In Book Three, Section 93 of the Masnavi, Rumi explores the concept of spiritual blindness through the allegory of miraculous trees that remain completely invisible to ordinary people. Even though the masses are desperate for shade, their inner vision is obscured, preventing them from perceiving the divine grace that is right before them. Rumi explains that their eyes have been sealed by divine will, rendering them capable of seeing only insignificant worldly illusions rather than profound spiritual truths (the 'moon'). This metaphor emphasizes that without spiritual awakening and divine permission, true reality remains hidden from worldly perception.

The Metaphor of Spiritual Blindness and the Hidden Trees in the Masnavi

In Book Three, Section 94 of the Masnavi, Daquqi's mystical vision culminates in witnessing the miraculous trees forming a congregation to perform Islamic prayer (Salat), with one tree acting as the leader (Imam). Rumi employs this surreal imagery to illustrate the concept of cosmic worship, explicitly echoing the Quranic verse that 'the stars and the trees prostrate' (Surah Ar-Rahman 55:6). The fluid transformation of the seven trees into one, and their subsequent coordinated prayer without knees or waists, symbolizes the ultimate spiritual unity (Tawhid) and the state of continuous, innate divine remembrance that pervades all of creation, particularly manifesting through the perfected souls or Friends of God (Awliya).

The Symbolism of the Praying Trees in Daquqi's Vision

In Book Three, Section 92 of the Masnavi, Daquqi's vision progresses as the seven men magically transform into seven majestic trees. Rumi uses these cosmic trees to symbolize enlightened spiritual guides or friends of God (Awliya). Their boundless nature is depicted by roots reaching into the deepest depths of the earth and branches extending beyond the highest heaven (Sidrah). The light bursting from their fruit signifies the overwhelming divine illumination and spiritual nourishment they provide. This metamorphosis illustrates the limitless spiritual growth, interconnectedness, and cosmic reach of the perfected soul.

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## Original content
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باز هر یک مرد شد شکل درخت 
چشمم از سبزی ایشان نیکبخت
زانبهی برگ پیدا نیست شاخ 
برگ هم گم گشته از میوهٔ فراخ
هر درختی شاخ بر سدره زده 
سدره چه بود از خلا بیرون شده
بیخ هر یک رفته در قعر زمین 
زیرتر از گاو و ماهی بد یقین
بیخشان از شاخ خندان‌روی‌تر 
عقل از آن اشکالشان زیر و زبر
میوه‌ای که بر شکافیدی ز زور 
همچو آب از میوه جستی برق نور

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## English translation
Again each man became the form of a tree,
My eye made fortunate by their greenness.
From the abundance of leaves the branch is not visible,
The leaf too lost amid the plentiful fruit.
Every tree had thrust its bough upon the Sidra —
What is the Sidra? Something gone beyond the void.
The root of each had gone into the depths of the earth,
Lower than the Bull and the Fish, certainly.
Their roots more bright-faced than the branches,
The intellect turned upside down by their forms.
A fruit that when split open by force,
A flash of light would leap from it like water.

دفتر سوم - بخش ۹۲ - باز شدن آن شمعها هفت درخت / Book Three - Section 92 - The Opening of Those Candles into Seven Trees

In Book 3 of Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, the mystic's vision of the seven candles deepens as the radiant flames miraculously transform into seven men. Rumi describes the divine light radiating from these spiritual figures as ascending to the 'azure vault' of the heavens. To emphasize the overwhelming supremacy of this spiritual illumination, Rumi contrasts it with the natural light of the sun, stating that before these profound lights, ordinary daylight appeared as 'mere dregs.' The overpowering force of this divine radiance completely effaces all other worldly sources of illumination. This metaphorical transformation signifies the embodiment of divine light within perfected spiritual masters or saints, illustrating that their inner spiritual luminosity vastly eclipses any physical or material light in the created universe.

The Transformation of the Seven Candles into Seven Men in the Masnavi

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Ganjoor

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این عجب‌تر که بریشان می‌گذشت 
صد هزاران خلق از صحرا و دشت
ز آرزوی سایه جان می‌باختند 
از گلیمی سایه‌بان می‌ساختند
سایهٔ آن را نمی‌دیدند هیچ 
صد تفو بر دیده‌های پیچ پیچ
ختم کرده قهر حق بر دیده‌ها 
که نبیند ماه را بیند سها
ذره‌ای را بیند و خورشید نه 
لیک از لطف و کرم نومید نه
کاروانها بی نوا وین میوه‌ها 
پخته می‌ریزد چه سحرست ای خدا
سیب پوسیده همی‌چیدند خلق 
درهم افتاده بیغما خشک‌حلق
گفته هر برگ و شکوفه آن غصون 
دم بدم یا لیت قوم یعلمون
بانگ می‌آمد ز سوی هر درخت 
سوی ما آیید خلق شوربخت
بانگ می‌آمد ز غیرت بر شجر 
چشمشان بستیم کلا لا وزر
گر کسی می‌گفتشان کین سو روید 
تا ازین اشجار مستسعد شوید
جمله می‌گفتند کین مسکین مست 
از قضاء الله دیوانه شدست
مغز این مسکین ز سودای دراز 
وز ریاضت گشت فاسد چون پیاز
او عجب می‌ماند یا رب حال چیست 
خلق را این پرده و اضلال چیست
خلق گوناگون با صد رای و عقل 
یک قدم آن سو نمی‌آرند نقل
عاقلان و زیرکانشان ز اتفاق 
گشته منکر زین چنین باغی و عاق
یا منم دیوانه و خیره شده 
دیو چیزی مر مرا بر سر زده
چشم می‌مالم بهر لحظه که من 
خواب می‌بینم خیال اندر زمن
خواب چه بود بر درختان می‌روم 
میوه‌هاشان می‌خورم چون نگروم
باز چون من بنگرم در منکران 
که همی‌گیرند زین بستان کران
با کمال احتیاج و افتقار 
ز آرزوی نیم غوره جانسپار
ز اشتیاق و حرص یک برگ درخت 
می‌زنند این بی‌نوایان آه سخت
در هزیمت زین درخت و زین ثمار 
این خلایق صد هزار اندر هزار
باز می‌گویم عجب من بی‌خودم 
دست در شاخ خیالی در زدم
حتی اذا ما استیاس الرسل بگو 
تا بظنوا انهم قد کذبوا
این قرائت خوان که تخفیف کذب 
این بود که خویش بیند محتجب
در گمان افتاد جان انبیا 
ز اتفاق منکری اشقیا
جائهم بعد التشکک نصرنا 
ترکشان گو بر درخت جان بر آ
می‌خور و می‌ده بدان کش روزیست 
هر دم و هر لحظه سحرآموزیست
خلق‌گویان ای عجب این بانگ چیست 
چونک صحرا از درخت و بر تهیست
گیج گشتیم از دم سوداییان 
که به نزدیک شما باغست و خوان
چشم می‌مالیم اینجا باغ نیست 
یا بیابانیست یا مشکل رهیست
ای عجب چندین دراز این گفت و گو 
چون بود بیهوده ور خود هست کو
من همی‌گویم چو ایشان ای عجب 
این چنین مهری چرا زد صنع رب
زین تنازعها محمد در عجب 
در تعجب نیز مانده بولهب
زین عجب تا آن عجب فرقیست ژرف 
تا چه خواهد کرد سلطان شگرف
ای دقوقی تیزتر ران هین خموش 
چند گویی چند چون قحطست گوش

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## English translation
More wondrous still: over them there passed hundreds of thousands of people from desert and plain. Longing for shade, they were losing their lives; they made canopies out of coarse blankets. They did not see its shade at all: a hundred spits upon those twisted, crooked eyes. God's wrath had sealed their eyes, so that one sees Suha but does not see the moon. One sees a mote and not the sun; yet do not despair of His grace and generosity. Caravans were destitute, while these ripe fruits were falling: what magic is this, O God? People were picking rotten apples, fallen together in plunder, dry-throated. Every leaf and blossom of those boughs kept saying, breath by breath, “Would that my people knew.” A cry came from every tree: “Come toward us, O ill-fated people.” A cry came from jealousy upon the trees: “We have closed their eyes; no, no refuge.” If someone said to them, “Go this way, so that you may be blessed by these trees,” they all said, “This poor man is drunk; by God's decree he has gone mad. This poor man's brain, from long melancholy and from ascetic discipline, has gone rotten like an onion.” He remained amazed: “Lord, what is this state? What is this veil and misleading of the people? People of every kind, with a hundred opinions and intellects, do not move one step in that direction. Their wise and clever ones, by agreement, have become deniers of such a garden and disobedient toward it. Or am I mad and bewildered? Has a demon struck something upon my head? I rub my eyes every moment, wondering whether I am seeing a dream, an apparition within time. What dream? I go among the trees; I eat their fruits. How should I not believe? But when I look again at the deniers, who keep drawing aside from this orchard, in complete need and poverty, dying from longing for half an unripe grape, from longing and greed for one leaf of a tree these destitute ones sigh bitterly, fleeing from these trees and fruits, these creatures by hundreds of thousands.” Again I say, “Strange: am I out of myself? Have I put my hand onto an imaginary branch?” Say, “Until, when the messengers despaired,” through “and they thought they had been lied to.” Read this recitation with the lightened form of kudhibu: this means that one sees oneself veiled. The souls of the prophets fell into uncertainty because of the unanimous denial of the wretched. “After the wavering, Our help came to them.” Say, “Leave them; climb onto the tree of the soul. Eat, and give to the one whose provision it is; every breath and every moment teaches wonder.” The people were saying, “How strange, what is this cry, since the desert is empty of trees and fruit? We are bewildered by the breath of melancholics, who say that near you there is a garden and a table-spread. We rub our eyes: there is no garden here; it is either wilderness or a difficult road. How strange, this talk so prolonged: if it is useless, how can it be? And if it really exists, where is it?” I too say, like them, “How strange: why has the Lord's making set such a seal?” At these disputes Muhammad was amazed; in amazement Abū Lahab too remained. Between this amazement and that amazement there is a deep difference: what will the wondrous Sultan do? O Daqūqī, drive on faster; now be silent. How long will you speak, how long, when ears are scarce?

دفتر سوم - بخش ۹۳ - مخفی بودن آن درختان از چشم خلق / Book Three - Section 93 - The Hiddenness of Those Trees from the Eyes of the People

The Symbolism of the Cosmic Trees in Daquqi's Vision

In Book 3 of Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, following the miraculous transformation of the seven spiritual entities into men, the mystic Daquqi approaches them and is immediately recognized through their inward spiritual insight. When Daquqi questions how they know him without looking, they explain that outward names and forms are hidden from saints not out of ignorance, but due to their absolute absorption ($$istighraq$$) in the Divine. Daquqi then requests an hour of their pure companionship to resolve his spiritual difficulties. To illustrate the transformative power of this fellowship, Rumi employs the metaphor of a seed planted in the earth. Just as a seed must completely efface its physical attributes—its color, scent, and form—within the dark soil to expand and bear fruit, the spiritual seeker must undergo self-annihilation ($$fana$$) in the presence of perfected souls. Through this selfless companionship, Daquqi transcends linear time, entering a state of 'hourlessness' and bewilderment where he becomes intimately connected with the ineffable Divine.

Daquqi's Encounter and the Metaphor of the Seed in the Masnavi

In Book 3 of Jalaluddin Rumi's Masnavi, the narrative of Daquqi continues as he steps forward to lead the seven spiritual men in prayer. Rumi uses this moment to deliver a profound discourse on the unity of divine praise. He explains that all praises, regardless of which prophet or religion they are directed toward, ultimately converge upon the One God, much like water from different jars poured into a single basin. Rumi warns against the spiritual error of mistaking physical forms for the divine reality, comparing it to a person who praises the reflection of the moon in a well while ignoring the true moon in the sky above. He further cautions that worldly inclinations are meant to act as a 'wing' to lift the soul toward divine reality; if this wing is squandered on earthly images and fleeting desires, the seeker becomes spiritually lame and remains distant from the truth.

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