In Farid al-Din Attar's 'The Conference of the Birds', the narrative of the Prophet's migration is utilized to refute sectarian prejudice (ta'assub). Attar argues that both Ali (who slept in the Prophet's bed to shield him) and Abu Bakr (who accompanied him in the cave) risked their lives out of deep spiritual devotion. By presenting both companions as equal self-sacrificing lovers of the Prophet, Attar demonstrates the futility of sectarian division and urges followers to emulate their spiritual devotion rather than harbor historical malice.

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## Original content
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گر علی بود و اگر صدیق بود 
جان هر یک غرقهٔ تحقیق بود
چون بسوی غار می شد مصطفا 
خفت آن شب بر فراشش مرتضا
کرد جان خویشتن حیدر نثار 
تا بماند جان آن صدر کبار
پیش یار غار، صدیق جهان 
هم برای جان او در باخت جان
هر دو جان بازان راه او شدند 
جان فشانان در پناه او شدند
تو تعصب کن که ایشان مردوار 
هر دو جان کردند بر جانان نثار
گر تو هستی مرد این یا مرد آن 
کو ترا یا درد این یا درد آن
همچو ایشان جان فشانی پیشه گیر 
یا خموش و ترک این اندیشه گیر
تو علی دانی و بوبکر ای پسر 
وز خدای عقل و جانی بی خبر
تو رها کن سر به مهر این واقعه 
مرد حق شو روز و شب چون رابعه
او نه یک زن بود او صد مرد بود 
از قدم تا فرق عین درد بود
بود دایم غرق نور حق شده 
از فضولی رسته، مستغرق شده

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## English translation
Whether it was Ali or the Truthful (Abu Bakr),
The soul of each was drowned in spiritual verification.
When Mustafa was going towards the cave,
Morteza slept that night in his bed.
Haider sacrificed his own life
So that the life of that great leader might remain.
Before the companion of the cave, the Truthful of the world,
Also for his life, sacrificed his life.
Both became self-sacrificers in his path,
Offering their lives under his protection.
You practice fanaticism, while they, like true men,
Both sacrificed their lives for the beloved leader.
If you are a partisan of this one or that one,
Where is your pain and devotion for either?
Like them, make self-sacrifice your practice,
Or keep silent and abandon this sectarian thought.
You only know of Ali and Abu Bakr, O youth,
And are ignorant of the God of intellect and soul.
Leave this sealed event alone,
And become a seeker of Truth day and night like Rabia.
She was not just one woman; she was a hundred men,
From head to toe, she was the very essence of spiritual pain.
She was constantly drowned in the light of God,
Freed from meddling, utterly absorbed in contemplation.

حکایت رفتن مصطفی بسوی غار و خفتن علی در بسترش / The Tale of Mustafa Going to the Cave and Ali Sleeping in His Bed

## Original content
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ای گرفتار تعصب مانده 
دایما در بغض و در حب مانده
گر تو لاف از عقل و از لب می زنی 
پس چرا دم در تعصب می زنی
در خلافت میل نیست ای بی خبر 
میل کی آید ز بوبکر و عمر
میل اگر بودی در آن دو مقتدا 
هر دو کردندی پسر را پیشوا
هر دو گر بودند حق از حق وران 
منع واجب آمدی بر دیگران
منع را گر ناپدیدار آمدند 
ترک واجب را روادار آمدند
گر نمی آمد کسی در منع یار 
جمله راتکذیب کن یا اختیار
گر کنی تکذیب اصحاب رسول 
قول پیغامبر نکردستی قبول
گفت هر یاریم نجمی روشن است 
بهترین قرنها قرن منست
بهترین خلق یاران من اند 
آفرین با دوست داران من اند
بهترین چون نزد تو باشد بتر 
کی توان گفتن ترا صاحب نظر
کی روا داری که اصحاب رسول 
مرد ناحق را کنند از جان قبول
یا نشانندش به جای مصطفا 
بر صحابه نیست این باطل روا
اختیار جمله شان گر نیست راست 
اختیار جمع قرآن پس خطاست
بل که هرچ اصحاب پیغامبر کنند 
حق کنند و لایق حق ور کنند
تا کنی معزول یک تن را ز کار 
می کنی تکذیب سی و سه هزار
آنک کار او جز به حق یک دم نکرد 
تا به زانو بند اشتر، کم نکرد
او چو چندینی در آویزد به کار 
حق ز حق ور کی برد این ظن مدار
میل در صدیق اگر جایز بدی 
در اقیلونی کجا هرگز بدی
در عمر گر میل بودی ذره ای 
کی پسر، کشتی به زخم دره ای
دایما صدیق مرد راه بود 
فارغ از کل لازم درگاه بود
مال و دختر کرد بر سر جان نثار 
ظلم نکند این چنین کس، شرم دار
پاک از قشر روایت بود او 
زانک در معجز درایت بود او
آنک بر منبر ادب دارد نگاه 
خواجه را ننشیند او بر جایگاه
چون ببیند این همه از پیش و پس 
ناحق او را کی تواند گفت کس
باز فاروقی که عدلش بود کار 
گاه می زد خشت و گه می کند خار
با در منه شهر را برخاستی 
می شدی در شهر وره می خواستی
بود هر روزی درین حبس هوس 
هفت لقمه نان طعام او و بس
سرکه بودی با نمک بر خوان او 
نه ز بیت المال بودی نان او
ریگ بودی گر بخفتی بسترش 
دره بودی بالشی زیر سرش
برگرفتی همچو سقا مشک آب 
بیوه زن را آب بردی وقت خواب
شب برفتی دل ز خود برداشتی 
جملهٔ شب پاس لشگر داشتی
با حذیفه گفت ای صاحب نظر 
هیچ می بینی نفاقی در عمر
کو کسی کو عیب من در روی من 
میل نکند تحفه آرد سوی من
گر خلافت بر خطا می داشت او 
هفده من دلقی چرا برداشت او
چون نه جامه دست دادش نه گلیم 
بر مرقع دوخت ده پاره ادیم
آنک زین سان شاهی خیلی کند 
نیست ممکن کو به کس میلی کند
آنک گاهی خشت و گاهی گل کشید 
این همه سختی نه بر باطل کشید
گر خلافت از هوا می راندی 
خویش را در سلطنت بنشاندی
شهر هاء منکر از حسام او 
شد تهی از کفر در ایام او
گر تعصب می کنی از بهر این 
نیست انصافت بمیر از قهر این
او نمرد از زهر و تو از قهر او 
چند میری گر نخوردی زهر او
می نگر ای جاهل ناحق شناس 
از خلافت خواجگی خود قیاس
بر تو گر این خواجگی آید به سر 
زین غمت صد آتش افتد در جگر
گر کسی ز ایشان خلافت بستدی 
عهدهٔ صد گونه آفت بستدی
نیست آسان تا که جان در تن بود 
عهدهٔ خلقی که در گردن بود

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## English translation
O you who remain ensnared in fanaticism,
Forever remaining in hatred and in love.
If you boast of reason and of speech,
Then why do you speak of fanaticism?
In the Caliphate there is no selfish inclination, O ignorant one,
How could inclination come from Abu Bakr and Umar?
If there were inclination in those two leaders,
Both would have made their sons the leaders.
If both were rightful among the rightful,
Prohibition of their rule would have been mandatory for others.
If they did not appear to prohibit it,
They would have permitted the abandonment of duty.
If no one came to prohibit the friend,
Then either deny them all or accept their choice.
If you deny the companions of the Messenger,
You have not accepted the word of the Prophet.
He said: 'Each of my companions is a bright star,'
'The best of centuries is my century.'
'The best of creation are my companions,'
'Blessings be upon those who love them.'
When the best is considered worst by you,
How can one call you a person of insight?
How can you permit the thought that the companions of the Messenger
Would accept an unrightful man from their souls?
Or seat him in the place of Mustafa?
Such falsehood is not permissible regarding the companions.
If the choice of all of them is not right,
Then the choice to compile the Quran is a mistake.
Rather, whatever the companions of the Prophet do,
They do rightly and as befits the rightful.
To remove one person from office,
You are denying thirty-three thousand companions.
He whose work was not for a moment but for the Truth,
Who did not fail even in the tethering of a camel.
When he engages in work such as this,
Do not harbor the thought that the rightful would take from the rightful.
If inclination were permissible in the Truthful,
Where would 'Release me' ever have been?
If there were an atom's weight of inclination in Umar,
How would he have killed his son with the blow of a whip?
The Truthful was always a man of the Path,
Free from all else, devoted to the Divine Court.
He sacrificed his wealth and daughter for the sake of the soul;
Such a person does not commit injustice, have shame.
He was pure from the husk of mere narration,
Because he possessed insight into the miracle.
He who maintains etiquette on the pulpit,
Does not sit in the Master's seat.
When one sees all this from before and behind,
How can anyone call him unrightful?
Then the Discerner whose work was justice,
Sometimes struck bricks and sometimes dug thorns.
With a whip he would traverse the city,
Going through the town and seeking the way.
In this prison of desire, his food was every day
Seven morsels of bread and no more.
Vinegar and salt were on his table;
His bread was not from the public treasury.
Pebbles were his bed if he slept;
His whip was the pillow under his head.
He would take up a water-skin like a water-carrier;
He carried water to widows at the time of sleep.
At night he would go out, detached from himself;
All night he kept watch over the army.
He said to Hudhayfah, 'O insightful one,
Do you see any hypocrisy in Umar?'
Where is the one who would show me my faults to my face,
Not out of malice, but bringing it as a gift to me?
If he held the Caliphate in error,
Why did he wear a patched cloak weighing seventeen mann?
Since neither garment nor carpet was available to him,
He sewed ten pieces of leather onto his patched cloak.
He who rules a multitude in this manner,
It is impossible that he would show inclination toward anyone.
He who sometimes carried bricks and sometimes mud,
Did not endure all this hardship for the sake of falsehood.
If he had exercised the Caliphate out of passion,
He would have seated himself in royal splendor.
The cities of the deniers, by his sword,
Became empty of disbelief in his days.
If you are fanatic for this reason,
You have no fairness; die from the wrath of this.
He did not die from poison, but you die from your wrath toward him;
How long will you die if you did not drink his poison?
Look, O ignorant one who recognizes not the truth,
And judge the Caliphate by your own petty mastery.
If this petty mastery of yours comes to an end,
A hundred fires of grief fall into your liver.
If anyone took the Caliphate from them,
They would have taken on the responsibility for a hundred kinds of affliction.
It is not easy, as long as the soul is in the body,
To bear the responsibility for a people upon one's neck.

در تعصب گوید / He Speaks on Fanaticism

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Ganjoor

The Refutation of Sectarian Prejudice Through the Self-Sacrifice of Ali and Abu Bakr in the Conference of the Birds

In Sufi pedagogical thought, spiritual leadership is defined by the total absence of 'mayl' (personal inclination or bias). This concept is frequently illustrated through the historical examples of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, whose refusal to establish dynastic succession is cited as logical proof of their impartiality. Understanding this principle of impartiality as a defense against 'ta'assub' (sectarian fanaticism) is a prerequisite for more advanced mystical interpretations of authority, such as the selfless 'outward rulership' attributed to Imam Ali in Rumi's poetry.

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