In the *Masnavi*, within the context of the grape metaphor, Rumi introduces the concept of the unripenable, stony sour grape (*ghooreh-ye sang-bast*) to represent the 'original infidel' (*kafar-e asli*). While most raw souls can be matured and sweetened through the warmth of divine grace and spiritual guidance, some exhibit a permanent, stony obstinacy. Rumi explains that such a soul remains hard, isolated, and permanently unable to dissolve into the collective unity of the 'single juice' (*shireh-ye vahed*), representing eternal spiritual stagnation and exclusion from the spiritual brotherhood.

The Concept of the Unripenable Soul (Kafir-e Asli) in the Masnavi

In the *Masnavi*, Rumi uses the metaphor of grapes (*angoor*) and sour, unripe grapes (*ghooreh*) to illustrate the process of spiritual maturation and the transition from egoistic multiplicity to divine unity.

### Key Concepts of the Metaphor:
1. **The Raw State vs. Ripeness:** Unripe, hard grapes represent individuals stuck in their egoistic, separate identities, which Rumi links to spiritual stagnation.
2. **The Catalyst of Maturation:** Just as warmth and time ripen the sour grape into sweetness, spiritual guidance and divine grace transform the raw soul into a mature believer.
3. **Dissolving into Unity:** Ripe grapes are like brothers; though they are distinct individuals outwardly, when pressed together, they lose their boundaries and become a single juice (*shireh-ye vahid*). This allegorizes the transition from individual division to mystical unity under the Prophet's blessing.

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## Original content
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دو قبیله کاوس و خزرج نام داشت 
یک ز دیگر جان خون‌آشام داشت
کینه‌های کهنه‌شان از مصطفی 
محو شد در نور اسلام و صفا
اولا اخوان شدند آن دشمنان 
همچو اعداد عنب در بوستان
وز دم المؤمنون اخوه بپند 
در شکستند و تن واحد شدند
صورت انگورها اخوان بود 
چون فشردی شیرهٔ واحد شود
غوره و انگور ضدانند لیک 
چونک غوره پخته شد شد یار نیک
غوره‌ای کو سنگ‌بست و خام ماند 
در ازل حق کافر اصلیش خواند
نه اخی نه نفس واحد باشد او 
در شقاوت نحس ملحد باشد او
گر بگویم آنچ او دارد نهان 
فتنهٔ افهام خیزد در جهان
سر گبر کور نامذکور به 
دود دوزخ از ارم مهجور به
غوره‌های نیک کایشان قابلند 
از دم اهل دل آخر یک دلند
سوی انگوری همی‌رانند تیز 
تا دوی بر خیزد و کین و ستیز
پس در انگوری همی‌درند پوست 
تا یکی گردند و وحدت وصف اوست
دوست دشمن گردد ایرا هم دواست 
هیچ یک با خویش جنگی در نبست
آفرین بر عشق کل اوستاد 
صد هزاران ذره را داد اتحاد
همچو خاک مفترق در ره‌گذر 
یک سبوشان کرد دست کوزه‌گر
که اتحاد جسمهای آب و طین 
هست ناقص جان نمی‌ماند بدین
گر نظایر گویم اینجا در مثال 
فهم را ترسم که آرد اختلال
هم سلیمان هست اکنون لیک ما 
از نشاط دوربینی در عمی
دوربینی کور دارد مرد را 
همچو خفته در سرا کور از سرا
مولعیم اندر سخنهای دقیق 
در گره ها باز کردن ما عشیق
تا گره بندیم و بگشاییم ما 
در شکال و در جواب آیین‌فزا
همچو مرغی کو گشاید بند دام 
گاه بندد تا شود در فن تمام
او بود محروم از صحرا و مرج 
عمر او اندر گره کاریست خرج
خود زبون او نگردد هیچ دام 
لیک پرش در شکست افتد مدام
با گره کم کوش تا بال و پرت 
نسکلد یک یک ازین کر و فرت
صد هزاران مرغ پرهاشان شکست 
و آن کمین‌گاه عوارض را نبست
حال ایشان از نبی خوان ای حریص 
نقبوا فیها ببین هل من محیص
از نزاع ترک و رومی و عرب 
حل نشد اشکال انگور و عنب
تا سلیمان لسین معنوی 
در نیاید بر نخیزد این دوی
جمله مرغان منازع بازوار 
بشنوید این طبل باز شهریار
ز اختلاف خویش سوی اتحاد 
هین ز هر جانب روان گردید شاد
حیث ما کنتم فولوا وجهکم 
نحوه هذا الذی لم ینهکم
کور مرغانیم و بس ناساختیم 
کان سلیمان را دمی نشناختیم
همچو جغدان دشمن بازان شدیم 
لاجرم وا ماندهٔ ویران شدیم
می‌کنیم از غایت جهل و عما 
قصد آزار عزیزان خدا
جمع مرغان کز سلیمان روشنند 
پر و بال بی گنه کی برکنند
بلک سوی عاجزان چینه کشند 
بی خلاف و کینه آن مرغان خوشند
هدهد ایشان پی تقدیس را 
می‌گشاید راه صد بلقیس را
زاغ ایشان گر بصورت زاغ بود 
باز همت آمد و مازاغ بود
لکلک ایشان که لک‌لک می‌زند 
آتش توحید در شک می‌زند
و آن کبوترشان ز بازان نشکهد 
باز سر پیش کبوترشان نهد
بلبل ایشان که حالت آرد او 
در درون خویش گلشن دارد او
طوطی ایشان ز قند آزاد بود 
کز درون قند ابد رویش نمود
پای طاووسان ایشان در نظر 
بهتر از طاووس‌پران دگر
منطق الطیر آن خاقانی صداست 
منطق الطیر سلیمانی کجاست
تو چه دانی بانگ مرغان را همی 
چون ندیدستی سلیمان را دمی
پر آن مرغی که بانگش مطربست 
از برون مشرقست و مغربست
هر یک آهنگش ز کرسی تا ثریست 
وز ثری تا عرش در کر و فریست
مرغ کو بی این سلیمان می‌رود 
عاشق ظلمت چو خفاشی بود
با سلیمان خو کن ای خفاش رد 
تا که در ظلمت نمانی تا ابد
یک گزی ره که بدان سو می‌روی 
همچو گز قطب مساحت می‌شوی
وانک لنگ و لوک آن سو می‌جهی 
از همه لنگی و لوکی می‌رهی

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## English translation
Two tribes, named Aws and Khazraj, had each a soul thirsting for the blood of the other. Their old hatreds were erased by Mustafa in the light of Islam and purity. First those enemies became brothers, like grape-berries in the vineyard; and, taking counsel from the breath of 'the believers are brothers,' they broke their forms and became one body. The outward forms of grapes are brothers; when you press them, they become one juice. Sour unripe grape and grape are opposites, but when the sour grape ripens it becomes a good friend. The unripe grape that hardened and remained raw: God called it an original unbeliever from pre-eternity. It is neither brother nor a single soul; in wretchedness it is an unlucky heretic. If I tell what it has hidden, a turmoil of understandings will arise in the world. Better that the secret of the blind unbeliever remain unmentioned; better the smoke of hell be far from Iram. The good unripe grapes that are receptive finally become one heart through the breath of the people of the heart. They hasten toward grapehood, so that duality, rancor, and strife may depart. Then in grapehood they tear their skins, until they become one, for unity is its attribute. Friend would become enemy only because both are two; no one has ever made war with itself. Praise to Love, the master of all, who gave union to hundreds of thousands of particles. Like scattered dust on the road, the potter's hand made them one jug. For the union of bodies from water and clay is imperfect; the soul does not remain in this condition. If I give analogous examples here, I fear they will disturb understanding. Solomon exists now too, but we, through delight in seeing far away, are blind. Far-sightedness makes a man blind, like a sleeper in a house who is blind to the house. We are infatuated with subtle sayings; we are lovers of untying knots, so that we may tie and untie them and increase rules in objections and replies. Like a bird that unties the snare's knot and sometimes ties it again, so as to perfect itself in the craft: it is deprived of plain and meadow; its life is spent in knot-work. No snare can subdue it, yet its wings are continually broken. Labor less over knots, so that your wings and feathers are not torn out one by one by this repeated pomp and bustle. Hundreds of thousands of birds had their wings broken, and they did not close off that ambush of accidents. Read their condition from the Prophet, O greedy one: 'they searched through the lands'; see, 'is there any escape?' The difficulty of angur and inab was not solved by the dispute of Turk, Roman, and Arab. Until Solomon, the tongue-knower of meaning, arrives, this duality will not depart. All quarrelling birds, falcon-like, hear this drum of the royal falcon of the King. From your disagreement toward union, come, set out joyfully from every side. 'Wherever you are, turn your face toward Him, this One who has not forbidden you.' We are blind birds and very ill-made, for we did not recognize that Solomon for even a moment. Like owls we became enemies of falcons; inevitably we were left behind in ruin. From the extremity of ignorance and blindness we intend to harm God's dear ones. The company of birds illuminated by Solomon: how would they pluck the innocent wing and feather? Rather they draw grain toward the helpless; those birds are happy without discord and rancor. Their hoopoe, for sanctification, opens the way for a hundred Bilqises. Their crow, though in outward form a crow, became a falcon in aspiration and was 'the sight did not swerve.' Their stork, which cries lak-lak, casts the fire of tawhid into doubt. Their pigeon does not fear falcons; the falcon lays its head before their pigeon. Their nightingale, which brings spiritual state, has a rose garden within itself. Their parrot was free of sugar, for eternal sugar showed its face from within. The feet of their peacocks, in view, are better than the wing-feathers of other peacocks. That Manṭiq al-Ṭayr with Khāqānī-like sound is one thing; where is the Solomonic Manṭiq al-Ṭayr? What do you know of the birds' call, since you have not seen Solomon for a moment? The wing of the bird whose call is enchanting is outwardly beyond East and West. Each of its melodies reaches from the Footstool to the earth, and from the earth to the Throne is in splendor and movement. The bird that goes without this Solomon is a lover of darkness, like a bat. Become intimate with Solomon, O rejected bat, so that you do not remain in darkness forever. One gaz of the road that you travel in that direction makes you like the measuring gaz of the Pole; and you who limp and hobble as you leap that way are freed from every limping and hobbling.

دفتر دوم - بخش ۱۱۳ - برخاستن مخالفت و عداوت از میان انصار به برکات رسول علیه السلام / Book Two - Section 113 - How the Enmity and Hatred of the Ansar was Abolished by the Blessings of the Prophet, Peace Be Upon Him

In the *Masnavi*, Rumi uses the story of four men (a Persian, an Arab, a Turk, and a Greek) disputing over grapes to illustrate the conflict between superficial names (forms) and underlying reality (meaning).

### Key Themes of the Metaphor:
1. **Form vs. Meaning (Surah vs. Ma'na):** The four men fight because each knows the grape only by its name in his own language (*angoor*, *inab*, *uzum*, and *istafil*). They fail to realize that they all desire the exact same physical reality. This represents how people fight over theological and linguistic labels while seeking the same Divine Truth.
2. **The Role of the Spiritual Guide (The Master of Secrets):** Rumi notes that a 'man of secrets' (a spiritual guide or prophet) who knows 'a hundred languages' could easily resolve their conflict. This guide possesses universal wisdom and can translate sectarian differences into a unified understanding of the ultimate essence.
3. **Ignorance as the Root of Conflict:** The physical fight symboliz...

The Metaphor of the Dispute Over Grapes: Form vs. Meaning in the Masnavi

In Book 2 of Jalaluddin Rumi's Masnavi, the historical reconciliation of the warring Aws and Khazraj tribes serves as a profound allegory for the transformative power of spiritual unity. Rumi explains that the Prophet Muhammad (Mustafa) erased their ancient, bloodthirsty hatreds through the light of Islam, turning bitter enemies into brothers. To illustrate this miraculous shift, Rumi employs the metaphor of grapes in a vineyard. While individual grapes maintain their distinct, outward physical forms, when they are pressed, they surrender their boundaries and merge into a single, indistinguishable juice. This destruction of individual forms symbolizes the annihilation of the ego and the realization of spiritual oneness. Furthermore, Rumi contrasts sour, unripe grapes—representing those stubbornly trapped in ignorance and unbelief—with those that willingly ripen and embrace unity. Ultimately, he praises divine Love as the master force capable of dissolving duality, rancor, and strife, binding hundreds of thousands of fragmented particles into one cohesive soul.

The Unification of Aws and Khazraj in the Masnavi

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The Grape Metaphor for Spiritual Maturation and Unity in the Masnavi

In Book 4 of Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, the poet explores the profound spiritual unity of prophets and true believers, contrasting it with the inherent multiplicity of the animal soul. Rumi explains that while human bodies and animal spirits are fundamentally isolated—driven by envy, competition, and separate physical needs—the souls of true believers, described as 'God's lions,' share a single divine essence. To illustrate this underlying oneness, Rumi employs the metaphor of sunlight: just as the single sun in the sky casts light into a hundred different walled courtyards, the divine spirit illuminates many distinct physical bodies. If the physical walls separating these courtyards were removed, the perceived multiplicity of lights would immediately be revealed as one unified radiance. This allegory emphasizes that physical separation is merely an earthly illusion, and at the level of pure spirit, all true believers are intimately connected as a single soul.

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Key Concepts of the Metaphor:

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