In Section 101 of Book Four of the Masnavi, Rumi offers a profound spiritual exegesis of the Prophet's hadith regarding the departure of the month of Safar. Rumi interprets the bleak month of 'Safar' as a metaphor for the restrictive material world, and the subsequent month of 'Rabi al-Awwal' (which means spring) as the eternal spiritual realm or Paradise. He explains that spiritually mature souls ('men of God') view physical death not as an end, but as a joyous migration from bodily confinement into the expansive presence of the Divine. In contrast, those who are spiritually immature ('children') remain attached to the illusions and transient comforts of earthly life.