In Book 1 of the Masnavi, as part of the beasts' defense of passive trust (*tawakkul*), they introduce the metaphor of a young child riding on their father's neck. Rumi explains that as long as a child is unable to walk or grasp, they do not strive or worry about their own transit or sustenance; they are carried entirely by their parent. This metaphor symbolizes the state of absolute surrender and trust in divine providence, where the spiritual seeker relinquishes personal agency and self-will to be guided and sustained solely by God.

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قوم گفتندش که کسب از ضعف خلق 
لقمهٔ تزویر دان بر قدر حلق
نیست کسبی از توکل خوب‌تر 
چیست از تسلیم خود محبوب‌تر
بس گریزند از بلا سوی بلا 
بس جهند از مار سوی اژدها
حیله کرد انسان و حیله‌ش دام بود 
آنک جان پنداشت خون‌آشام بود
در ببست و دشمن اندر خانه بود 
حیلهٔ فرعون زین افسانه بود
صد هزاران طفل کشت آن کینه‌کش 
وانک او می‌جست اندر خانه‌اش
دیدهٔ ما چون بسی علت دروست 
رو فنا کن دید خود در دید دوست
دید ما را دید او نعم العوض 
یابی اندر دید او کل غرض
طفل تا گیرا و تا پویا نبود 
مرکبش جز گردن بابا نبود
چون فضولی گشت و دست و پا نمود 
در عنا افتاد و در کور و کبود
جانهای خلق پیش از دست و پا 
می‌پریدند از وفا اندر صفا
چون بامر اهبطوا بندی شدند 
حبس خشم و حرص و خرسندی شدند
ما عیال حضرتیم و شیرخواه 
گفت الخلق عیال للاله
آنک او از آسمان باران دهد 
هم تواند کو ز رحمت نان دهد

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## English translation
The people said to him: "Earning is from the weakness of creatures; know it as a morsel of deception measured to the throat. No earning is better than trust in God; what is more beloved than surrender? Many flee from calamity toward calamity; many jump from a snake toward a dragon. Man made a stratagem, and his stratagem was a snare; what he supposed to be life was blood-drinking. He shut the door, while the enemy was inside the house; Pharaoh's stratagem was of this sort of tale. That vengeful one killed hundreds of thousands of children, while the one he sought was in his own house. Since our sight has many defects in it, go, efface your sight in the sight of the Friend. His sight is an excellent replacement for our sight; in His sight you will find every aim. As long as the child was not grasping and crawling, his mount was only his father's neck. When he became intrusive and showed hands and feet, he fell into trouble, bruises, and contusions. Before hands and feet, the souls of creatures were flying, out of fidelity, in purity. When by the command 'Descend' they became bound, they became imprisoned in anger, greed, and contentment. We are dependents of the Divine Presence and seekers of milk; he said, 'Creation is God's household.' He who gives rain from heaven can also, from mercy, give bread."

دفتر اول - بخش ۴۶ - ترجیح نهادن نخچیران توکل را بر اجتهاد / Book One - Section 46 - The Beasts' Preference for Trust over Exertion

In Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, during their philosophical debate with the lion, the prey animals reinforce their advocacy for passive trust (*tawakkul*) by emphasizing the historical futility of human exertion (*jahd*). They argue that countless past generations devised immense stratagems—powerful enough to uproot mountains—yet remained entirely bound by the allotments eternally preordained by God. Through this reasoning, the beasts assert that all human action ultimately falls away before divine providence. They conclude that worldly "acquisition" is merely an empty name, and personal effort is nothing but an illusion, leaving only the decrees of the Creator intact.

The Illusion of Human Effort and Acquisition in the Masnavi

In Book One of Rumi's Masnavi, the prey animals present a comprehensive argument for Tawakkul (trust in divine providence), contrasting with the Lion's defense of Jahd (exertion). Beginning in Section 42, the beasts assert that worldly struggle is futile because sustenance is preordained by God. They argue that attempting to change destiny through effort reflects a lack of faith and causes unnecessary spiritual turmoil, advocating instead for complete submission and reliance on the Creator's decree.

The Beasts' Argument for Trust (Tawakkul) in the Masnavi

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Source URL: https://ganjoor.net/

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Ganjoor

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گفت آری گر توکل رهبرست 
این سبب هم سنت پیغمبرست
گفت پیغامبر به آواز بلند 
با توکل زانوی اشتر ببند
رمز الکاسب حبیب الله شنو 
از توکل در سبب کاهل مشو

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## English translation
He said: "Yes, if tawakkul is the guide,
This means-taking too is the Prophet's sunna.
The Prophet said with a loud voice:
'With tawakkul, tie the camel's knee.'
Hear the mystery of al-kāsibu ḥabību 'llāh —
Through tawakkul, do not grow lazy in taking means."

دفتر اول - بخش ۴۵ - ترجیح نهادن شیر جهد و اکتساب را بر توکل و تسلیم / Book One - Section 45 - The Lion's Preference for Exertion and Acquisition over Trust and Submission

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گفت شیر آری ولی رب العباد 
نردبانی پیش پای ما نهاد
پایه پایه رفت باید سوی بام 
هست جبری بودن اینجا طمع خام
پای داری چون کنی خود را تو لنگ 
دست داری چون کنی پنهان تو چنگ
خواجه چون بیلی به دست بنده داد 
بی زبان معلوم شد او را مراد
دست همچون بیل اشارتهای اوست 
آخراندیشی عبارتهای اوست
چون اشارتهاش را بر جان نهی 
در وفای آن اشارت جان دهی
پس اشارتهای اسرارت دهد 
بار بر دارد ز تو کارت دهد
حاملی محمول گرداند ترا 
قابلی مقبول گرداند ترا
قابل امر ویی قایل شوی 
وصل جویی بعد از آن واصل شوی
سعی شکر نعمتش قدرت بود 
جبر تو انکار آن نعمت بود
شکر قدرت قدرتت افزون کند 
جبر نعمت از کفت بیرون کند
جبر تو خفتن بود در ره مخسپ 
تا نبینی آن در و درگه مخسپ
هان مخسپ ای کاهل بی‌اعتبار 
جز به زیر آن درخت میوه‌دار
تا که شاخ افشان کند هر لحظه باد 
بر سر خفته بریزد نقل و زاد
جبر و خفتن درمیان ره‌زنان 
مرغ بی‌هنگام کی یابد امان
ور اشارتهاش را بینی زنی 
مرد پنداری و چون بینی زنی
این قدر عقلی که داری گم شود 
سر که عقل از وی بپرد دم شود
زانک بی‌شکری بود شوم و شنار 
می‌برد بی‌شکر را در قعر نار
گر توکل می‌کنی در کار کن 
کشت کن پس تکیه بر جبار کن

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## English translation
The lion said: Yes, but the Lord of servants has set a ladder before our feet. Step by step one must go toward the roof; being a necessitarian here is raw greed. You have feet; why make yourself lame? You have hands; why hide your claws? When a master gives a spade into a servant's hand, his intention is known to him without speech. The hand, like the spade, is among His indications; looking to the end is among His expressions. When you take His indications into your soul and give your life in fidelity to those indications, then He gives you intimations of the mysteries; He lifts your burden from you and sets your work for you. He makes you, the carrier, carried; He makes you, the receptive, accepted. You are fit for His command; you will become one who assents. Seek union; after that you will become one who has arrived. Striving is gratitude for His blessing, namely power; your necessitarianism is denial of that blessing. Gratitude for power increases your power; necessitarianism removes the blessing from your hand. Your necessitarianism is sleeping on the road: do not sleep. Until you see that door and threshold, do not sleep. Take care: do not sleep, idle and unreliable one, except beneath that fruit-bearing tree, so that at every moment the wind may shake its branches and scatter sweets and provisions on the sleeper's head. Necessitarianism and sleeping among highwaymen: when does an untimely bird find safety? And if you regard His indications as womanly or weak, you imagine yourself a man; but when you truly see, you are womanly or weak. This little intellect you have will be lost; the head from which intellect flies becomes a tail. For ingratitude is ill-omened and disgraceful; it carries the ungrateful into the depth of the Fire. If you practice trust in God, work as you do so: sow, then rely on the Compeller.

دفتر اول - بخش ۴۷ - ترجیح نهادن شیر جهد را بر توکل / Book One - Section 47 - The Lion's Preference for Exertion over Trust

In Book 1 of Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, the fable of the lion and the prey beasts serves as a profound allegorical debate between the Islamic concepts of *tawakkul* (absolute trust in divine providence) and *jahd* (personal exertion or effort). The beasts argue that since God is the ultimate provider and destiny is preordained, human effort is a form of spiritual agitation that challenges the divine decree; therefore, they advocate for passive surrender. The lion, representing the spiritual master or the active intellect, counters this by arguing that God provided humans with limbs and faculties, and failing to use them is an act of ingratitude. He cites the Prophetic tradition to 'trust in God, but tie your camel', presenting a synthesis where human effort is not contradictory to, but rather the practical manifestation of, true trust in God.

The Debate Between Trust (Tawakkul) and Exertion (Jahd) in the Masnavi

The Metaphor of the Child and the Father's Neck in the Masnavi

In Book 1 of the Masnavi, as part of their debate with the lion, the beasts introduce the specific theological argument that human precaution (hazar) is entirely useless against divine destiny (qaza or qadar). They assert that trying to outmaneuver God's predetermined will causes unnecessary agitation and harm, and that actively grappling with the divine decree will only prompt the decree to fight back. This concept serves as the foundational reasoning for their stance on passive trust (tawakkul).

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