In Book One of the Masnavi, after the hare successfully defeats the tyrannical lion, he warns the other animals not to rejoice over their newly acquired freedom and "turn-taking kingship." Rumi uses the hare's admonition to illustrate a profound spiritual lesson: worldly power and physical relief are temporary and illusory. The hare cautions the prey that true freedom is not found in escaping a physical oppressor or gaining material dominion, but rather in transcending the physical realm entirely. True and abiding kingship belongs only to those who have elevated their spirits beyond the material world to engage in continuous communion with the Divine.