List of stories in the Masnavi

The below list gives an overview of the stories in Rumi's Masnavi, as it appears in Reynold A. Nicholson's translation.

Book I

 * Preface (in prose)
 * Proem
 * The King and the Handmaiden
 * The Greengrocer and the Parrot
 * The Jewish King whose Vizier contrived a plot against the Christians
 * The Caliph and Laylá
 * The description of Mohammed in the Gospel
 * Another Jewish King who persecuted the Christians
 * The punishment inflicted on a man who scoffed at Mohammed
 * The Wind which destroyed the people of ‘Ad.
 * The Lion and the Beasts of chase
 * Azrael and the man who took refuge with Solomon
 * Solomon and the Hoopoe
 * The Fall of Adam
 * The Holy War against the Flesh
 * The Caliph ‘Umar and the Ambassador
 * How Adam acknowledged, while Iblis denied, responsibility for sin
 * “And He is with you, wheresoever you be”
 * “Let him who desires to sit with God sit with the Súfís”
 * The Merchant and the Parrot which gave him a message to the parrots of India
 * The Spiritual Birds that are Divine Intelligences
 * Commentary on a saying of Faridu’ddín ‘Attár.
 * The respect paid to Moses by Pharaoh’s magicians
 * Commentary on a saying of Saná’í, and a Discourse on a Tradition of the Prophet concerning the jealousy of God
 * The harmfulness of being honoured by the people
 * “Whatsoever God wills cometh to pass”
 * The Story of the Harper
 * Explanation of a Tradition of the Prophet concerning Divine inspiration
 * A Story of ‘A’isha and the Prophet
 * Commentary on a verse of Saná’i
 * “Take advantage of the coolness of the spring season”
 * The Moaning Pillar
 * A miracle performed by the Prophet in the presence of Abú Jahl
 * The Prodigal for whom the angels pray
 * The munificent Caliph
 * The Arab of the Desert and his Wife
 * False saints
 * The power of Faith
 * Light and colour
 * Explanation of the Tradition that women prevail over the wise man, while the ignorant man prevails over them
 * The mystery of Moses and Pharaoh
 * “He has lost this life and the life to come”
 * The prophet Sálih and the people of Thamúd
 * The barrier between the righteous and the wicked
 * What is meat to the saint is poison to the disciple
 * The Divine Bounty and those who beg for it
 * The two kinds of “poor”
 * The World's lovers
 * The proverb, “If you commit fornication, commit it with a free woman, and if you steal, steal a pearl”
 * The Grammarian and the Boatman
 * The Spiritual Guide
 * The Prophet's injunction to ‘Alí
 * The man of Qazwín who wanted to have a lion tattooed on his shoulder
 * The wolf and the fox who went to hunt with the Lion.
 * The man who knocked at his friend’s door and, on being asked who he was, answered, “‘Tis I”
 * Description of Unification
 * Noah as the God-man
 * Why the Súfís who know God are seated in front of kings
 * Joseph and the guest-friend who could find no suitable gift for him except a mirror
 * Mohammed and the scribe who wrote down the Qur'anic Revelations
 * Bal’am son of Bá’úr
 * Hárút and Márút
 * The deaf man and his sick neighbour
 * Iblis the originator of analogical reasoning applied to the Word of God
 * Mystical experiences must be kept hidden from the vulgar
 * The contention between the Greek and Chinese artists
 * The Vision of Zayd
 * Luqmán and his fellow-servants
 * The conflagration in Medina in the days of the Caliph 'Umar
 * 'Alí and the infidel who spat in his face
 * 'Alí and his murderer
 * The self-conceit shown by Adam towards Iblís
 * The unworldliness of the Prophet

Book II

 * Preface (in prose)
 * Proem
 * The Caliph ‘Umar and the man who thought he saw the new moon
 * The fool who entreated Jesus to bring some bones to life
 * The Sufi who enjoined the servant to take care of his ass
 * The King and his lost falcon
 * Shaykh Ahmad son of Khizrúya and his creditors
 * The answer of an ascetic who was warned not to weep, lest he should become blind
 * The peasant who stroked a lion in the dark
 * The Súfis who sold the traveller’s ass
 * The greedy insolvent
 * Parable for those who say “if”
 * The man who killed his mother because he suspected her of adultery
 * The King and his two slaves
 * The King's retainers who envied his favourite slave
 * The falcon amongst the owls
 * The thirsty man who threw bricks into the water
 * The man who planted a thornbush in the road and delayed to uproot it
 * Dhu'l-Nún and the friends who came to visit him in the mad-house
 * The sagacity of Luqmán
 * The reverence of Bilqís for the message of Solomon which was brought to her by the hoopoe
 * The philosopher who showed disbelief in the Qur’án
 * Moses and the shepherd
 * The Amír and the sleeping man into whose mouth a snake had crept
 * The fool who trusted the bear
 * The blind beggar who said, “I have two blindnesses”
 * Moses and the worshipper of the golden calf
 * Galen and the madman
 * The cause of a bird's flying and feeding with a bird that is not of its own kind
 * Mohammed's visit to the sick Companion
 * The gardener who separated three friends in order to chastise them singly
 * Báyazíd and the Shaykh who said, “I am the Ka’ba”
 * The novice who built a new house
 * Dalqak and the Sayyid-i Ajall
 * The Saint who rode a cock-horse
 * The dog and the blind mendicant
 * The Police Inspector and the drunken man
 * Iblís and Mu’áwiya
 * The Cadi who wept whilst he was being installed
 * The bitter grief of a man who missed the congregational prayers
 * The thief who escaped because his accomplice gave a false alarm
 * The Hypocrites and the Mosque of Opposition
 * The true believer's stray camel
 * The four Indians who lost their prayers
 * The Ghuzz Turcomans and the two villagers
 * The self-conceit and ingratitude shown by the worldly towards the prophets and saints
 * The old man who complained to the doctor
 * Júhí and the child
 * The boy who was afraid of an effeminate man
 * The archer and the horseman
 * The Arab of the desert and the philosopher
 * The miracles of Ibráhim son of Adham
 * The beginning of the gnostic's illumination
 * The stranger who reviled the Shaykh
 * The man who declared that God would not punish his sins, and Shu’ayb's answer to him
 * The answer of the Prophet to ‘A’isha, who said that he performed the ritual prayer in unclean places
 * The mouse and the camel
 * The miracles of a dervish who was accused of theft
 * The garrulous, greedy, and somnolent Súfí, and his reply to the Shaykh who enjoined him to observe moderation
 * The nature of intuitive knowledge
 * John the Baptist and Jesus
 * Mute eloquence
 * The search for the Tree of Life
 * How four persons quarrelled about grapes, which were known to each of them by a different name
 * How Mohammed established unity amongst the Ansár
 * Solomon and the birds
 * The ducklings that were fostered by a hen
 * The miracles wrought by an ascetic in the desert

Book III

 * Preface (in prose)
 * Proem
 * The Travellers who ate the young Elephant
 * Bilál’s mispronunciation in chanting the call to prayer
 * Moses instructed by God how he should pray
 * The response to sincere prayer
 * The Countryman and the Townsman
 * The people of Sabá and the Prophets
 * How Jesus came forth from his cell and healed the sick
 * The Falcon and the Ducks
 * The people of Zarwán
 * Majnún and Laylá’s dog
 * The Jackal that fell into the dyeing-vat and pretended to be a Peacock
 * The Braggart who pretended that he had dined well
 * Bal’am the son of Bá’úr
 * “And thou wilt surely know them in the perversion of their speech”
 * Hárút and Márút
 * Pharaoh's dream of the coming of Moses
 * The Mughal and the Egyptians
 * The conception and birth of Moses
 * The Snake-catcher and the frozen Snake
 * Pharaoh and Moses
 * The two Magicians who summoned their father from the grave
 * Comparison of the Qur’án to the rod of Moses
 * The Elephant in the dark house
 * Noah and Canaan
 * Infidelity and Predestination
 * The Barber and the Man with grizzled hair
 * The answer of Zayd to his assailant
 * The Companions of the Prophet and the Qur’án
 * The Lover who read a love-letter in the presence of his Beloved
 * The Poor Man who prayed that he might gain a lawful livelihood without work
 * Knowledge and Opinion
 * The Teacher who fancied he was ill
 * The Dervish who broke his vow
 * The far-seeing Goldsmith
 * The Magicians whom Pharaoh threatened to punish
 * The complaint of the Mule to the Camel
 * The Ass of ‘Uzayr
 * The Shaykh who showed no grief at the death of his sons
 * The Blind Man who regained his sight when he read the Qur’án
 * The patience of Luqmán
 * Buhlúl and the Dervish
 * The Visions and Miracles of Daqúqi
 * Moses and Khizr
 * The flight of Jesus from the Fool
 * The Children's Tale of the Three Worldlings
 * The Hares and the Elephant
 * Noah and the building of the Ark
 * The Thief who said he was beating a Drum
 * The meaning of Prudence
 * The Vow made by the Dogs every winter
 * The Divine Providence manifested in the creation of Hell
 * Kings compared to the Báb-i Saghír at Jerusalem
 * The Súfí who fell into ecstasy on seeing an empty food-wallet
 * Jacob's love for Joseph
 * The Amir and the Slave who took delight in the ritual Prayer
 * The Faith of the Worldly
 * Hidden Saints
 * Anas and the Prophet's napkin
 * How the Prophet saved a caravan of Arabs from death in the Desert
 * Miracles wrought by the Prophet on the same occasion
 * Need and distress call forth the Bounty of God
 * The Babe that bore witness to the Prophet
 * The Eagle that carried off the Prophet's boot
 * The Man who asked Moses to teach him the language of Beasts and Birds
 * The Woman whose twenty children all died in infancy
 * Why Hamza in his old age refused to protect himself with a coat of mail
 * The advantages of Deliberation
 * The death of Bilál
 * The World and the Body
 * Statute and Analogy
 * The reverence due to the Shaykhs from their disciples
 * Conventional and intuitive knowledge
 * Faná and Baqá
 * The Wakíl of Bukhárá and his Master
 * The appearance of the Holy Spirit in human shape to Mary, the Mother of Jesus
 * The most beautiful City
 * The Lover in the haunted Mosque
 * The worldliness of Galen
 * How Satan deceived the Quraysh
 * The Boy who beat a tomtom in order to scare a Camel on which they were beating a drum
 * Comparison of the true Believer suffering tribulation to peas being boiled in a pot
 * The Mathnawí and its critics
 * The outer and inner sense of the Qur’án
 * Why the Saints take refuge in mountains and caves
 * How the mountains joined in the song of David
 * The Foal that would not drink
 * The cry of the Devil
 * How each element in the Body is drawn to its original source, and the Soul likewise
 * The Prophet and the Captives
 * The Gnat and the Wind in the presence of Solomon
 * The perfidious Lover

Book IV

 * Preface (in prose)
 * Proem
 * The perfidious Lover (continued)
 * The Preacher who prayed for the wicked
 * The answer of Jesus to the question, “What is the hardest thing to bear?”
 * The Súfí who caught his wife with a strange man
 * The Names of God
 * Comparison of the World to a bath-stove
 * The Tanner who fainted on smelling otto and musk
 * The Jew who tempted ‘Alí
 * The building of the Farther Mosque (the Temple of Solomon)
 * “The Faithful are naught but brothers”
 * The unspoken Sermon of the Caliph ‘Uthmán
 * Man the Macrocosm
 * Comparison of the Prophet and the Moslem saints to the Ark of Noah
 * Solomon and Bilqís
 * The Miracles of Shaykh ‘Abdullah Maghribí
 * The Druggist and the Clay-eater
 * The Dervish and the Carrier of firewood
 * Ibráhím ibn Adham and his abandonment of his Kingdom
 * The thirsty man who climbed a walnut-tree and dropped walnuts into the water
 * Halíma and the infant Mohammed
 * The Worldly and the Spiritual
 * The Poet and the two Viziers
 * Pharaoh and Hámán
 * The Demon who sat on the throne of Solomon
 * How Cain learned the grave-digger’s trade
 * The Súfi who contemplated the beauty of the Garden in his own heart
 * Worldly knowledge and power a dangerous weapon in the hands of the wicked
 * “O thou that wrappest thyself”
 * The Slave whose allowance was reduced
 * Man half angel and half beast
 * Majnún and his she-camel
 * The Divine and the Thief who stole his turban
 * The World's enticement and warning
 * The food of the Saints
 * Death the touchstone of pretension
 * The hypocritical Encomiast
 * The divine Physicians
 * How Abd Yazíd (Báyazíd) Bistámí predicted the birth of Abu‘l-Hasan Kharraqáni
 * How the wind blew perversely against Solomon
 * Abu’l-Hasan at the tomb of Abú Yazíd
 * The Man who took counsel with his enemy
 * The Prophet's appointment of a Young Man of Hudhayl to command the army
 * The Ecstasy of Báyazíd
 * The wise, the half-wise, and the foolish
 * The Three Fishes
 * The ablutionary Prayers
 * The Man who failed to profit by the wise counsels of a Bird
 * Moses and Pharaoh as types of Reason and Imagination
 * The spiritual vision in which all the senses become one
 * Moses and Pharaoh
 * The World's assault on the Unseen
 * The Purification of the Heart
 * “I was a Hidden Treasure”
 * “Speak ye unto men according to the measure of their understandings
 * The Prophet’s promise of Paradise to ‘Ukkásha
 * The royal Falcon and the Old Woman
 * ‘Alí’s advice to the Mother whose child was in danger of falling from the top of the water-spout
 * Like attracts like
 * The Prophet and the Arab Chiefs
 * Paradise and Hell are the effects of Divine Mercy and Wrath
 * The Argument between the Atheist and the Mystic
 * The Purpose of Creation
 * Why Moses was loved by God
 * The King and his Boon-companion and the Courtier who acted as intercessor
 * Abraham rejects the proffered help of Gabriel
 * The mystery of Life and Death
 * Body and Spirit
 * The Prince and the Witch of Kabúl
 * The Ascetic who laughed while the people were dying of hunger
 * Live in harmony with Universal Reason
 * The Sons of ‘Uzayr
 * “Verily, I ask pardon of God seventy times every day”
 * The weakness of the discursive Reason
 * Submission to the Saints
 * The Mule and the Camel
 * The Egyptian and the Israelite
 * The Pear-tree of Illusion
 * The spiritual Evolution of Man
 * Divine immanence in Creation
 * Dhu’l-Qarnayn and Mount Qaf
 * The Ant that saw the pen writing
 * The Prophet's vision of Gabriel in his real form

Book V

 * Preface (in prose)
 * Proem
 * Parable of the Four Birds
 * Description of the Duck
 * The Prophet and the Greedy Infidel
 * The Light which is the Food of the Spirit
 * Description of the Peacock
 * Diversity of Intelligences
 * The Arab of the Desert and his Dog
 * The Sage and the Peacock
 * “No monkery in Islam”
 * Description of the Crow
 * The Gazelle in the Donkey-stable
 * Muammad Khwárizmsháh and the people of Sabzawár
 * Description of the Cock
 * “The Lowest of the Low”
 * The two Worlds
 * The value of Works
 * “And He is with you”
 * The Man who claimed to be a Prophet
 * The Devoted Lover
 * The Disciple who imitated the Shaykh
 * The Maidservant and the Ass
 * Parable of the Parrot which is taught to speak by seeing its image in a mirror
 * The Puppies that barked before they were born
 * The People of Zarwán
 * The Creation of Adam
 * The illusion of causes
 * Death and Resurrection
 * The infinite mercy of God
 * The Story of Ayáz
 * Laylá and Majnún
 * The Ascetic and his jealous Wife
 * The repentance of Nasúh
 * The Fox and the Ass
 * The Ass that envied the Arab horses
 * The Ascetic who made trial of his trust in God
 * Parable of the Camel
 * The effeminate Youth
 * The Man who was afraid of being taken for an Ass
 * Shaykh Muhammad Sar-razí of Ghazna
 * The Disciple in dreadof hunger
 * The Cow in the green Island
 * The Christian ascetic who went about with a lamp in the day-time
 * Debate between a Moslem and a Magian on the subject of free-will
 * The Dervish who reproached God
 * The beauty of Laylá
 * A story of Júhí
 * The Infidel and Báyazíd
 * The Muezzin with the harsh voice
 * The Cat and the Meat
 * The Amír and the Ascetic
 * Ziyá-yi Dalq and his Brother
 * Dalqak's game of Chess with the Sháh of Tirmid
 * The Prophet on Mount Hirá
 * The World that is living, speaking, and hearing
 * The Guest who took offence and departed
 * A Father's advice to his married Daughter
 * The cowardly Súfí
 * ‘Iyádí and the Greater Warfare
 * The Man who tormented his Carnal Soul
 * The Caliph and the Captain
 * The Magicians of Pharaoh

Book VI

 * Preface (in prose)
 * Proem
 * The Bird on the City-wall
 * The temptation of Free-will
 * The Hindu Slave and his Master’s daughter
 * The Thief who put out the light
 * The Story of Ayáz (continued)
 * The Fowler and the Bird
 * The Man whose Ram was stolen
 * The Watchman who cried out after the Robbers had gone
 * The Lover who fell asleep
 * The Turkish Amír and the Minstrel
 * ‘A’isha and the Blind Man
 * “Die before ye die”
 * A Poet's rebuke to the Shí’ites of Aleppo
 * Parable of the Ant
 * The Man who gave the drum-call for breakfast at midnight
 * The Story of Bilál
 * The Story of Hilál
 * The Horse that went backward
 * Mohammed and Jesus
 * The ugly old Hag who wanted a Husband
 * The Dervish and the Man of Gílán
 * The Beggar and the House where nothing could be got
 * The Man who was desperately ill, and the Story of the Súfi and the Cadi
 * Sultan Mahmud and the Hindú Boy
 * The Turk and the Tailor
 * The Fakir and the Hidden Treasure
 * Shaykh Abu ‘l-Hasan Kharraqáni and his Disciple
 * Man the vicegerent of God
 * The Three Travellers and the sweetmeat
 * The Camel, the Ox, and the Ram
 * Dalqak and the King of Tirmid
 * The Mouse and the Frog
 * Sultan Mahmúd and the Night-thieves
 * The Sea-cow and the Pearl
 * ‘Abdu ‘l-Ghawth and the Peris
 * The insolvent Dervish and the Police Inspector of Tabríz
 * Ja’far-i Tayyár's irresistible attack on a fortress
 * Parable of the man who sees double
 * The Khwárizmsháh and the beautiful Horse
 * The imprisonment of Joseph
 * The Three Princes who fell in love with the portrait of the Princess of China
 * The Sadr-i Jahán of Bukhárá and the Jurist
 * Story of two Brothers
 * The King who forced a learned Doctor to drink wine with him
 * Imra’u ‘l-Qays and the King of Tabúk
 * The Man who dreamed of a Hidden Treasure
 * The Cadi and the Wife of Júhí
 * The Prophet and ‘Alí
 * Hell and the true Believer
 * The Story of Nimrod
 * The miracles of Shaybán Rá’í
 * The Man who left his property to the laziest of his three Sons
 * Parable of the Child and the Bogle