In Book 3 of Jalaluddin Rumi's Masnavi, the story of Majnun affectionately petting a street dog serves as a profound allegory for transcending superficial forms to perceive deeper spiritual realities. A critic rebukes Majnun for kissing a creature that eats filth, to which Majnun replies that the critic is constrained by outward appearances. Through the eyes of love, Majnun sees the dog not as a dirty animal, but as a noble watchman of Layla's lane and a companion in his grief. Rumi uses this metaphor to teach that spiritual seekers must break past the outer form to reach the inner meaning. He immediately contrasts Majnun's enlightened vision with the naivety of a hospitable townsman, who is dangerously deceived by the mere outward form of a deceitful villager's empty flattery.

The Tale of Majnun and Layla's Dog in the Masnavi

In Book 1, Section 17 of the Masnavi, Rumi uses the encounter between the Caliph and Layla to illustrate the subjectivity of beauty and the limitations of worldly intellect. When the Caliph questions Majnun's intense infatuation upon seeing Layla's ordinary appearance, she famously replies, 'Silence, for you are not Majnun.' This anecdote conveys that divine or true beauty cannot be perceived through ordinary, logical observation; it requires the transformative, loving perception of the seeker (the 'eyes of Majnun'). Rumi extends this metaphor to assert that those who are most 'awake' to worldly concerns are often the most 'asleep' to spiritual realities, contrasting empirical observation with spiritual insight.

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## Original content
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گفت لیلی را خلیفه کان توی 
کز تو مجنون شد پریشان و غوی
از دگر خوبان تو افزون نیستی 
گفت خامش چون تو مجنون نیستی
هر که بیدارست او در خواب‌تر 
هست بیداریش از خوابش بتر
چون بحق بیدار نبود جان ما 
هست بیداری چو در بندان ما
جان همه روز از لگدکوب خیال 
وز زیان و سود وز خوف زوال
نی صفا می‌ماندش نی لطف و فر 
نی بسوی آسمان راه سفر
خفته آن باشد که او از هر خیال 
دارد اومید و کند با او مقال
دیو را چون حور بیند او به خواب 
پس ز شهوت ریزد او با دیو آب
چونک تخم نسل را در شوره ریخت 
او به خویش آمد خیال از وی گریخت
ضعف سر بیند از آن و تن پلید 
آه از آن نقش پدید ناپدید
مرغ بر بالا و زیر آن سایه‌اش 
می‌دود بر خاک پران مرغ‌وش
ابلهی صیاد آن سایه شود 
می‌دود چندانک بی‌مایه شود
بی‌خبر کان عکس آن مرغ هواست 
بی‌خبر که اصل آن سایه کجاست
تیر اندازد به سوی سایه او 
ترکشش خالی شود از جست و جو
ترکش عمرش تهی شد عمر رفت 
از دویدن در شکار سایه تفت
سایهٔ یزدان چو باشد دایه‌اش 
وا رهاند از خیال و سایه‌اش
سایهٔ یزدان بود بندهٔ خدا 
مرده او زین عالم و زندهٔ خدا
دامن او گیر زوتر بی‌گمان 
تا رهی در دامن آخر زمان
کیف مد الظل نقش اولیاست 
کو دلیل نور خورشید خداست
اندرین وادی مرو بی این دلیل 
لا احب افلین گو چون خلیل
رو ز سایه آفتابی را بیاب 
دامن شه شمس تبریزی بتاب
ره ندانی جانب این سور و عرس 
از ضیاء الحق حسام الدین بپرس
ور حسد گیرد ترا در ره گلو 
در حسد ابلیس را باشد غلو
کو ز آدم ننگ دارد از حسد 
با سعادت جنگ دارد از حسد
عقبه‌ای زین صعب‌تر در راه نیست 
ای خنک آنکش حسد همراه نیست
این جسد خانهٔ حسد آمد بدان 
از حسد آلوده باشد خاندان
گر جسد خانهٔ حسد باشد ولیک 
آن جسد را پاک کرد الله نیک
طهرا بیتی بیان پاکیست 
گنج نورست ار طلسمش خاکیست
چون کنی بر بی‌حسد مکر و حسد 
زان حسد دل را سیاهیها رسد
خاک شو مردان حق را زیر پا 
خاک بر سر کن حسد را همچو ما

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## English translation
The caliph said to Layla, "Are you the one
through whom Majnun became distraught and led astray?
You are no more beautiful than other beauties."
She said, "Be silent, for you are not Majnun."
Whoever is [outwardly] awake is more deeply asleep;
his wakefulness is worse than his sleep.
When our soul is not awakened through the Real (Ḥaqq),
our wakefulness is like imprisonment for us.
The soul, all day, trampled underfoot by fantasy,
and by loss and gain and fear of decline,
retains neither purity nor grace nor splendor,
nor any road of travel toward the sky.
Asleep is the one who, from every phantasm,
holds hope and holds discourse with it.
He sees the demon as a ḥūrī in his dream,
then from lust spills his fluid with the demon.
When he has cast the seed of progeny into salt waste,
he comes to himself; the phantasm has fled from him.
He finds weakness in his head and filth in his body—
alas for that image, appearing and disappearing!
The bird is above, and its shadow below
runs upon the earth, flying bird-like.
A fool becomes the hunter of that shadow,
running until he is utterly spent.
Unaware that it is the reflection of a bird of the air,
unaware of where the source of that shadow lies.
He shoots arrows toward the shadow;
his quiver is emptied in the pursuit.
The quiver of his life has been emptied; life has gone,
swiftly running in pursuit of the shadow.
When the Shadow of God is his nurse,
it releases him from phantasm and shadow.
The Shadow of God is the servant of God—
dead to this world and alive in God.
Seize his hem quickly, without doubt,
that you may find a way at the hem of the End of Time.
"How He stretched out the shadow" (Q. 25:45) is the form of the saints (awliyāʾ),
who are the guide to the light of God's sun.
In this valley, do not travel without this guide;
say "I do not love those that set" (Q. 6:76), like Khalīl (Abraham).
Go—through the shadow, find a sun;
seek the hem of the King, Shams of Tabrīz.
If you do not know the way to this feast and bridal celebration,
ask Ḍiyāʾ al-Ḥaqq Ḥusām al-Dīn.
And if envy seizes your throat on the path,
in envy Iblīs has the greatest excess.
He scorns Adam out of envy,
and wages war against felicity out of envy.
There is no steeper pass than this on the road;
blessed is the one who has no envy as companion.
Know that this body is the house of envy;
through envy the household becomes defiled.
Though the body is the house of envy,
God has well purified that body.
"Purify My house" (Q. 2:125) declares purity—
it is a treasury of light, though its talisman is of clay.
When you practice deceit and envy against one free of envy,
darkness upon darkness reaches the heart from that envy.
Become dust beneath the feet of the men of the Real (Ḥaqq);
cast dust upon the head of envy, as we do.

دفتر اول - بخش ۱۷ - قصهٔ دیدن خلیفه لیلی را / Book One - Section 17 - The Tale of the Caliph Seeing Layla

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ابلهان گفتند مجنون را ز جهل 
حسن لیلی نیست چندان هست سهل
بهتر از وی صد هزاران دلربا 
هست هم چون ماه اندر شهر ما
گفت صورت کوزه است و حسن می 
می خدایم می دهد از نقش وی
مر شما را سرکه داد از کوزه اش 
تا نباشد عشق اوتان گوش کش
از یکی کوزه دهد زهر و عسل 
هر یکی را دست حق عز و جل
کوزه می بینی ولیکن آن شراب 
روی ننماید به چشم ناصواب
قاصرات الطرف باشد ذوق جان 
جز به خصم خود بننماید نشان
قاصرات الطرف آمد آن مدام 
وین حجاب ظرف ها هم چون خیام
هست دریا خیمه ای در وی حیات 
بط را لیکن کلاغان را ممات
زهر باشد مار را هم قوت و برگ 
غیر او را زهر او دردست و مرگ
صورت هر نعمتی و محنتی 
هست این را دوزخ آن را جنتی
پس همه اجسام و اشیا تبصرون 
واندرو قوتست و سم لاتبصرون
هست هر جسمی چو کاسه و کوزه ای 
اندرو هم قوت و هم دل سوزه ای
کاسه پیدا اندرو پنهان رغد 
طاعمش داند کزان چه می خورد
صورت یوسف چو جامی بود خوب 
زان پدر می خورد صد باده طروب
باز اخوان را از آن زهراب بود 
کان در ایشان خشم و کینه می فزود
باز از وی مر زلیخا را سکر 
می کشید از عشق افیونی دگر
غیر آنچ بود مر یعقوب را 
بود از یوسف غذا آن خوب را
گونه گونه شربت و کوزه یکی 
تا نماند در می غیبت شکی
باده از غیبست و کوزه زین جهان 
کوزه پیدا باده در وی بس نهان
بس نهان از دیده نامحرمان 
لیک بر محرم هویدا و عیان
یا إلهی سکرت أبصارنا 
فاعف عنا أثقلت أوزارنا
یا خفیا قد ملأت الخافقین 
قد علوت فوق نور المشرقین
أنت سر کاشف أسرارنا 
أنت فجر مفجر أنهارنا
یا خفی الذات محسوس العطا 
أنت کالماء و نحن کالرحا
أنت کالریح و نحن کالغبار 
تختفی الریح و غبراها جهار
تو بهاری ما چو باغ سبز خوش 
او نهان و آشکارا بخششش
تو چو جانی ما مثال دست و پا 
قبض و بسط دست از جان شد روا
تو چو عقلی ما مثال این زبان 
این زبان از عقل دارد این بیان
تو مثال شادی و ما خنده ایم 
که نتیجه شادی فرخنده ایم
جنبش ما هر دمی خود اشهدست 
که گواه ذوالجلال سرمدست
گردش سنگ آسیا در اضطراب 
اشهد آمد بر وجود جوی آب
ای برون از وهم و قال و قیل من 
خاک بر فرق من و تمثیل من
بنده نشکیبد ز تصویر خوشت 
هر دمت گوید که جانم مفرشت
هم چو آن چوپان که می گفت ای خدا 
پیش چوپان و محب خود بیا
تا شپش جویم من از پیراهنت 
چارقت دوزم ببوسم دامنت
کس نبودش در هوا و عشق جفت 
لیک قاصر بود از تسبیح و گفت
عشق او خرگاه بر گردون زده 
جان سگ خرگاه آن چوپان شده
چونک بحر عشق یزدان جوش زد 
بر دل او زد ترا بر گوش زد

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## English translation
The fools said to Majnun out of ignorance, 'The beauty of Layla is not so much; it is quite ordinary.'
'There are hundreds of thousands of heart-ravishing beauties in our town, better than her, like the moon.'
He said, 'The form is a jug, and beauty is the wine; my God is giving me wine from her form.'
'He gave you vinegar from her jug, so that her love would not pull you by the ear.'
'From the selfsame jug, the hand of God—mighty and glorious is He—gives poison to one and honey to another.'
'You see the jug, but that wine does not show its face to the unworthy eye.'
'The delight of the soul is a modest-eyed companion; she does not show her sign to anyone but her mate.'
'That wine is modest-eyed, and the veil of these vessels is like tents.'
'The sea is a tent, in which there is life for the duck, but death for the crows.'
'Poison is nourishment and provision for the snake, but for others, its poison is pain and death.'
'The form of every blessing and affliction is hell to one and heaven to another.'
'Therefore, all bodies and things are what you see, but within them is food or poison which you do not see.'
'Every body is like a bowl or a jug; inside it is both nourishment and heart-burning.'
'The bowl is visible, while the abundant food is hidden within; the eater knows what he is eating from it.'
'The form of Joseph was like a beautiful goblet; from it his father drank a hundred cups of joyous wine.'
'Yet to his brothers it was a cup of poison, for it increased anger and hatred in them.'
'Again, from him Zulaikha drew intoxication; from love she drew another opium.'
'Other than what was for Jacob, there was nourishment from Joseph for that beautiful woman.'
'Diverse drinks and a single jug, so that no doubt remains concerning the wine of the Unseen.'
'The wine is from the Unseen and the jug is from this world; the jug is manifest, but the wine in it is deeply hidden.'
'Deeply hidden from the eyes of strangers, but manifest and clear to the initiate.'
'O my God! Our eyes are intoxicated, so forgive us; our burdens are heavy.'
'O Hidden One! You have filled the east and the west; You have risen above the light of the two horizons.'
'You are the Secret that reveals our secrets; You are the Dawn that makes our rivers burst forth.'
'O One whose essence is hidden but whose giving is perceived! You are like water and we are like the millstone.'
'You are like the wind and we are like the dust; the wind is hidden, but its dust is clearly visible.'
'You are the Spring, we are like the pleasant green garden; it is hidden, but its bounty is manifest.'
'You are like the soul, we are like the hands and feet; the closing and opening of the hand is made possible by the soul.'
'You are like the intellect, we are like this tongue; this tongue receives this utterance from the intellect.'
'You are like joy and we are laughter, for we are the result of blessed joy.'
'Our movement at every moment is itself I bear witness, which is a witness to the Eternal Lord of Majesty.'
'The turning of the millstone in agitation is I bear witness to the existence of the stream of water.'
'O You who are beyond my imagination, talk, and speech! Dust be upon my head and my comparison!'
'The servant cannot refrain from picturing Your beauty; at every moment he says: May my soul be Your carpet!'
'Like that shepherd who was saying: O God! Come to your shepherd and lover,'
'So that I may search for lice in Your shirt, sew Your shoes, and kiss Your hem.'
'None was his equal in devotion and love, but he was deficient in praise and speech.'
'His love had pitched its tent on the heavens; his soul had become the dog of that shepherd's tent.'
'When the ocean of God's love surged, it struck his heart and it struck your ear.'

دفتر پنجم - بخش ۱۳۹ - گفتن خویشاوندان مجنون را کی حسن لیلی باندازه‌ایست چندان نیست ازو نغزتر در شهر ما بسیارست یکی و دو و ده بر تو عرضه کنیم اختیار کن ما را و خود را وا رهان و جواب گفتن مجنون ایشان را / Book Five - Section 139 - The relatives of Majnun telling him, 'The beauty of Layli is not to such a degree, it is not much; there are many more beautiful than her in our city, we will present one, two, and ten to you, make a choice, set us and yourself free,' and Majnun's replying to them

Root URL: https://ganjoor.net/
Source URL: https://ganjoor.net/

This Reference node represents the source used by the Literature-to-1Cademy migration agent.

Ganjoor

## Original content
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در تحیات و سلام الصالحین 
مدح جملهٔ انبیا آمد عجین
مدحها شد جملگی آمیخته 
کوزه‌ها در یک لگن در ریخته
زانک خود ممدوح جز یک بیش نیست 
کیشها زین روی جز یک کیش نیست
دان که هر مدحی بنور حق رود 
بر صور و اشخاص عاریت بود
مدحها جز مستحق را کی کنند 
لیک بر پنداشت گم‌ره می‌شوند
همچو نوری تافته بر حایطی 
حایط آن انوار را چون رابطی
لاجرم چون سایه سوی اصل راند 
ضال مه گم کرد و ز استایش بماند
یا ز چاهی عکس ماهی وا نمود 
سر بچه در کرد و آن را می‌ستود
در حقیقت مادح ماهست او 
گرچه جهل او بعکسش کرد رو
مدح او مه‌راست نه آن عکس را 
کفر شد آن چون غلط شد ماجرا
کز شقاوت گشت گم‌ره آن دلیر 
مه به بالا بود و او پنداشت زیر
زین بتان خلقان پریشان می‌شوند 
شهوت رانده پشیمان می‌شوند
زآنک شهوت با خیالی رانده است 
وز حقیقت دورتر وا مانده است
با خیالی میل تو چون پر بود 
تا بدان پر بر حقیقت بر شود
چون براندی شهوتی پرت بریخت 
لنگ گشتی و آن خیال از تو گریخت
پر نگه دار و چنین شهوت مران 
تا پر میلت برد سوی جنان
خلق پندارند عشرت می‌کنند 
بر خیالی پر خود بر می‌کنند
وام‌دار شرح این نکته شدم 
مهلتم ده معسرم زان تن زدم

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## English translation
In the greetings of the prayer and in “peace upon the righteous,” praise of all the prophets is blended. All the praises have become mixed, like jars poured into a single basin. For in reality the praised one is only One; from this standpoint, the religions are only one religion. Know that every praise goes to the light of God; it is only borrowed upon forms and persons. When do they ever praise anyone but the deserving one? Yet through supposition they go astray. Like light shining on a wall: the wall is, as it were, a link for those lights. Thus, when the shadow runs back toward the source, the erring one loses the moon and is left without praise. Or when the reflection of a moon appears from a well, he puts his head into the well and praises it. In reality he is praising the moon, although his ignorance has turned his face toward its reflection. His praise is for the moon, not for that reflection; it becomes unbelief when the matter goes wrong, because through wretchedness that bold one went astray: the moon was above, but he supposed it was below. From these idols people become distracted; after satisfying desire, they become regretful. For desire has been spent on an image and has remained farther from reality. When your inclination toward an image is a wing, it is so that by that wing it may rise toward reality. When you have satisfied a desire, your wing has fallen away; you have become lame, and that image has fled from you. Keep the wing, and do not pursue desire in this way, so that the wing of your inclination may carry you toward the gardens of paradise. People think they are enjoying themselves; upon an image they pluck out their own feathers. I have become indebted for explaining this point; give me respite, for I am insolvent, and therefore I have held back from it.

دفتر سوم - بخش ۹۷ - پیش رفتن دقوقی به امامت آن قوم / Book Three - Section 97 - Daquqi Stepping Forward to the Imamate of That People

The Metaphor of the Eyes of Majnun and Spiritual Perception in the Masnavi

In the Masnavi, Jalaluddin Rumi employs the metaphor of the jug (kuzah) and the wine (may/sharab) to illustrate the relationship between external form (surat) and spiritual essence (ma'na). While the physical form of the beloved (or any worldly object) is merely an earthly vessel, the beauty or spiritual truth contained within it is divine wine poured by God. Rumi emphasizes that those who focus purely on outward appearances see only the vessel, whereas those with spiritual insight (the 'eyes of Majnun') perceive the divine essence within.

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