In the Valley of Unity, the verses from Rúmí about Khiḍr refer to the story in the Qur’án (Sura 18:71) about the Divine Messenger whom Moses accompanied in pursuit of guidance. They embarked in a ship which the Messenger proceeded to wreck. This action astonished Moses. “What!” said Moses, “hast Thou staved it in so that Thou mayest drown its crew?” Later, the Messenger explained that the vessel “belonged to poor men who toiled the sea, and I was minded to damage it, for in their rear was a king who seized every ship by force.” The incident has a twofold meaning. The first is that the creature should not weigh in his defective scales the actions of his Creator; the second, that a heaven-sent calamity may be providential and merciful.

In the Valley of Wonderment, a line is quoted from Saná’í about the inablity of unaided reason to comprehend the Word of God. The poet asks whether a spider can snare a Pheonix. The Phoenix, a mythical bird with a life expectancy of one thousand years, has figured predominantly in the