In Book Two of Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi's Masnavi, the story of the King's falcon and the old crone serves as a profound spiritual allegory. The royal falcon represents the noble human soul or the spiritually elevated individual, while the King symbolizes the divine. The old crone represents the ignorant, the spiritually blind, or the material world.

When the crone finds the falcon, she perceives its majestic wings and talons as overgrown and harmful, so she clips them to 'help' the bird. This illustrates how the ignorant, lacking understanding of higher spiritual elevation, attempt to conform the noble soul to their own limited, worldly standards. It ultimately harms what they seek to nurture, serving as a warning against seeking guidance or companionship from those who lack spiritual insight.