In Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, as the hare deliberately delays his arrival, the waiting lion grows fiercely angry. He bitterly regrets listening to the "determinists" (the prey animals), feeling that their persuasive speech deceived him and fettered his innate strength. Using the lion's realization as a springboard, Rumi introduces a fundamental Sufi metaphor distinguishing between outward form and inner essence. He compares speech and outward appearances to the "skin" or shell, and true meaning to the "kernel" or soul. Rumi cautions that eloquent, colorful words can act as a deceptive skin that conceals a defective core, fleeting "like a design on water." In stark contrast to the transient rhetoric and caprice of worldly kings, the profound "messages of the Creator" and the prophets possess eternal validity and enduring spiritual truth.

The Lion's Regret and the Metaphor of Skin and Kernel in the Masnavi

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گفت ای یاران مرا مهلت دهید 
تا بمکرم از بلا بیرون جهید
تا امان یابد بمکرم جانتان 
ماند این میراث فرزندانتان
هر پیمبر امتان را در جهان 
همچنین تا مخلصی می‌خواندشان
کز فلک راه برون شو دیده بود 
در نظر چون مردمک پیچیده بود
مردمش چون مردمک دیدند خرد 
در بزرگی مردمک کس ره نبرد

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## English translation
He said, 'O companions, give me respite, so that through my stratagem you may escape from calamity; so that through my stratagem your lives may gain safety, and this inheritance may remain for your children. Every prophet in the world likewise called his communities toward deliverance, because he had seen a way of exit from the celestial sphere, while in outward sight he was enfolded like the pupil of the eye. His people saw him as small as the pupil; no one found the way into the greatness of the pupil.'

دفتر اول - بخش ۵۳ - جواب گفتن خرگوش ایشان را / Book One - Section 53 - The Hare Answering Them

## Original content
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قوم گفتندش که چندین گاه ما 
جان فدا کردیم در عهد و وفا
تو مجو بدنامی ما ای عنود 
تا نرنجد شیر رو رو زود زود

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## English translation
The folk said to him: "For so long now
We have sacrificed our lives in covenant and fidelity.

Do not seek our dishonor, O stubborn one,
Lest the lion be angered — go, go, quickly, quickly!"

Google

## Original content
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طایفهٔ نخچیر در وادی خوش 
بودشان از شیر دایم کش‌مکش
بس که آن شیر از کمین می در ربود 
آن چرا بر جمله ناخوش گشته بود
حیله کردند آمدند ایشان بشیر 
کز وظیفه ما ترا داریم سیر
بعد ازین اندر پی صیدی میا 
تا نگردد تلخ بر ما این گیا

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## English translation
A company of game animals in a pleasant valley
Were always in conflict with the lion.
Because that lion so often snatched them from ambush,
That pasture had become unpleasant for them all.
They devised a stratagem and came to the lion,
Saying: “From a fixed allotment we will keep you satisfied.
From now on, do not come after prey,
So that this grass will not become bitter for us.”

دفتر اول - بخش ۴۲ - بیان توکل و ترک جهد گفتن نخچیران بشیر / Book One - Section 42 - The Beasts Explaining Trust and Abandoning Exertion to the Lion

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زین نمط بسیار برهان گفت شیر 
کز جواب آن جبریان گشتند سیر
روبه و آهو و خرگوش و شغال 
جبر را بگذاشتند و قیل و قال
عهدها کردند با شیر ژیان 
کاندرین بیعت نیفتد در زیان
قسم هر روزش بیاید بی‌جگر 
حاجتش نبود تقاضایی دگر
قرعه بر هر که فتادی روز روز 
سوی آن شیر او دویدی همچو یوز
چون به خرگوش آمد این ساغر بدور 
بانگ زد خرگوش کاخر چند جور

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## English translation
In this fashion the lion advanced many arguments, until those determinists grew weary of replying. The fox, gazelle, hare, and jackal gave up fatalism and disputation. They made covenants with the fierce lion that he would suffer no loss in this pact: each day his allotted share would come to him without his needing to take trouble, and he would need no further demanding. Day by day, whoever the lot fell upon would run toward that lion like a cheetah. When this cup came round to the hare, the hare cried out, “How long, after all, this oppression?”

دفتر اول - بخش ۵۱ - مقرر شدن ترجیح جهد بر توکل / Book One - Section 51 - The Establishment of the Preference for Exertion over Trust

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In Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, responding to the prey animals' plea for passive reliance on divine providence (*tawakkul*), the lion presents a vigorous defense of personal exertion (*jahd*). He argues that God has equipped humans with faculties and tools, which act as divine indications for action. To illustrate this, the lion uses the metaphors of a ladder and a spade: one must climb the ladder "step by step" to reach the roof, and a servant handed a spade by his master implicitly understands he is meant to work. The lion asserts that actively using one's God-given abilities—such as hands and feet—is a profound form of gratitude for these blessings, whereas passive necessitarianism or fatalism (*jabr*) is an ungrateful denial of them. He concludes that true trust in God must be coupled with active effort, summarizing his philosophical stance with the directive to first "sow, then rely on the Compeller."

The Lion's Argument for Exertion (Jahd) in the Masnavi

In Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, during the philosophical debate between the lion and the beasts over exertion (*jahd*) versus passive trust (*tawakkul*), the lion argues that worldly striving is not inherently evil. To illustrate the proper relationship a believer should have with the material world, the lion uses the metaphor of water and a boat. He explains that 'water inside the boat destroys the boat,' representing worldly attachment and greed entering the heart. However, 'water beneath the boat supports it,' symbolizing wealth and earthly means acting as necessary vehicles for spiritual advancement when kept outside the heart. The lion extends this with the metaphor of a sealed jar: just as a jar floats safely because it is sealed and filled with air, a believer's heart remains steady and buoyant atop the turbulent 'water of the world' as long as it is sealed against worldly desires and filled with the 'air' of divine poverty (dervishhood).

The Metaphor of the Boat and Worldly Detachment in the Masnavi

In Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, within the fable of the lion and the beasts, the prey animals urge the hare to disclose his secret plan to defeat the lion. Acknowledging the hare's cunning, the beasts emphasize the practical and spiritual necessity of consultation (*mashwarat*). They assert that seeking counsel sharpens perception and alertness, as "intellects give aid to intellect." To underscore their point, the animals quote the advice of the Prophet Muhammad: "Consult, O one who deliberates, for the one consulted is entrusted." Through this passage, Rumi articulates the Islamic principle of mutual consultation, suggesting that true wisdom is collaborative. Even in matters of survival, individuals are encouraged to pool their intellectual resources rather than relying exclusively on their isolated understanding.

The Importance of Consultation (Mashwarat) in the Masnavi

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گفت آری گر وفا بینم نه مکر 
مکرها بس دیده‌ام از زید و بکر
من هلاک فعل و مکر مردمم 
من گزیدهٔ زخم مار و کزدمم
مردم نفس از درونم در کمین 
از همه مردم بتر در مکر و کین
گوش من لایلدغ المؤمن شنید 
قول پیغامبر بجان و دل گزید

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## English translation
He said, “Yes, if I see loyalty, not trickery; I have seen many tricks from Zayd and Bakr. I am undone by people’s actions and cunning; I have been stung by snake and scorpion. The nafs lies in ambush against me within; in cunning and rancor it is worse than all people. My ear has heard ‘the believer is not stung [twice from the same hole]’; my soul and heart have taken up the Prophet’s saying.”

دفتر اول - بخش ۴۳ - جواب گفتن شیر نخچیران را و فایدهٔ جهد گفتن / Book One - Section 43 - The Lion Answering the Prey and Speaking of the Benefit of Exertion

## Original content
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گفت آری گر توکل رهبرست 
این سبب هم سنت پیغمبرست
گفت پیغامبر به آواز بلند 
با توکل زانوی اشتر ببند
رمز الکاسب حبیب الله شنو 
از توکل در سبب کاهل مشو

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## English translation
He said: "Yes, if tawakkul is the guide,
This means-taking too is the Prophet's sunna.
The Prophet said with a loud voice:
'With tawakkul, tie the camel's knee.'
Hear the mystery of al-kāsibu ḥabību 'llāh —
Through tawakkul, do not grow lazy in taking means."

دفتر اول - بخش ۴۵ - ترجیح نهادن شیر جهد و اکتساب را بر توکل و تسلیم / Book One - Section 45 - The Lion's Preference for Exertion and Acquisition over Trust and Submission

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قوم گفتندش که کسب از ضعف خلق 
لقمهٔ تزویر دان بر قدر حلق
نیست کسبی از توکل خوب‌تر 
چیست از تسلیم خود محبوب‌تر
بس گریزند از بلا سوی بلا 
بس جهند از مار سوی اژدها
حیله کرد انسان و حیله‌ش دام بود 
آنک جان پنداشت خون‌آشام بود
در ببست و دشمن اندر خانه بود 
حیلهٔ فرعون زین افسانه بود
صد هزاران طفل کشت آن کینه‌کش 
وانک او می‌جست اندر خانه‌اش
دیدهٔ ما چون بسی علت دروست 
رو فنا کن دید خود در دید دوست
دید ما را دید او نعم العوض 
یابی اندر دید او کل غرض
طفل تا گیرا و تا پویا نبود 
مرکبش جز گردن بابا نبود
چون فضولی گشت و دست و پا نمود 
در عنا افتاد و در کور و کبود
جانهای خلق پیش از دست و پا 
می‌پریدند از وفا اندر صفا
چون بامر اهبطوا بندی شدند 
حبس خشم و حرص و خرسندی شدند
ما عیال حضرتیم و شیرخواه 
گفت الخلق عیال للاله
آنک او از آسمان باران دهد 
هم تواند کو ز رحمت نان دهد

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## English translation
The people said to him: "Earning is from the weakness of creatures; know it as a morsel of deception measured to the throat. No earning is better than trust in God; what is more beloved than surrender? Many flee from calamity toward calamity; many jump from a snake toward a dragon. Man made a stratagem, and his stratagem was a snare; what he supposed to be life was blood-drinking. He shut the door, while the enemy was inside the house; Pharaoh's stratagem was of this sort of tale. That vengeful one killed hundreds of thousands of children, while the one he sought was in his own house. Since our sight has many defects in it, go, efface your sight in the sight of the Friend. His sight is an excellent replacement for our sight; in His sight you will find every aim. As long as the child was not grasping and crawling, his mount was only his father's neck. When he became intrusive and showed hands and feet, he fell into trouble, bruises, and contusions. Before hands and feet, the souls of creatures were flying, out of fidelity, in purity. When by the command 'Descend' they became bound, they became imprisoned in anger, greed, and contentment. We are dependents of the Divine Presence and seekers of milk; he said, 'Creation is God's household.' He who gives rain from heaven can also, from mercy, give bread."

دفتر اول - بخش ۴۶ - ترجیح نهادن نخچیران توکل را بر اجتهاد / Book One - Section 46 - The Beasts' Preference for Trust over Exertion

دفتر اول - بخش ۵۲ - انکار کردن نخچیران بر خرگوش در تاخیر رفتن بر شیر / Book One - Section 52 - The Objection of the Prey to the Hare's Delay in Going to the Lion

In Book 1 of Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, the fable of the lion and the prey beasts serves as a profound allegorical debate between the Islamic concepts of *tawakkul* (absolute trust in divine providence) and *jahd* (personal exertion or effort). The beasts argue that since God is the ultimate provider and destiny is preordained, human effort is a form of spiritual agitation that challenges the divine decree; therefore, they advocate for passive surrender. The lion, representing the spiritual master or the active intellect, counters this by arguing that God provided humans with limbs and faculties, and failing to use them is an act of ingratitude. He cites the Prophetic tradition to 'trust in God, but tie your camel', presenting a synthesis where human effort is not contradictory to, but rather the practical manifestation of, true trust in God.

The Debate Between Trust (Tawakkul) and Exertion (Jahd) in the Masnavi

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قوم گفتندش که ای خر گوش‌دار 
خویش را اندازهٔ خرگوش دار
هین چه لافست این که از تو بهتران 
در نیاوردند اندر خاطر آن
معجبی یا خود قضامان در پیست 
ور نه این دم لایق چون تو کیست

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## English translation
The group said to him: "Listen, you donkey! Keep yourself to the measure of a hare. Look, what boasting is this, that those better than you did not even conceive of in their minds? Are you self-deluded, or is it that our doom is chasing us? Otherwise, who is suitable for such talk as yours?"

دفتر اول - بخش ۵۴ - اعتراض نخچیران بر سخن خرگوش / Book One - Section 54 - The Objection of the Prey to the Hare's Words

## Original content
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هین بملک نوبتی شادی مکن 
ای تو بستهٔ نوبت آزادی مکن
آنک ملکش برتر از نوبت تنند 
برتر از هفت انجمش نوبت زنند
برتر از نوبت ملوک باقیند 
دور دایم روحها با ساقیند
ترک این شرب ار بگویی یک دو روز 
در کنی اندر شراب خلد پوز

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## English translation
Beware, do not rejoice in a turn-taking kingship;
O you bound to turn-taking, do not claim freedom.
Those whose kingdom is above the turn of the body
have the royal drum beaten for them above the seven stars.
Beyond such turn-taking, the abiding kings remain;
the spirits are in perpetual circling with the Cupbearer.
If you give up this drink for a day or two,
you will put your snout into the wine of eternity.

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