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’ánic 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 Qáf
*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

References

* "The Mathnawí of Jalálu'ddín Rúmí", edited from the oldest manuscripts available, with critical notes, translation and commentary by Reynold A. Nicholson, in 8 volumes, London: Messrs Luzac & Co., 1925-1940. Contains the text in Persian. First complete English translation of the "Mathnawí".