1Cademy - The Metaphor of the Three Fools and the Dead Bird in the Masnavi

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مثنوی معنوی: دفتر سوم / Masnavi: Book Three
The Allegory of the Three Fools of Saba in the Masnavi
دفتر سوم - بخش ۱۱۹ - شرح آن کور دوربین و آن کر تیزشنو و آن برهنه دراز دامن / Book Three - Section 119 - Explanation of That Far-Sighted Blind Man, That Sharp-Eared Deaf Man, and That Naked Man with Long Skirts

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The Metaphor of the Three Fools and the Dead Bird in the Masnavi

In Book 3 of Jalaluddin Rumi's Masnavi, the narrative of the people of Saba transitions into a surreal, paradoxical fable about three foolish men, illustrating the profound delusions of worldly existence. Rumi describes a massive city—symbolizing the world—whose inhabitants are reduced to three absurd figures: a man who is far-sighted yet completely blind, one who is sharp-eared yet stone deaf, and another who is entirely naked yet fiercely guards his imaginary long skirts. Fleeing a perceived threat, these three stumble upon a dead, meatless bird. Paradoxically, they devour it until they become as massive as elephants. Rumi uses this highly symbolic tale to satirize the spiritual blindness, deafness, and baseless anxieties of the human ego (nafs). The fable powerfully demonstrates how materialistic individuals gorge themselves on the spiritually empty, 'dead' illusions of the physical world, falsely believing they have gained immense sustenance.

Updated 2026-06-07

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