A Comparative Study of the Story of the Prince and the Witch of Kabuli in Rumi's Masnavi with the Hymn of the Pearl

The present article, based on a descriptive-analytic method, by explaining the gnostic attitudes toward human beings and the world, compare the Hymn of the Pearl, which has been written in the Syriac language and dates back to the second century AD,  with the Story of the Prince and the Witch of Kabuliin Rumi's Masnavi. By deciphering both of these allegorical stories, the basic beliefs of the Gnostic worldview, such as the dualism of the celestial and the material world, the duality of spirit and body, the fall of the soul from the world of light into the darkness and its confinement in the material world and the body yoke, amnesia, the awakening and the return to the prime position, and the meeting of "self" or "heavenly witness", are discussed. Also, we refer to some of Attar's anecdotes that share common themes with the Hymn of the Pearl and Story of the Prince and the Witch of Kabul.