Different Features of the Soul in Mowlawi's Mathnawi

In the works of mystics, sheikh, and teachers of morality and education, despotic soul is always blamed and reproved as an interior enemy and a great obstacle in the way of servitude and mystical journey. Wayfarers and disciples are visely warned against this deceitful enemy. In his six books of Mathnawi, Mowlawi mentions the deceit and hypocrisy of the despotic soul by using Quranic verses, Prophetic traditions, metaphors and analogies in his stories and anecdotes. it can be said that no poet or mystic, like Mowlawi, was able to reveal the hidden features of this treacherous enemy by using literary arts and poetic devices, and suggest successful ways to defeat it. This article is and attempt to identify different calamities, of overcoming this gigantic enemy, which is discussed and analysed from Rumi’s viewpoint in his Mathnawi.