Rumi and the subject of imprisonment in Masnavi

In his famous Masnavi, Rumi has shown how human being is imprisoned in many different respects that have made their redemption difficult and prevents them from gaining the true freedom. The focus of the present article is an enquiry which provides a review of instances of the prisons that Rumi has mentioned and the ways he has shown for escaping from each of them meaning to provide the reader of his poems with the hope for Redemption. Human being the reader of the audience is supposed to have been in prison since the beginning; to have grown up in that prison, and is the one who has been transferred from one prison to another. Meanwhile, human being has also been a prisoner of their inner prisons and their own hope for redemption. In this research, which is carried out based on content-analysis as the adopted research method, it was found out that Rumi has made references to the following prisons: The world as prison, Mother's womb as prison, Body as prison, Determinism as prison, Inner feelings and desires as prison, and others like the prison of Ignorance, the prison of Doubt, and relations with inappropriate People and Languages as self-induced prisons. Rumi also ushers the way to escape from such prisons: internal cultivation, inner purity, mentioning the God in prays, accompanying the prophets and perfect human beings, praying to God, giving one’s heart to the love of God, obedience to God, patience, reticence and hope for God's mercy.