In Book 3 of the Masnavi, Jalaluddin Rumi uses Prophet David's revelation of a hidden murder to illustrate the theological limits of divine forbearance (hilm). In Section 112, David explains that God initially concealed the plaintiff's crime—murdering his own master—out of divine patience. However, the murderer's subsequent ingratitude (nashokri) and cruelty toward his victim's family ultimately caused this protective veil to be lifted. Through this episode, Rumi teaches that while God mercifully covers many human transgressions, persistent oppression, ingratitude, and cruelty will eventually exhaust divine patience, leading to the public exposure of one's hidden sins and the execution of justice.

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گفت ای یاران زمان آن رسید 
کان سر مکتوم او گردد پدید
جمله برخیزید تا بیرون رویم 
تا بر آن سر نهان واقف شویم
در فلان صحرا درختی هست زفت 
شاخهااش انبه و بسیار و چفت
سخت راسخ خیمه‌گاه و میخ او 
بوی خون می‌آیدم از بیخ او
خون شدست اندر بن آن خوش درخت 
خواجه راکشتست این منحوس‌بخت
تا کنون حلم خدا پوشید آن 
آخر از ناشکری آن قلتبان
که عیال خواجه را روزی ندید 
نه بنوروز و نه موسمهای عید
بی‌نوایان را به یک لقمه نجست 
یاد ناورد او ز حقهای نخست
تا کنون از بهر یک گاو این لعین 
می‌زند فرزند او را در زمین
او بخود برداشت پرده از گناه 
ورنه می‌پوشید جرمش را اله
کافر و فاسق درین دور گزند 
پرده خود را بخود بر می‌درند
ظلم مستورست در اسرار جان 
می‌نهد ظالم بپیش مردمان
که ببینیدم که دارم شاخها 
گاو دوزخ را ببینید از ملا

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## English translation
He said, “O companions, the time has come for his concealed secret to become manifest. All of you rise, so that we may go out and become aware of that hidden secret. In such-and-such a plain there is a huge tree, its branches dense, many, and interlocked; its tent-ground and peg are very firmly fixed. I smell blood from its root. Blood has entered the base of that fair tree; this ill-starred wretch has killed the master. Until now God’s forbearance concealed that, but at last, because of that scoundrel’s ingratitude, since he gave no sustenance to the master’s household, neither at Nowruz nor at the feast seasons, and did not seek out the destitute with even one morsel, nor remember the former obligations, until now, for the sake of one cow, this accursed one has been striking his son to the ground. He himself lifted the veil from the sin; otherwise God would have covered his crime. The unbeliever and the sinner, in this harmful age, tear their own veil by themselves. Oppression is hidden in the secrets of the soul; the oppressor sets it before the people, saying: ‘Look at me, for I have horns; behold the cow of Hell in the assembly.’”

دفتر سوم - بخش ۱۱۲ - عزم کردن داود علیه السلام به خواندن خلق بدان صحرا کی راز آشکارا کند و حجتها را همه قطع کند / Book Three - Section 112 - The resolve of David, peace be upon him, to call the people to that plain so that he might reveal the secret and cut off all arguments

In Book 3 of Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, following the public uproar over his seemingly unjust ruling in the case of the slaughtered cow, Prophet David leads the townspeople to a plain to unveil the divine truth. He directs the crowd to a massive tree, declaring that he smells blood at its roots. David publicly exposes the plaintiff—the original owner of the cow—not as an innocent victim of theft, but as an oppressor who previously murdered his own master. Rumi explains that God's forbearance had kept this heinous crime concealed until the plaintiff's ingratitude, greed, and abuse tore his own veil of secrecy. This dramatic revelation completely justifies David's earlier judgment to transfer the plaintiff's wealth and family to the idle man, illustrating the flawless nature of divine justice and the ultimate self-destructive consequences of hidden oppression.

Prophet David's Revelation of the Plaintiff's Hidden Crime in the Masnavi

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پس همینجا دست و پایت در گزند 
بر ضمیر تو گواهی می‌دهند
چون موکل می‌شود برتو ضمیر 
که بگو تو اعتقادت وا مگیر
خاصه در هنگام خشم و گفت و گو 
می‌کند ظاهر سرت را مو بمو
چون موکل می‌شود ظلم و جفا 
که هویدا کن مرا ای دست و پا
چون همی‌گیرد گواه سر لگام 
خاصه وقت جوش و خشم و انتقام
پس همان کس کین موکل می‌کند 
تا لوای راز بر صحرا زند
پس موکلهای دیگر روز حشر 
هم تواند آفرید از بهر نشر
ای بده دست آمده در ظلم و کین 
گوهرت پیداست حاجت نیست این
نیست حاجت شهره گشتن در گزند 
بر ضمیر آتشینت واقف‌اند
نفس تو هر دم بر آرد صد شرار 
که ببینیدم منم ز اصحاب نار
جزو نارم سوی کل خود روم 
من نه نورم که سوی حضرت شوم
همچنان کین ظالم حق ناشناس 
بهر گاوی کرد چندین التباس
او ازو صد گاو برد و صد شتر 
نفس اینست ای پدر از وی ببر
نیز روزی با خدا زاری نکرد 
یا ربی نامد ازو روزی بدرد
کای خدا خصم مرا خشنود کن 
گر منش کردم زیان تو سود کن
گر خطا کشتم دیت بر عاقله‌ست 
عاقلهٔ جانم تو بودی از الست
سنگ می‌ندهد به استغفار در 
این بود انصاف نفس ای جان حر

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## English translation
So here and now, your hand and foot, in doing harm, bear witness to your inward state. When the inward self is appointed over you, saying, "Speak; do not withhold what you really believe," especially in anger and argument, it makes your secret visible strand by strand. When oppression and cruelty are appointed, saying, "Make me manifest, O hand and foot," when the witness of the secret takes hold of the bridle, especially in the surge of anger and revenge, then the same One who appoints these agents so that He may raise the banner of the secret over the plain can also create other appointed witnesses on the Day of Gathering for disclosure. O you whose hand has come into oppression and malice, your substance is plain; there is no need for this. There is no need to become notorious through harm; they know your fiery inward state. Your nafs throws up a hundred sparks at every breath, saying, "Look at me: I am among the People of Fire. I am a part of fire; I go toward my whole. I am not light, that I should go toward the Divine Presence." Just as this unjust, Truth-ungrateful man made all these evasions over one cow: he took from him a hundred cows and a hundred camels. This is the nafs, father; cut yourself off from it. Not once did he cry humbly to God; not once did a pained "O my Lord" come from him: "O God, make my adversary satisfied. If I have caused him loss, You turn it to gain. If I killed in error, the blood-money falls on the ʿāqila; You have been the ʿāqila of my soul since Alast." A stone does not give the pearl of seeking forgiveness. This is the justice of the nafs, O free soul.

دفتر سوم - بخش ۱۱۳ - گواهی دادن دست و پا و زبان بر سر ظالم هم در دنیا / Book Three - Section 113 - The Hand, Foot, and Tongue Bearing Witness to the Secret of the Oppressor Even in This World

The Limits of Divine Forbearance (Hilm) in Rumi's Tale of David

In Book 3 of Jalaluddin Rumi's Masnavi, following Prophet David's revelation of the plaintiff's hidden crime, Rumi expounds on how the nafs (carnal ego) inevitably betrays itself. He explains that an oppressor's inward state does not remain a secret; rather, during moments of intense anger or argument, their own hands, feet, and tongue involuntarily bear witness to their spiritual corruption. Rumi likens the ungrateful plaintiff—who stubbornly demanded justice for a slaughtered cow while hiding his own murderous past—to the nafs. Instead of showing humility or seeking forgiveness, the ego throws off sparks that reveal its fiery, destructive nature. The poet warns the spiritual seeker to sever ties with this unrepentant ego, noting that just as a stone cannot produce a pearl, the corrupted nafs is incapable of genuine repentance or crying out to God.

The Betrayal of the Nafs and the Body's Witness in the Masnavi

In Book 3 of Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, following Prophet David's revelation of the plaintiff's hidden crime, David executes divine justice by ordering retaliation against the murderer. This profound display of divine omniscience causes the townspeople to repent, realizing they had been "blind from the root." In their prostration, the crowd recounts David's celebrated physical miracles: stones speaking to him, his defeat of Goliath with a sling, iron softening like wax in his hands, and mountains joining him in singing the Psalms. However, Rumi uses this climax to emphasize a crucial spiritual hierarchy. He asserts that while physical miracles are awe-inspiring, the ultimate miracle is the bestowal of eternal spiritual life. By executing the wrongdoer, David not only restores justice but spiritually revives an entire community, awakening their deadened souls and turning them anew into sincere servants of God.

The Supremacy of Spiritual Miracles in the Tale of Prophet David

In Book 3 of Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, the conclusion to the Tale of the Idle Man and Prophet David provides a direct allegorical mapping of its main characters. Rumi reveals that the demanding plaintiff represents the *nafs* (the carnal ego) that falsely claims lordship over the self. The idle man who slaughters the cow represents the *aql* (intellect), which seeks divine "provision without toil," meaning true spiritual sustenance. The cow itself symbolizes the physical form and earthly desires of the body. Rumi asserts that just as the idle man killed the cow to reveal the hidden truth, the spiritual seeker must sacrifice their carnal desires to attain divine nourishment. He further explains that this sacrifice allows the seeker's intellect to transcend worldly causes, relying entirely on the miracles of divine providence, much like the prophets who severed mundane causes to manifest God's infinite power.

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