Page 171 - The Book of Rumi

Peacock

physician was taking a walk one day in the lush meadows behind his
A home when he spotted a beautiful male peacock in the distance. Curi-
ous to see the peacock up close, he carefully made his way toward the bird.
Squinting his eyes to focus better and make sure he wasn’t mistaken, the man
saw that the bird was cruelly pulling out his sublime feathers with his beak and
spitting them as far away from himself as he could. The man was perplexed
and decided to investigate, so slowly he approached the bird.
“Hello, heavenly creature! What are you doing pulling out those exquisite
feathers of yours?” he asked softly, keeping his voice low but unable to hide
his concern. “How can you accept in your heart to destroy such beauty? Your
feathers are admired around the world. Those who memorize the Koran use
them as bookmarks, and noblemen use them to fan themselves in hot weather.
Are you aware who it was that created your unrivalled glory? How can you
throw away God’s gift so ungraciously?”
As the wise man spoke his mind, hoping that the peacock had a good
listening ear, he realized that perhaps he had been too rash in questioning the
bird in the fi rst place. Perhaps he had also been too quick to offer his advice;
every activity has its own designated time and place, and he had not respected
this fundamental reality. Nevertheless, he could hardly conceal his anguish as
he watched the bird continue his plucking.
“Get away from me,” exclaimed the peacock, clearly annoyed. “You’re still
distracted by my superfi cial beauty! Can’t you see that it’s because of these
feathers that I’ve had to bear so much pain? Every time I turn around, there’s
a hunter stalking me. I can’t protect myself from harm; I’m large in size,
but truly I’m quite weak. If I can’t repel danger, then I may as well make
myself look as unseemly as possible! I want to be able to roam anywhere I
choose, peacefully and without fear. These feathers are the cause of my ego-
tism, they’ve brought me much unnecessary harm. It’s time for me to be rid of
all such ornaments! If anyone can understand, it’s God!”
The peacock resumed plucking the remaining feathers, ignoring the man,

who continued to stand by watching in silence as his tears flowed uncontrollably.

147