* The Light which is the Food of the Spirit
* Description of the Peacock
* Diversity of Intelligences
* The Arab of the Desert and his Dog
* The Sage and the Peacock
* “No monkery in Islam”
* Description of the Crow
* The Gazelle in the Donkey-stable
* Muammad Khwárizmsháh and the people of Sabzawár
* Description of the Cock
* “The Lowest of the Low”
* The two Worlds
* The value of Works
* “And He is with you”
* The Man who claimed to be a Prophet
* The Devoted Lover
* The Disciple who imitated the Shaykh
* The Maidservant and the Ass
* Parable of the Parrot which is taught to speak by seeing its image in a mirror
* The Puppies that barked before they were born
* The People of Zarwán
* The Creation of Adam
* The illusion of causes
* Death and Resurrection
* The infinite mercy of God
* The Story of Ayáz
* Laylá and Majnún
* The Ascetic and his jealous Wife
* The repentance of Nasúh
* The Fox and the Ass
* The Ass that envied the Arab horses
* The Ascetic who made trial of his trust in God
* Parable of the Camel
* The effeminate Youth
* The Man who was afraid of being taken for an Ass
* Shaykh Muhammad Sar-razí of Ghazna
* The Disciple in dreadof hunger
* The Cow in the green Island
* The Christian ascetic who went about with a lamp in the day-time
* Debate between a Moslem and a Magian on the subject of free-will
* The Dervish who reproached God
* The beauty of Laylá
* A story of Júhí
* The Infidel and Báyazíd
* The Muezzin with the harsh voice
* The Cat and the Meat
* The Amír and the Ascetic
* Ziyá-yi Dalq and his Brother
* Dalqak's game of Chess with the Sháh of Tirmid
* The Prophet on Mount Hirá
* The World that is living, speaking, and hearing
* The Guest who took offence and departed
* A Father's advice to his married Daughter
* The cowardly Súfí
* ‘Iyádí and the Greater Warfare
* The Man who tormented his Carnal Soul
* The Caliph and the Captain
* The Magicians of Pharaoh

## Book VI

* Preface (in prose)
* Proem
* The Bird on the City-wall
* The temptation of Free-will
* The Hindu Slave and his Master’s daughter
* The Thief who put out the light
* The Story of Ayáz (continued)
* The Fowler and the Bird
* The Man whose Ram was stolen
* The Watchman who cried out after the Robbers had gone
* The Lover who fell asleep
* The Turkish Amír and the Minstrel
* ‘A’isha and the Blind Man
* “Die before ye die”
* A Poet's rebuke to the Shí’ites of Aleppo
* Parable of the Ant
* The Man who gave the drum-call for breakfast at midnight
* The Story of Bilál
* The Story of Hilál
* The Horse that went backward
* Mohammed and Jesus
* The ugly old Hag who wanted a Husband
* The Dervish and the Man of Gílán
* The Beggar and the House where nothing could be got
* The Man who was desperately ill, and the Story of the Súfi and the Cadi
* Sultan Mahmud and the Hindú Boy
* The Turk and the Tailor
* The Fakir and the Hidden Treasure
* Shaykh Abu ‘l-Hasan Kharraqáni and his Disciple
* Man the vicegerent of God
* The Three Travellers and the sweetmeat
* The Camel, the Ox, and the Ram
* Dalqak and the King of Tirmid
* The Mouse and the Frog
* Sultan Mahmúd and the Night-thieves
* The Sea-cow and the Pearl
* ‘Abdu ‘l-Ghawth and the Peris
* The insolvent Dervish and the Police Inspector of Tabríz
* Ja’far-i Tayyár's irresistible attack on a fortress
* Parable of the man who sees double
* The Khwárizmsháh and the beautiful Horse
* The imprisonment of Joseph
* The Three Princes who fell in love with the portrait of the Princess of China
* The Sadr-i Jahán of Bukhárá and the Jurist
* Story of two Brothers
* The King who forced a learned Doctor to drink wine with him
* Imra’u ‘l-Qays and the King of Tabúk
* The Man who dreamed of a Hidden Treasure
* The Cadi and the Wife of Júhí
* The Prophet and ‘Alí
* Hell and the true Believer
* The Story of Nimrod
* The miracles of Shaybán Rá’í
* The Man who left his property to the laziest of his three Sons
* Parable of the Child and the Bogle