Briefly speaking, the subject of the Masnavi may be said to be the love of the soul for God as its Origin, to Whom it longs to return, not the submission of the ordinary pious Moslem to the iron despotism of Allah. This thesis is illustrated with an extraordinary wealth of imagery and apologue throughout the six books composing the work. The following fable illustrates the familiar Sufi doctrine that all religions are the same to God, Who only regards the heart:-- Moses, to his horror, heard one summer day A benighted shepherd blasphemously pray: 'Lord!' he said, 'I would I knew Thee, where Thou art, That for Thee I might perform a servant's part; Comb Thy hair and dust Thy shoes and sweep Thy room, Bring Thee every morning milk and honeycomb.' Moses cried: 'Blasphemer! curb thy blatant speech! Whom art thou addressing? Lord of all and each, Allah the Almighty? Thinkest thou He doth need Thine officious folly? Wilt all bounds exceed? Miscreant, have a care, lest thunderbolts should break On our heads and others perish for thy sake. Without eyes He seeth, without ears He hears, Hath no son nor partner through the endless years, Space cannot contain Him, time He is above, All the limits that He knows are Light and Love.' Put to shame, the shepherd, his poor garment rent, Went away disheartened, all his ardour spent. Then spake God to Moses: 'Why hast thou from Me Driven away My servant, who goes heavily? Not for severance it was, but union, I commissioned thee to preach, O hasty one! Hatefullest of all things is to Me divorce, And the worst of all ways is the way of force. I made not creation, Self to aggrandize, But that creatures might with Me communion prize. What though childish tongues trip? 'Tis the heart I see, If it really loves Me in sincerity. Blood-stains of the martyrs no ablution need, Some mistakes are better than a cautious creed, Once _within_ the Kaaba,[57] wheresoe'er men turn, Is it much to Him Who spirits doth discern? Love's religion comprehends each creed and sect, Love flies straight to God, and outsoars intellect. If the gem be real, what matters the device? Love in seas of sorrow finds the pearl of price.' A similar lesson is taught by the apologue of the "Elephant in the Dark":--