In Book Five, Section 71 of the Masnavi, Rumi explores the spiritual significance of hunger (jū'), defining it not as physical deprivation, but as 'God's food' (Ta'am Allah). Invoking Islamic traditions—such as the Prophet's saying, 'I spend the night with my Lord; He feeds me and gives me drink'—Rumi contrasts the heavy, spiritually deadening effects of worldly gluttony with the liberating lightness of divine nourishment. He argues that indulging in the 'sweet and fat' of the material world creates a barrier to spiritual perception, whereas embracing voluntary fasting and hunger allows the seeker to receive direct, divine sustenance that revives the soul and the bodies of the truthful.