In Book 1 of the Masnavi, during the story of an inextinguishable fire in the time of Caliph Umar, Rumi presents fire not merely as a physical element but as a spiritual manifestation of human stinginess (bukhl). Umar explains to the panicked citizens that their attempts to quench the flames with water and vinegar are futile because the fire is fueled by their own miserliness. He instructs them to distribute bread and give to the poor instead. This narrative illustrates Rumi's philosophical view that physical calamities are often outward reflections of inward moral failings, and that such spiritual ailments require spiritual remedies (charity) rather than physical ones.