In Book Three of the *Masnavi* (Section 216), Rumi explores the famous Hadith in which the Prophet Muhammad smiles at prisoners of war and says, "I marvel at a people who are dragged to Paradise in chains and shackles." Rumi uses this imagery to explain how divine grace often operates through apparent compulsion, hardship, and divine "wrath."

The prisoners, physically bound and filled with resentment, are unknowingly being pulled away from spiritual ignorance and disbelief toward ultimate salvation. In Rumi's interpretation, the "chains" symbolize the worldly sufferings, restrictions, and divine decrees that curb the human ego. Although these constraints are painful and resisted by the ego, they are ultimately acts of mercy that compel individuals toward spiritual awakening and "Paradise."

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دید پیغامبر یکی جوقی اسیر 
که همی‌بردند و ایشان در نفیر
دیدشان در بند آن آگاه شیر 
می نظر کردند در وی زیر زیر
تا همی خایید هر یک از غضب 
بر رسول صدق دندانها و لب
زهره نه با آن غضب که دم زنند 
زانک در زنجیر قهر ده‌منند
می‌کشاندشان موکل سوی شهر 
می‌برد از کافرستانشان به قهر
نه فدایی می‌ستاند نه زری 
نه شفاعت می‌رسد از سروری
رحمت عالم همی‌گویند و او 
عالمی را می‌برد حلق و گلو
با هزار انکار می‌رفتند راه 
زیر لب طعنه‌زنان بر کار شاه
چاره‌ها کردیم و اینجا چاره نیست 
خود دل این مرد کم از خاره نیست
ما هزاران مرد شیر الپ ارسلان 
با دو سه عریان سست نیم‌جان
این چنین درمانده‌ایم از کژرویست 
یا ز اخترهاست یا خود جادویست
بخت ما را بر درید آن بخت او 
تخت ما شد سرنگون از تخت او
کار او از جادوی گر گشت زفت 
جادوی کردیم ما هم چون نرفت

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## English translation
Book Three — Section 216 — The Prophet, peace be upon him, looking upon the prisoners and smiling, and saying: "I marvel at a people who are dragged to Paradise in chains and shackles"

The Prophet saw a company of prisoners
being led away while they cried out in clamor.
That aware lion saw them in bonds;
they were casting glances at him from beneath their eyes.
Each one gnashing from rage
teeth and lips against the truthful Messenger.
Yet they had no courage, with all that rage, to utter a word,
for they were laden in ten-maund chains of wrath.
The guardian dragged them toward the city,
leading them by force from their land of unbelief.
No ransom was accepted, no gold,
no intercession reached them from any lord.
They call him "Mercy to the Worlds," yet he
leads a whole world by the throat and neck.
With a thousand protests they walked along the road,
muttering taunts under their breath at the King's doings.
"We tried every remedy, yet here there is no remedy —
truly, this man's heart is no less than flint.
We — thousands of men, lions, Alp Arslans —
against two or three naked, feeble, half-alive men,
are thus laid helpless — is it from crooked ways,
or from the stars, or is it outright sorcery?
His fortune tore our fortune asunder;
our throne was overturned before his throne.
If his power grew mighty through sorcery,
we too practiced sorcery — why did it not work?"

دفتر سوم - بخش ۲۱۶ - نظرکردن پیغامبر علیه السلام به اسیران و تبسم کردن و گفتن کی عجبت من قوم یجرون الی الجنة بالسلاسل و الاغلال / Book Three — Section 216 — The Prophet, peace be upon him, looking upon the prisoners and smiling, and saying: 'I marvel at a people who are dragged to Paradise in chains and shackles'

In Section 139 of Book Three of the Masnavi, Rumi presents a profound theological perspective on the existence of Hell and worldly prisons. He asserts that the fundamental purpose of human creation is the worship and service of the Divine. For the arrogant and proud who refuse to submit willingly, Hell and prisons act as mechanisms of forced subjugation. Thus, these places of punishment serve as "sanctuaries" or places of worship where the arrogant are compelled to acknowledge their limitations and bow to a higher power, fulfilling the divine decree either willingly or reluctantly.

The Wisdom of Hell and Prisons as Sanctuaries for the Arrogant in the Masnavi

In Book Three, Section 163 of the Masnavi, Rumi explores the concept that worldly losses—whether of wealth or the physical body—ultimately serve as gains for the soul. He asserts that material loss saves the soul from spiritual punishment (wabal). Rumi advises the seeker to willingly embrace spiritual discipline and austerity (riyazat), as dedicating the body to service elevates the soul. Furthermore, if hardships or suffering come involuntarily, the believer should submit and offer gratitude, recognizing them as a divine grace intended for their ultimate spiritual purification and benefit.

The Spiritual Value of Loss and Involuntary Hardship (Riyazat) in the Masnavi

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Source URL: https://ganjoor.net/

This Reference node represents the source used by the Literature-to-1Cademy migration agent.

Ganjoor

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گرچه نشنید آن موکل آن سخن 
رفت در گوشی که آن بد من لدن
بوی پیراهان یوسف را ندید 
آنک حافظ بود و یعقوبش کشید
آن شیاطین بر عنان آسمان 
نشنوند آن سر لوح غیب‌دان
آن محمد خفته و تکیه زده 
آمده سر گرد او گردان شده
او خورد حلوا که روزیشست باز 
آن نه کانگشتان او باشد دراز
نجم ثاقب گشته حارس دیوران 
که بهل دزدی ز احمد سر ستان
ای دویده سوی دکان از پگاه 
هین به مسجد رو بجو رزق اله
پس رسول آن گفتشان را فهم کرد 
گفت آن خنده نبودم از نبرد
مرده‌اند ایشان و پوسیدهٔ فنا 
مرده کشتن نیست مردی پیش ما
خود کیند ایشان که مه گردد شکاف 
چونک من پا بفشرم اندر مصاف
آنگهی کآزاد بودیت و مکین 
مر شما را بسته می‌دیدم چنین
ای بنازیده به ملک و خاندان 
نزد عاقل اشتری بر ناودان
نقش تن را تا فتاد از بام طشت 
پیش چشمم کل آت آت گشت
بنگرم در غوره می بینم عیان 
بنگرم در نیست شی بینم عیان
بنگرم سر عالمی بینم نهان 
آدم و حوا نرسته از جهان
مر شما را وقت ذرات الست 
دیده‌ام پا بسته و منکوس و پست
از حدوث آسمان بی عمد 
آنچ دانسته بدم افزون نشد
من شما را سرنگون می‌دیده‌ام 
پیش از آن کز آب و گل بالیده‌ام
نو ندیدم تا کنم شادی بدان 
این همی‌دیدم در آن اقبالتان
بستهٔ قهر خفی وانگه چه قهر 
قند می‌خوردید و در وی درج زهر
این چنین قندی پر از زهر ار عدو 
خوش بنوشد چت حسد آید برو
با نشاط آن زهر می‌کردید نوش 
مرگتان خفیه گرفته هر دو گوش
من نمی‌کردم غزا از بهر آن 
تا ظفر یابم فرو گیرم جهان
کین جهان جیفه‌ست و مردار و رخیص 
بر چنین مردار چون باشم حریص
سگ نیم تا پرچم مرده کنم 
عیسی‌ام آیم که تا زنده‌ش کنم
زان همی‌کردم صفوف جنگ چاک 
تا رهانم مر شما را از هلاک
زان نمی‌برم گلوهای بشر 
تا مرا باشد کر و فر و حشر
زان همی‌برم گلویی چند تا 
زان گلوها عالمی یابد رها
که شما پروانه‌وار از جهل خویش 
پیش آتش می‌کنید این حمله کیش
من همی‌رانم شما را همچو مست 
از در افتادن در آتش با دو دست
آنک خود را فتحها پنداشتید 
تخم منحوسی خود می‌کاشتید
یکدگر را جد جد می‌خواندید 
سوی اژدرها فرس می‌راندید
قهر می‌کردید و اندر عین قهر 
خود شما مقهور قهر شیر دهر

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## English translation
Though that guardian-angel heard not those words,\nThey entered an ear that was from the Divine Presence (man ladun).\n\nThe one who was the guardian [of the caravan] did not perceive the scent of Joseph's shirt,\nYet it drew Jacob to it.\n\nThose devils on the threshold of the heavens\nDo not hear the secrets of the Tablet of the Unseen.\n\nThat Muhammad, reclining and at rest—\nThey came, circling around his head.\n\nHe eats the sweet that is again his allotted provision—\nNot because his reach [the fingers of greed] is long.\n\nThe piercing star (najm al-thāqib) has become guardian against the demons,\nSaying: "Cease your stealing; take openly from Ahmad."\n\nO you who ran toward the shop since early morning—\nHeed! Go to the mosque; seek God's provision.\n\nThen the Prophet understood what they had said.\nHe said: "That laughter was not from battle-contest."\n\nThey are dead and rotted into nothingness—\nKilling the dead is not manliness in our sight.\n\nWho are they, that the moon should be cleaved\nWhen I plant my foot firmly in the battle-line?\n\nAt the time when you were free and settled,\nEven then I saw you bound like this.\n\nO you who prided yourselves on kingdom and lineage—\nIn the eyes of the wise, [you are like] a camel on a drainpipe.\n\nSince the basin fell from the roof [the secret of the body's end is out],\nBefore my eyes every "future" [thing] became [presently] "come" (kullu ātin āt).\n\nWhen I look at the unripe grape, I see [the wine] plainly—\nWhen I look at nonexistence, I see a [existent] thing plainly.\n\nWhen I look, I see hidden the beginning of a world—\nAdam and Eve not yet sprung into the world.\n\nI saw you at the time of the particles of Alast—\nFettered, inverted, and abased.\n\nFrom the [time of the] origination of the pillarless heavens,\nWhat I knew has not increased.\n\nI saw you upside-down\nBefore I had grown from water and clay.\n\nI saw nothing new to rejoice at—\nThis is what I kept seeing in your [apparent] fortune.\n\nBound by hidden wrath—and what a wrath!—\nYou were eating sugar, with poison lodged within it.\n\nIf an enemy drinks such sugar full of poison with pleasure,\nWhy should envy come upon you for it?\n\nWith joy you were drinking that poison,\nYour death silently gripping both your ears.\n\nI did not wage holy war (ghazā) for this—\nTo gain victory and seize the world.\n\nFor this world is carrion and rottenness and cheap—\nHow could I be greedy for such carrion?\n\nI am not a dog to gnaw at the corpse—\nI am Jesus; I come to make it live.\n\nThat is why I was cleaving through battle-ranks,\nTo deliver you from destruction.\n\nI do not cut the throats of human beings\nSo that I may have glory and dominion and following.\n\nRather, I cut a few throats so that\nThrough those throats a world may find freedom.\n\nFor you, like moths, out of your own ignorance,\nMake this headlong rush toward the fire your creed.\n\nI drive you back, as one drives away a drunkard,\nFrom the door of falling into the fire with both hands.\n\nWhat you thought were victories for yourselves—\nYou were sowing seeds of your own ill-omen.\n\nYou were earnestly calling one another on,\nDriving your horses toward the dragons.\n\nYou were conquering, yet in the very midst of your conquest,\nYou yourselves were overcome by the wrath of the lion of time.

دفتر سوم - بخش ۲۲۰ - آگاه شدن پیغامبر علیه السلام از طعن ایشان بر شماتت او / Book Three - Section 220 - The Prophet, Peace Be Upon Him, Becoming Aware of Their Taunting and Gloating Over Him

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از بتان و از خدا در خواستیم 
که بکن ما را اگر ناراستیم
آنک حق و راستست از ما و او 
نصرتش ده نصرت او را بجو
این دعا بسیار کردیم و صلات 
پیش لات و پیش عزی و منات
که اگر حقست او پیداش کن 
ور نباشد حق زبون ماش کن
چونک وا دیدیم او منصور بود 
ما همه ظلمت بدیم او نور بود
این جواب ماست کانچ خواستید 
گشت پیدا که شما ناراستید
باز این اندیشه را از فکر خویش 
کور می‌کردند و دفع از ذکر خویش
کین تفکرمان هم از ادبار رست 
که صواب او شود در دل درست
خود چه شد گر غالب آمد چند بار 
هر کسی را غالب آرد روزگار
ما هم از ایام بخت‌آور شدیم 
بارها بر وی مظفر آمدیم
باز گفتندی که گرچه او شکست 
چون شکست ما نبود آن زشت و پست
زانک بخت نیک او را در شکست 
داد صد شادی پنهان زیردست
کو باشکسته نمی‌مانست هیچ 
که نه غم بودش در آن نه پیچ پیچ
چون نشان مؤمنان مغلوبیست 
لیک در اشکست مؤمن خوبیست
گر تو مشک و عنبری را بشکنی 
عالمی از فوح ریحان پر کنی
ور شکستی ناگهان سرگین خر 
خانه‌ها پر گند گردد تا به سر
وقت واگشت حدیبیه بذل 
دولت انا فتحنا زد دهل

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## English translation
Book Three — Section 217 — Commentary on the verse "If you were seeking judgment, then judgment has come to you": O mockers, you used to say: "Of us and Muḥammad, peace be upon him, whichever is in the right, grant him victory and aid"—and you said this so that it might seem you were seekers of truth without self-interest. Now We have granted Muḥammad victory, that you may see who was in the right.

From idols and from God we petitioned:
"Destroy us if we are in the wrong.
Whichever of us and him is right and true,
grant that one victory; seek victory for him."

This supplication and prayer we offered many times
before al-Lāt, before al-ʿUzzā, and Manāt—
"If he is in the right, make him manifest;
if he is not in the right, make him vanquished before us."

When we looked, he was the one aided with victory;
we were all darkness, he was light.
This is Our answer: what you requested
has become manifest—that you yourselves are in the wrong.

Again they would blind this thought from their own minds
and drive it away from their own remembrance,
Saying: "This very reflection arose in us from ill fortune,
that his rightness would become firmly lodged in the heart.

What does it really matter if he prevailed a few times?
Fortune brings everyone to prevail at some point.
We too, by the favor of the days, rose to triumph;
many times we were victorious over him."

Then they would say: "Though he was defeated,
his defeat was not like ours—ugly and base—
For good fortune gave him, even in defeat,
a hundred hidden joys beneath the surface.

He did not remain at all like one who is broken,
for neither grief nor twist upon twist of anguish was in him."
Though the mark of the faithful is to be overcome,
yet in defeat the faithful one has beauty.

If you crush musk and ambergris,
you fill a world with the fragrance of sweet basil.
But if you suddenly crush donkey-dung,
houses fill with filth from floor to ceiling.

At the time of returning from Ḥudaybiyya, with generous bestowal,
the sovereignty of Innā Fataḥnā beat the drum.

دفتر سوم - بخش ۲۱۷ - تفسیر این آیت کی ان تستفتحوا فقد جائکم الفتح ایه‌ای طاعنان می‌گفتید کی از ما و محمد علیه السلام آنک حق است فتح و نصرتش ده و این بدان می‌گفتید تا گمان آید کی شما طالب حق‌اید بی غرض اکنون محمد را نصرت دادیم تا صاحب حق را ببینید / Book Three — Section 217 — Commentary on the verse 'If you were seeking judgment, then judgment has come to you': O mockers, you used to say: 'Of us and Muḥammad, peace be upon him, whichever is in the right, grant him victory and aid'—and you said this so that it might seem you were seekers of truth without self-interest. Now We have granted Muḥammad victory, that you may see who was in the right.

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