The Date Tree Companion of Prophet Muhammad – Story from Rumi’s Masnavi
The Date Tree Companion of Prophet Muhammad – Story from Rumi’s Masnavi
In the early days in Madinah, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ would deliver the Friday sermon while standing beside the rough trunk of a date tree in the mosque. He leaned on it as he spoke, and that simple tree became his quiet companion in the remembrance of Allah.
A New Pulpit Is Built
In time, a wooden pulpit (minbar) was built so that people could see and hear him more easily. When the pulpit was ready, the Prophet ﷺ ascended it for the khutbah and, for the first time, left the date tree trunk behind.
The Weeping of the Date Tree
As he began to speak, a strange sound broke the stillness of the mosque: the companions heard the trunk of the date tree cry out, a sobbing like the weeping of a child separated from its mother. The Prophet ﷺ paused his sermon and turned toward the sound.
The Prophet’s Embrace
The companions watched in awe as he descended from the minbar and walked to the crying trunk. He placed his blessed hand upon it and embraced it, and its weeping slowly calmed, just as a child grows quiet in the arms of one it loves. In the language of the heart, the tree expressed its sorrow: it was grieving the separation from the Prophet ﷺ, now that another wooden pulpit had taken its place near him.
A Choice Between Dunya and Akhirah
The Prophet ﷺ then gently addressed the trunk, offering it a choice: should he ask Allah to restore it as a green, living date tree in this world, bearing fruit again in the gardens of Madinah, or should it prefer reward and life in the hereafter, in the everlasting abode? The date tree trunk chose the akhirah, the life to come, over a return to worldly greenness and fruit.
Buried with Honour, Raised in Eternity
So the trunk was taken and buried with honour, not as a piece of discarded wood, but as one awaiting resurrection. On the Day of Judgement, it will be raised again, blessed by the touch of the Prophet ﷺ and its preference for eternity over the fleeting shade of this world.
Rumi’s Counsel to the Heart
Rumi, reflecting on this story in the Masnavi, turns to the reader and offers counsel: learn from a lifeless tree that understood what many living hearts forget. The tree trunk chose the everlasting joy of the hereafter over the temporary comfort of this world; how then should a human being, gifted with intellect and faith, set their priorities? Do not cling to the passing sweetness of dunya while neglecting the eternal garden. Be like that humble trunk: prefer the nearness of Allah and the eternal life of akhirah over the short-lived adornments of this earthly abode.
