In Book 3 of Jalaluddin Rumi's Masnavi, during the tale of the hospitable townsman being lured to the village, Rumi introduces a historical parallel to warn against worldly distractions. He recounts an incident where the companions of the Prophet Muhammad abandoned him during Friday prayers, drawn away by the sound of a drum signaling the arrival of a merchant caravan selling wheat during a time of hardship. Rumi uses this event as a profound allegory for humanity's tendency to forsake the Divine—the ultimate Provider—for the sake of fleeting material profit or amusement. He warns that any pursuit that separates a seeker from God, no matter how seemingly lucrative, is fundamentally harmful and deceptive. By reminding his audience that God is the true source who "sends wheat down from heaven," Rumi emphasizes the spiritual foolishness of abandoning the Creator to desperately chase after the very sustenance He has already guaranteed.