In Jalaluddin Rumi's Masnavi, the merchant's regret over his reckless speech in the "Tale of the Merchant and the Parrot" transitions into a profound philosophical discourse on causality and divine agency. Rumi compares the carelessly spoken word to an arrow shot from a bow—an action that cannot be recalled by ordinary human will. He uses the example of an archer named Zayd to illustrate that while humans initiate actions (the secondary causes), the subsequent chain of effects (the "offspring" or mawalid) is entirely created and sustained by God. Although God is the sole creator of these outcomes, humans remain morally responsible for their initiating acts. Rumi concludes that only spiritually elevated saints (awliya), acting through divine power, possess the extraordinary ability to intervene in this causal chain, effectively bringing the "released arrow back from the road" and unmaking the consequences of an action.