Book Three The Masnavi -- Prose Introduction -- Exordium -- Don't eat baby elephants! -- A lover's mistake is better than the stranger's correct act -- Prayer and the pure mouth -- The answer to prayers -- The townsman and the villager -- The People of Sheba and the Prophets -- Jesus' healing of the sick -- The falcon and the ducks -- The Zarwan nation -- Majnun and Layli's dog -- The jackal who pretended to be a peacock -- The man who greased his moustache to show off -- Bal'am ben Ba'ur -- Exegesis of `You will know them through the corruption of their speech' -- Harut and Marut -- Pharaoh's attempts to prevent Moses' birth -- The frozen snake that came back to life -- Moses and Pharaoh's magicians -- The elephant in the dark -- Infidelity and God's decree -- The barber and the man with grizzled hair -- The companions of the Prophet and the Qur'an -- The error of reading a love letter when you are next to the beloved -- The man who prayed for a livelihood without having to work -- The teacher who was tricked by his pupils into believing he was sick -- Shaikh Amputee -- The far-sighted goldsmith -- Pharaoh's threats to his magicians -- The mule's complaint to the camel -- Ozayr's ass -- The shaikh who did not grieve the death of his sons -- The man who regained sight whenever reading the Quran -- The patience of Loqman -- Friends of God who choose not to pray -- Bohlul and the dervish -- The visions of Daquqi -- Moses and Khezr -- Jesus' escape from the fool -- The People of Sheba and the Prophets -- The tale about the blind, far -- sighted man, the deaf, sharp -- eared man, and the naked man wearing a long skirt -- The hares and the elephant -- Noah and the building of his ark -- The burglar who said he was just beating a drum -- A parable about prudence -- The vow of the dogs every winter -- The wisdom in the creation of hell -- Kings and the small gate in the city wall of Jerusalem -- The Sufi who was made ecstatic by an empty mealcloth -- Jacob and Joseph's shirt -- The prince and the slave who stayed in the mosque to pray -- When Prophets lose hope -- Ordinary people have faith based on fear and hope -- Hidden friends of God -- Anas and the Prophet Mohammad's napkin -- The Prophet saves a caravan in the desert -- Need draws God's bounty -- The baby that bore witness to the Prophet Mohammad -- The eagle that lifted away the Prophet's boot -- The man who asked Moses to teach him the languages of animals -- The woman whose children all died in infancy -- Hamza's refusal to wear body armour -- The advantages of deliberation -- Belal's embrace of death -- The world and the body -- Reason and revelation -- The reverence disciples should have for their masters -- The enemy of the sun -- Levels of knowledge -- The relativity of knowledge -- Self-annihilation and subsistence in God -- The love of the vakil of Bukhara for his ruler, the sadr -- The appearance of the Holy Spirit to Mary -- The haunted mosque -- The worldliness of Galen -- How Satan tricked the Qoraysh -- A drum of inappropriate size -- Chick peas boiling in a pot compared with true believers -- The Masnavi and its critics -- The outer and inner meanings of the Quran -- Why friends of God retreat to the mountains -- The mountains joined David in repeating the Psalms -- The foal that would not drink near commotion -- The cry of the Devil to dissuade you from the path -- The attraction of elements to, their source -- The soul's attraction to the spiritual world -- The Prophet Mohammad and his foes -- The flea complains aboutthe wind to Solomon -- The union of the lover who was not true.