In Book Three, Section 170 of the Masnavi, Rumi employs the metaphors of a hot bath (گرمابه) and a tight shoe (کفش تنگ) to illustrate the spiritual constriction of the material world and the physical body, contrasted with the spiritual liberation of sleep.

### The Metaphor of the Hot Bath
Although a bathhouse may be physically large and spacious, if it is excessively heated and suffocating, the person inside feels oppressed and constricted. This shows that physical expansiveness is meaningless if the internal atmosphere is spiritually suffocating.

### The Metaphor of the Tight Shoe
If a person walks through a vast, open desert wearing extremely tight shoes, the entire desert feels like a cramped prison. The outward vastness cannot alleviate the immediate confinement and pain caused by the tight footwear.

### Sleep as Deliverance
Rumi explains that sleep (خواب) represents the temporary removal of these tight shoes. During sleep, the soul is temporarily liberated from the physical ...

The Metaphor of the Outwardly Spacious but Inwardly Narrow World in the Masnavi

In Book Three, Section 67 of the Masnavi, Rumi employs the metaphor of the physical body as a mere garment (لباس) or piece of clothing for the soul (روح). He advises the spiritual seeker to "seek the wearer of the garment" and not to be distracted by the superficial outward covering. Rumi extends this analogy by likening physical hands and feet to mere sleeves and boots for the soul's true, spiritual limbs, which he argues can be perceived in states such as dreaming. This metaphor establishes a foundational dualism in Rumi's teachings, emphasizing that the eternal soul is the core reality, while the physical body is a temporary, secondary instrument.

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## Original content
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تا بدانی که تن آمد چون لباس 
رو بجو لابس لباسی را ملیس
روح را توحید الله خوشترست 
غیر ظاهر دست و پای دیگرست
دست و پا در خواب بینی و ایتلاف 
آن حقیقت دان مدانش از گزاف
آن توی که بی بدن داری بدن 
پس مترس از جسم و جان بیرون شدن

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## English translation
So that you may know that the body has come as a garment, go, seek the wearer of the garment; do not lick the garment. For the soul, the unity of God is sweeter; besides the outward, there are other hands and feet. You see hand and foot in sleep, and their coordination; know that as reality, and do not count it idle fancy. That is you: without this body, you have a body; so do not fear going out beyond body and soul.

دفتر سوم - بخش ۶۷ - در بیان آنک تن روح را چون لباسی است و این دست آستین دست روحست واین پای موزهٔ پای روحست / Book Three - Section 67 - In Explanation That the Body is to the Soul Like a Garment, and This Hand is the Sleeve of the Hand of the Soul, and This Foot is the Boot of the Foot of the Soul

Root URL: https://ganjoor.net/
Source URL: https://ganjoor.net/

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Ganjoor

## Original content
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غفلت از تن بود چون تن روح شد 
بیند او اسرار را بی هیچ بد
چون زمین برخاست از جو فلک 
نه شب و نه سایه باشد نه دلک
هر کجا سایه‌ست و شب یا سایگه 
از زمین باشد نه از افلاک و مه
دود پیوسته هم از هیزم بود 
نه ز آتشهای مستنجم بود
وهم افتد در خطا و در غلط 
عقل باشد در اصابتها فقط
هر گرانی و کسل خود از تنست 
جان ز خفت جمله در پریدنست
روی سرخ از غلبه خونها بود 
روی زرد از جنبش صفرا بود
رو سپید از قوت بلغم بود 
باشد از سودا که رو ادهم بود
در حقیقت خالق آثار اوست 
لیک جز علت نبیند اهل پوست
مغز کو از پوستها آواره نیست 
از طبیب و علت او را چاره نیست
چون دوم بار آدمی‌زاده بزاد 
پای خود بر فرق علتها نهاد
علت اولی نباشد دین او 
علت جزوی ندارد کین او
می‌پرد چون آفتاب اندر افق 
با عروس صدق و صورت چون تتق
بلک بیرون از افق وز چرخها 
بی مکان باشد چو ارواح و نهی
بل عقول ماست سایه‌های او 
می‌فتد چون سایه‌ها در پای او
مجتهد هر گه که باشد نص‌شناس 
اندر آن صورت نیندیشد قیاس
چون نیابد نص اندر صورتی 
از قیاس آنجا نماید عبرتی

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## English translation
Heedlessness comes from the body; when the body becomes spirit,
It sees the mysteries without any impediment.

When earth rises from the atmosphere of the celestial sphere,
There is neither night nor shadow nor murk.

Wherever there is shadow, night, or shaded spot,
It is from the earth, not from the heavens and the moon.

Smoke, likewise, is always from the firewood,
Not from the fires of the stars.

Illusion falls into error and mistake;
Reason exists only in right judgments.

All heaviness and sluggishness are from the body;
The soul, by its lightness, is wholly in flight.

A red face comes from the dominance of blood,
A yellow face from the stirring of yellow bile.

A white face comes from the power of phlegm,
And from black bile the face is dark.

In truth, He is the Creator of these effects;
But the people of the skin see nothing but cause.

The kernel that is not free from husks
Has no remedy save through physician and cause.

When the son of Adam is born a second time,
He places his foot upon the crown of causes.

The First Cause is not his religion;
Partial cause holds no enmity for him.

He flies like the sun on the horizon,
With the bride of truth, his form like a tataq.

But beyond the horizon and the celestial spheres,
He is without place, like spirits and intellects (nuha).

Nay, our intellects are but his shadows;
They fall, like shadows, at his feet.

The mujtahid, whenever he is a recognizer of the sacred text (nass),
Does not contemplate analogy (qiyas) in that case.

When he finds no sacred text for a given case,
He draws a lesson from analogy there.

دفتر سوم - بخش ۱۷۱ - بیان آنک هرچه غفلت و غم و کاهلی و تاریکیست همه از تنست کی ارضی است و سفلی / Book Three — Section 171 — Explanation That All Heedlessness, Grief, Sloth, and Darkness Are from the Body, Which Is of Earth and Below

## Original content
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ساحران را نه که فرعون لعین 
کرد تهدید سیاست بر زمین
که ببرم دست و پاتان از خلاف 
پس در آویزم ندارمتان معاف
او همی‌پنداشت کایشان در همان 
وهم و تخویفند و وسواس و گمان
که بودشان لرزه و تخویف و ترس 
از توهمها و تهدیدات نفس
او نمی‌داست کایشان رسته‌اند 
بر دریچهٔ نور دل بنشسته‌اند
این جهان خوابست اندر ظن مه‌ایست 
گر رود درخواب دستی باک نیست
گر بخواب اندر سرت ببرید گاز 
هم سرت بر جاست و هم عمرت دراز
گر ببینی خواب در خود را دو نیم 
تن‌درستی چون بخیزی نی سقیم
حاصل اندر خواب نقصان بدن 
نیست باک و نه دوصد پاره شدن
این جهان را که بصورت قایمست 
گفت پیغامبر که حلم نایمست
از ره تقلید تو کردی قبول 
سالکان این دیده پیدا بی رسول
روز در خوابی مگو کین خواب نیست 
سایه فرعست اصل جز مهتاب نیست
خواب و بیداریت آن دان ای عضد 
که ببیند خفته کو در خواب شد
او گمان برده که این دم خفته‌ام 
بی‌خبر زان کوست درخواب دوم
هاون گردون اگر صد بارشان 
خرد کوبد اندرین گلزارشان
اصل این ترکیب را چون دیده‌اند 
از فروع وهم کم ترسیده‌اند
سایهٔ خود را ز خود دانسته‌اند 
چابک و چست و گش و بر جسته‌اند
کوزه‌گر گر کوزه‌ای را بشکند 
چون بخواهد باز خود قایم کند
کور را هر گام باشد ترس چاه 
با هزاران ترس می‌آید براه
مرد بینا دید عرض راه را 
پس بداند او مغاک و چاه را
پا و زانواش نلرزد هر دمی 
رو ترش کی دارد او از هر غمی
خیز فرعونا که ما آن نیستیم 
که بهر بانگی و غولی بیستیم
خرقهٔ ما را بدر دوزنده هست 
ورنه ما را خود برهنه‌تر به است
بی لباس این خوب را اندر کنار 
خوش در آریم ای عدو نابکار
خوشتر از تجرید از تن وز مزاج 
نیست ای فرعون بی الهام گیج

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## English translation
Did not the accursed Pharaoh threaten the sorcerers with punishment on earth, saying, 'I will cut off your hands and feet crosswise; then I will hang you up, and I will not pardon you'? He thought that they were still in that same illusion, intimidation, obsession, and conjecture, that they would tremble and fear from the imaginings and threats of the lower self. He did not know that they had escaped and had seated themselves at the window of the heart's light. This world is a dream; do not stand in doubt. If a hand is lost in a dream, there is no harm. If in a dream your head is bitten off by a bite, your head is still in place and your life is long. If in a dream you see yourself split in two, when you wake you are healthy, not sick. In short, in a dream there is no fear of bodily loss or of being torn into two hundred pieces. Of this world, which stands in form, the Prophet said: it is the dream of a sleeper. You accepted this by imitation; the wayfarers see it manifestly, without the Messenger. You are asleep by day; do not say, 'This is not sleep.' The shadow is derivative; the source is nothing but moonlight. Know your sleeping and waking, O supporter, as when a sleeper sees that he has fallen asleep: he thinks, 'At this moment I am asleep,' unaware that he is in a second sleep. If the mortar of heaven should pound them fine a hundred times in this rose garden of theirs, since they have seen the root of this composition, they are less afraid of the branches of illusion. They have known their shadow as from themselves; they are nimble, quick, cheerful, and leaping. If the potter breaks a pot, whenever he wishes he can set it upright again himself. For the blind man, every step brings fear of a pit; with thousands of fears he travels the road. The seeing man has seen the breadth of the road, so he knows the hollows and pits. His feet and knees do not tremble every moment; why should he make a sour face at every grief? Rise, Pharaoh, for we are not such as to stand still at every shout and specter. If our patched cloak tears, there is a sewer to mend it; and if not, nakedness itself is better for us. Without clothing, we would gladly bring this beautiful one into our embrace, O vile enemy. Nothing is sweeter than being stripped of body and temperament, O Pharaoh, bewildered and without inspiration.

دفتر سوم - بخش ۷۵ - سبب جرات ساحران فرعون بر قطع دست و پا / Book Three - Section 75 - The Reason for the Courage of Pharaoh's Sorcerers Regarding the Cutting of Hands and Feet

In Book 3 of Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, after the sorcerers confirm Moses's divine authenticity and submit to God, Pharaoh threatens them with severe torture, vowing to amputate their hands and feet crosswise. Pharaoh assumes the sorcerers are still bound by worldly fears and illusions. However, Rumi reveals that their spiritual awakening has made them completely immune to physical intimidation. To explain their fearlessness, Rumi invokes the metaphor of the material world as a mere dream, reflecting the prophetic tradition that worldly life is the sleep of the soul. Just as losing a limb or being severed in half during a dream causes no real injury to the waking person, physical mutilation in the material realm holds no terror for an awakened spirit. Having witnessed the eternal 'root' of existence, the sorcerers no longer fear the transient 'branches of illusion.' To them, the physical body is merely a temporary form; for the enlightened soul, physical destruction is as inconsequential as a potter breaking and remaking a clay pot.

The Sorcerers' Defiance and the Metaphor of the World as a Dream in the Masnavi

## Original content
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همچو گرمابه که تفسیده بود 
تنگ آیی جانت پخسیده شود
گرچه گرمابه عریضست و طویل 
زان تبش تنگ آیدت جان و کلیل
تا برون نایی بنگشاید دلت 
پس چه سود آمد فراخی منزلت
یا که کفش تنگ پوشی ای غوی 
در بیابان فراخی می‌روی
آن فراخی بیابان تنگ گشت 
بر تو زندان آمد آن صحرا و دشت
هر که دید او مر ترا از دور گفت 
کو در آن صحرا چو لاله تر شکفت
او نداند که تو همچون ظالمان 
از برون در گلشنی جان در فغان
خواب تو آن کفش بیرون کردنست 
که زمانی جانت آزاد از تنست
اولیا را خواب ملکست ای فلان 
همچو آن اصحاب کهف اندر جهان
خواب می‌بینند و آنجا خواب نه 
در عدم در می‌روند و باب نه
خانهٔ تنگ و درون جان چنگ‌لوک 
کرد ویران تا کند قصر ملوک
چنگ‌لوکم چون جنین اندر رحم 
نه‌مهه گشتم شد این نقلان مهم
گر نباشد درد زه بر مادرم 
من درین زندان میان آذرم
مادر طبعم ز درد مرگ خویش 
می‌کند ره تا رهد بره ز میش
تا چرد آن بره در صحرای سبز 
هین رحم بگشا که گشت این بره گبز
درد زه گر رنج آبستان بود 
بر جنین اشکستن زندان بود
حامله گریان ز زه کاین المناص 
و آن جنین خندان که پیش آمد خلاص
هرچه زیر چرخ هستند امهات 
از جماد و از بهیمه وز نبات
هر یکی از درد غیری غافل اند 
جز کسانی که نبیه و کامل‌اند
آنچ کوسه داند از خانهٔ کسان 
بلمه از خانه خودش کی داند آن
آنچ صاحب‌دل بداند حال تو 
تو ز حال خود ندانی ای عمو

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## English translation
Like a bathhouse that is overheated—
you grow oppressed, your soul is crushed and withered.

Though the bathhouse is wide and long,
from that heat your soul and tongue grow constricted.

Until you come out, your heart will not open—
so what good, then, was the spaciousness of your dwelling?

Or if you wear a tight shoe, O heedless one,
and walk in a vast wilderness—

that spaciousness of the wilderness becomes constriction;
that plain and open field become a prison for you.

Whoever saw you from afar said:
"He bloomed fresh in that meadow like a tulip!"

He does not know that you, like the wrongdoers,
are outwardly in a rose garden, yet your soul cries out in anguish.

Your sleep is the removing of that tight shoe—
for a time your soul is free from the body.

For the saints (awliyā'), sleep is a kingdom, O such a one,
like the People of the Cave (Aṣḥāb-i Kahf) in the world.

They see sleep, yet there is no sleep in that place;
they enter into non-existence, yet there is no gate.

A narrow house, and within it the soul like a chang-lūk—
it is demolished so that a royal palace may be built.

I am chang-lūk, like a fetus in the womb;
I have become nine months old — this migration has grown momentous.

If there is no birth-pain upon my mother,
I remain in this prison amid the fire.

My mother, Nature (ṭab'), through the pain of her own dying,
makes a way so that the lamb is freed from the ewe.

So that the lamb may graze in the green meadow—
heed! Open the womb, for this lamb has grown fat and ready.

Birth-pain, though it is the suffering of the pregnant one,
is, for the fetus, the breaking open of a prison.

The pregnant one weeping from birth-pain: "There is no escape (al-manāṣ)!"
And the fetus laughing: "Liberation has arrived!"

All that are mothers (ummahāt) beneath the celestial wheel—
from mineral to beast to plant—

each is heedless of another's pain,
except those who are awake (nabīh) and perfected (kāmil).

What the worldly-wise one knows of others' houses—
will the dullard ever know the same of his own?

What the person of heart (ṣāḥib-dil) knows of your state,
you yourself know nothing of your own state, O uncle.

دفتر سوم - بخش ۱۷۰ - تشبیه دنیا کی بظاهر فراخست و بمعنی تنگ و تشبیه خواب کی خلاص است ازین تنگی / Book Three - Section 170 - The Comparison of the World Which Is Outwardly Spacious and Inwardly Narrow, and the Comparison of Sleep Which Is Deliverance from This Narrowness

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