In Book 3 of Jalaluddin Rumi's Masnavi, the trial over the slaughtered cow reaches a turning point when the idle man tearfully implores God to illuminate Prophet David's heart with the truth. Deeply moved by this plea, David pauses the legal proceedings, asking the plaintiff for time so he can seek divine guidance in seclusion. Rumi uses this narrative pause to explore the concept of prophetic wisdom and spiritual pedagogy. David explains that his retreat into prayer is not born of ignorance—asserting that his soul receives God's guidance without intermediary—but is instead a method 'to teach people the way.' He characterizes his delayed judgment as a 'stratagem' (khud'a), a deliberate and indirect approach designed to gradually expose the hidden truth without violently breaking the rules of divine secrecy. The passage concludes with a metaphysical moment where a divine presence gently restrains David, prompting him to cease speaking of such profound mysteries and to proceed into his spiritual seclusion.

Prophet David's Pedagogical Retreat and Divine Stratagem in the Masnavi

In Book 3 of Jalaluddin Rumi's Masnavi, the narrative of the idle man advances to a legal and spiritual confrontation before Prophet David. After the idle man slaughters a cow that wandered into his house, the original owner acts as the plaintiff, demanding justice for his lost property. When David demands a coherent defense, the idle man offers no conventional legal justification. Instead, he recounts his seven years of public and tearful prayers for effortless sustenance. He argues that the cow's sudden arrival was an undeniable divine answer to his supplications, and his act of slaughtering it was merely a demonstration of gratitude to the 'Knower of the Unseen.' This confrontation introduces a profound conflict between outward societal laws governing property and the protagonist's subjective interpretation of divine providence.

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## Original content
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تا که روزی ناگهان در چاشتگاه 
این دعا می‌کرد با زاری و آه
ناگهان در خانه‌اش گاوی دوید 
شاخ زد بشکست دربند و کلید
گاو گستاخ اندر آن خانه بجست 
مرد در جست و قوایمهاش بست
پس گلوی گاو ببرید آن زمان 
بی توقف بی تامل بی امان
چون سرش ببرید شد سوی قصاب 
تا اهابش بر کند در دم شتاب

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## English translation
Until one day, suddenly, at mid-morning, he was making this supplication with wailing and sighs. Suddenly a cow/ox ran into his house; it butted with its horns and broke the door-bar and lock. The reckless cow/ox leapt into that house; the man sprang up and bound its legs. Then at once he slit the cow's throat, without stopping, without reflection, without mercy. When he had cut off its head, he went quickly to the butcher so that its hide might be stripped off at once.

دفتر سوم - بخش ۵۵ - دویدن گاو در خانهٔ آن دعا کننده بالحاح قال النبی صلی الله علیه وسلم ان الله یحب الملحین فی الدعا زیرا عین خواست از حق تعالی و الحاح خواهنده را به است از آنچ می‌خواهد آن را ازو / Book Three - Section 55 - The running of the cow into the house of that earnest supplicant. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, 'Verily, Allah loves those who are earnest in supplication,' because the very essence of seeking from God Almighty and the earnestness of the seeker is better than that which he seeks from Him

## Original content
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می‌کشیدش تا به داود نبی 
که بیا ای ظالم گیج غبی
حجت بارد رها کن ای دغا 
عقل در تن آور و با خویش آ
این چه می‌گویی دعا چه بود مخند 
بر سر و و ریش من و خویش ای لوند
گفت من با حق دعاها کرده‌ام 
اندرین لابه بسی خون خورده‌ام
من یقین دارم دعا شد مستجاب 
سر بزن بر سنگ ای منکرخطاب
گفت گرد آیید هین یا مسلمین 
ژاژ بینید و فشار این مهین
ای مسلمانان دعا مال مرا 
چون از آن او کند بهر خدا
گر چنین بودی همه عالم بدین 
یک دعا املاک بردندی بکین
گر چنین بودی گدایان ضریر 
محتشم گشته بدندی و امیر
روز و شب اندر دعااند و ثنا 
لابه‌گویان که تو ده‌مان ای خدا
تا تو ندهی هیچ کس ندهد یقین 
ای گشاینده تو بگشا بند این
مکسب کوران بود لابه و دعا 
جز لب نانی نیابند از عطا
خلق گفتند این مسلمان راست‌گوست 
وین فروشندهٔ دعاها ظلم‌جوست
این دعا کی باشد از اسباب ملک 
کی کشید این را شریعت خود بسلک
بیع و بخشش یا وصیت یا عطا 
یا ز جنس این شود ملکی ترا
در کدامین دفترست این شرع نو 
گاو را تو باز ده یا حبس رو
او به سوی آسمان می‌کرد رو 
واقعهٔ ما را نداند غیر تو
در دل من آن دعا انداختی 
صد امید اندر دلم افراختی
من نمی‌کردم گزافه آن دعا 
همچو یوسف دیده بودم خوابها
دید یوسف آفتاب و اختران 
پیش او سجده‌کنان چون چاکران
اعتمادش بود بر خواب درست 
در چه و زندان جز آن را می‌نجست
ز اعتماد او نبودش هیچ غم 
از غلامی وز ملام و بیش و کم
اعتمادی داشت او بر خواب خویش 
که چو شمعی می‌فروزیدش ز پیش
چون در افکندند یوسف را به چاه 
بانگ آمد سمع او را از اله
که تو روزی شه شوی ای پهلوان 
تا بمالی این جفا در رویشان
قایل این بانگ ناید در نظر 
لیک دل بشناخت قایل را ز اثر
قوتی و راحتی و مسندی 
در میان جان فتادش زان ندا
چاه شد بر وی بدان بانگ جلیل 
گلشن و بزمی چو آتش بر خلیل
هر جفا که بعد از آنش می‌رسید 
او بدان قوت بشادی می‌کشید
همچنانک ذوق آن بانگ الست 
در دل هر مؤمنی تا حشر هست
تا نباشد در بلاشان اعتراض 
نه ز امر و نهی حقشان انقباض
لقمهٔ حکمی که تلخی می‌نهد 
گلشکر آن را گوارش می‌دهد
گلشکر آن را که نبود مستند 
لقمه را ز انکار او قی می‌کند
هر که خوابی دید از روز الست 
مست باشد در ره طاعات مست
می‌کشد چون اشتر مست این جوال 
بی فتور و بی گمان و بی ملال
کفک تصدیقش بگرد پوز او 
شد گواه مستی و دلسوز او
اشتر از قوت چو شیر نر شده 
زیر ثقل بار اندک‌خور شده
ز آرزوی ناقه صد فاقه برو 
می‌نماید کوه پیشش تار مو
در الست آنکو چنین خوابی ندید 
اندرین دنیا نشد بنده و مرید
ور بشد اندر تردد صد دله 
یک زمان شکرستش و سالی گله
پای پیش و پای پس در راه دین 
می‌نهد با صد تردد بی یقین
وام‌دار شرح اینم نک گرو 
ور شتابستت ز الم نشرح شنو
چون ندارد شرح این معنی کران 
خر به سوی مدعی گاو ران
گفت کورم خواند زین جرم آن دغا 
بس بلیسانه قیاسست ای خدا
من دعا کورانه کی می‌کرده‌ام 
جز به خالق کدیه کی آورده‌ام
کور از خلقان طمع دارد ز جهل 
من ز تو کز تست هر دشوار سهل
آن یکی کورم ز کوران بشمرید 
او نیاز جان و اخلاصم ندید
کوری عشقست این کوری من 
حب یعمی و یصمست ای حسن
کورم از غیر خدا بینا بدو 
مقتضای عشق این باشد نکو
تو که بینایی ز کورانم مدار 
دایرم برگرد لطفت ای مدار
آنچنانک یوسف صدیق را 
خواب بنمودی و گشتش متکا
مر مرا لطف تو هم خوابی نمود 
آن دعای بی‌حدم بازی نبود
می‌نداند خلق اسرار مرا 
ژاژ می‌دانند گفتار مرا
حقشان است و کی داند راز غیب 
غیر علام سر و ستار عیب
خصم گفتش رو به من کن حق بگو 
رو چه سوی آسمان کردی عمو
شید می‌آری غلط می‌افکنی 
لاف عشق و لاف قربت می‌زنی
با کدامین روی چون دل‌مرده‌ای 
روی سوی آسمانها کرده‌ای
غلغلی در شهر افتاده ازین 
آن مسلمان می‌نهد رو بر زمین
کای خدا این بنده را رسوا مکن 
گر بدم هم سر من پیدا مکن
تو همی‌دانی و شبهای دراز 
که همی‌خواندم ترا با صد نیاز
پیش خلق این را اگر خود قدر نیست 
پیش تو همچون چراغ روشنیست

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## English translation
He dragged him to David the Prophet:
"Come, O bewildered, witless wrongdoer;
leave off this cold argument, O cheat,
bring reason back into your body and come to yourself.
What are you saying? What is prayer? Do not mock
my head and beard, nor your own, O rogue."

He said, "I have made prayers to the Real;
in this pleading I have swallowed much blood.
I am certain the prayer was answered;
go beat your head against a stone, O denier of the address."

He said, "Gather around, now, O Muslims;
look at the drivel and pressure of this base fellow.
O Muslims, how can prayer make my property
belong to him, for God's sake?
If that were so, everyone in the world, through this,
would take estates by one prayer, spitefully.
If that were so, blind beggars
would have become grandees and princes.
Day and night they are in prayer and praise,
pleading, 'Give to us, O God;
until You give, no one gives, surely.
O Opener, open this bond.'
The livelihood of the blind is pleading and prayer;
from the gift they receive nothing but a morsel of bread."

The people said, "This Muslim is truthful,
and this seller of prayers seeks injustice.
How could this prayer be among the causes of ownership?
When has the Law itself drawn this into its order?
By sale, gift, bequest, donation,
or something of that kind, property becomes yours.
In which register is this new law?
Give back the cow, or go to prison."

He turned his face toward the sky:
"No one but You knows our affair.
You cast that prayer into my heart;
You raised a hundred hopes in my heart.
I did not make that prayer idly;
like Joseph, I had seen dreams.
Joseph saw the sun and stars
prostrating before him like servants.
His trust was in the true dream;
in the well and prison he sought nothing but that.
Because of his trust he had no grief
from slavery, blame, or anything more or less.
He trusted his dream
so that it shone before him like a candle.
When they cast Joseph into the well,
a cry from God came to his hearing:
'One day you will become king, O hero,
so that you may rub this cruelty in their faces.'
The speaker of this cry does not appear to sight,
but the heart knew the speaker by the effect.
A strength, comfort, and seat of honor
fell into the midst of his soul from that call.
Through that majestic cry the well became for him
a rose garden and feast, as the fire was for Abraham the Friend.
Every cruelty that reached him after that
he bore joyfully through that strength.

So too the taste of the call 'Am I not?' remains
in every believer's heart until the Resurrection,
so that in affliction they have no objection,
nor any constriction at God's command and prohibition.
A morsel of wisdom that places bitterness there:
sugar-rose preserves make it digestible.
One who has no support for that sugar-rose
vomits the morsel through denial.
Whoever saw a dream from the day of Alast
is drunk on the path of obedience, drunk.
He carries this saddlebag like a rutting camel,
without weakness, doubt, or weariness.
The froth of his affirmation around his muzzle
has become witness to his drunkenness and heart-burning.
The camel, from strength, has become like a male lion;
under the weight of the load he eats little.
From desire for the she-camel, a hundred fasts come upon him;
a mountain appears before him as a hair.
Whoever did not see such a dream at Alast
did not become a servant and disciple in this world;
and if he did, he remains wavering, of a hundred minds:
one moment gratitude, a year complaint.
He sets one foot forward and one foot back on the path of religion,
with a hundred hesitations, without certainty.

I am in debt for the explanation of this; see, I am pledged;
and if you are in haste, listen to 'Have We not expanded' for the pain.
Since the explanation of this meaning has no shore,
drive the donkey back toward the claimant of the cow.

He said, "That cheat called me blind for this offense;
it is a very Iblis-like analogy, O God.
When have I prayed blindly?
When have I begged from anyone but the Creator?
The blind man, from ignorance, hopes from creatures;
I hope from You, from whom every hard thing is easy.
That man counted me among the blind;
he did not see my soul's need and sincerity.
This blindness of mine is love's blindness;
love blinds and deafens, O fair one.
I am blind to other-than-God, seeing by Him;
this is love's proper demand, and good.
You who see, do not count me among the blind;
I turn around Your grace, O axis.
Just as You showed Joseph the truthful a dream
and it became his support,
Your grace also showed me a dream;
my boundless prayer was not play.
The people do not know my secrets;
they take my words for drivel.
They are right: who knows the secret of the unseen
except the Knower of secrets and Veiler of faults?"

The adversary said to him, "Turn your face to me and speak truth.
Why have you turned your face toward the sky, uncle?
You are producing fraud and casting error;
you boast of love and boast of nearness.
With what face, dead-hearted as you are,
have you turned your face toward the heavens?"

A commotion over this fell through the city.
That Muslim placed his face on the ground:
"O God, do not disgrace this servant;
even if I am bad, do not reveal my secret.
You know, and the long nights know,
that I called You with a hundred needs.
If before the people this has no worth,
before You it is like a bright lamp."

دفتر سوم - بخش ۱۰۵ - رفتن هر دو خصم نزد داود علیه السلام / Book Three - Section 105 - The going of both adversaries to David, peace be upon him

## Original content
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چونک داود نبی آمد برون 
گفت هین چونست این احوال چون
مدعی گفت ای نبی الله داد 
گاو من در خانه او در فتاد
کشت گاوم را بپرسش که چرا 
گاو من کشت او بیان کن ماجرا
گفت داودش بگو ای بوالکرم 
چون تلف کردی تو ملک محترم
هین پراکنده مگو حجت بیار 
تا به یک سو گردد این دعوی و کار
گفت ای داود بودم هفت سال 
روز و شب اندر دعا و در سؤال
این همی‌جستم ز یزدان کای خدا 
روزیی خواهم حلال و بی عنا
مرد و زن بر ناله من واقف‌اند 
کودکان این ماجرا را واصف‌اند
تو بپرس از هر که خواهی این خبر 
تا بگوید بی شکنجه بی ضرر
هم هویدا پرس و هم پنهان ز خلق 
که چه می‌گفت این گدای ژنده‌دلق
بعد این جمله دعا و این فغان 
گاوی اندر خانه دیدم ناگهان
چشم من تاریک شد نه بهر لوت 
شادی آن که قبول آمد قنوت
کشتم آن را تا دهم در شکر آن 
که دعای من شنود آن غیب‌دان

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## English translation
When David the Prophet came out, he said, "Come now, what is this affair? What has happened?" The plaintiff said, "O Prophet of God, justice! My cow fell into his house. He slaughtered my cow; ask him why. He killed my cow; make the matter clear." David said to the defendant, "Tell me, O noble man, how did you destroy this respected property? Come, do not speak disjointedly; bring proof, so that this claim and matter may be settled." He said, "O David, for seven years I was, day and night, in prayer and petition. This is what I sought from God: 'O God, I want a lawful livelihood without hardship.' Men and women know of my lament; children can describe this matter. Ask anyone you wish about this report, so he may tell you without coercion and without harm. Ask the people both openly and in secret what this tattered-cloaked beggar was saying. After all that prayer and wailing, I suddenly saw a cow in my house. My eyes darkened, not for the sake of food, but from joy that the supplication had been accepted. I slaughtered it so that I might give thanks for this: that the Knower of the Unseen had heard my prayer."

دفتر سوم - بخش ۱۰۶ - شنیدن داود علیه السلام سخن هر دو خصم وسال کردن از مدعی علیه / Book Three - Section 106 - David, peace be upon him, hearing the words of both adversaries and questioning the defendant

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The Dispute Before Prophet David Over the Slaughtered Cow in the Masnavi

## Original content
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گفت داود این سخنها را بشو 
حجت شرعی درین دعوی بگو
تو روا داری که من بی حجتی 
بنهم اندر شهر باطل سنتی
این کی بخشیدت خریدی وارثی 
ریع را چون می‌ستانی حارثی
کسب را همچون زراعت دان عمو 
تا نکاری دخل نبود آن تو
آنچ کاری بدروی آن آن تست 
ورنه این بی‌داد بر تو شد درست
رو بده مال مسلمان کژ مگو 
رو بجو وام و بده باطل مجو
گفت ای شه تو همین می‌گوییم 
که همی‌گویند اصحاب ستم

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## English translation
David said, “Put these words aside; bring a legal proof in this claim. Do you consider it right that I, without proof, should establish a false custom in the city? Who gave this to you? Did you buy it, or are you its heir? How are you taking the yield, as a cultivator? Know earning to be like farming, uncle: until you sow, the income is not yours. What you sow and reap is yours; otherwise this injustice against you is established. Go, return the Muslim’s property; do not speak crookedly. Go, seek a loan and pay it; do not seek falsehood.” He said, “O king, you are saying exactly what the companions of oppression say.”

دفتر سوم - بخش ۱۰۷ - حکم کردن داود علیه السلام برکشندهٔ گاو / Book Three - Section 107 - David, peace be upon him, passing judgment on the slayer of the cow

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