In Jalaluddin Rumi's Masnavi, the disguised sage (who feigns madness by riding a cane) provides a threefold classification of wives to a seeker. The first is a 'treasure' (wholly devoted and loyal), the second is 'half yours' (divided in loyalty or attention, such as a widow with a child), and the third is 'not yours at all' (completely unfaithful or detached). This serves both as practical wisdom and as an allegory for the different states of the human soul and its relationship to the divine.