Page 64 - The Book of Rumi

Sound of the Splash

t had taken the villagers a long time and had cost them a fortune, but they
Ireasoned that it had been necessary to build a wall to protect their water
supply from possible theft by their neighbors in the next village. One hot sum-
mer day, a man was passing through the area, but his thirst overwhelmed him.
As he staggered slowly along the wall, taking advantage of the little shade it
provided, he hoped to fi nd a way to the stream to sate his thirst.
The sound of the running water was unmistakable, and soon the poor,
thirsty man was unable to take another step. He spent his last remaining
strength to climb the wall to at least catch a glimpse of the running water on
the other side. When he reached the top, he instinctively scooped up a handful
of mud from the wall and tossed it into the stream. The sound of the splash
was music to his ears, and his heart was lifted out of its desperate gloom. He
was thus encouraged to continue scooping out more mud and chucking it into
the water, just to hear the melodious sound of the splash. As he listened to
the music of the water, a question arose in his mind: “What do you hope to
achieve by throwing mud into the stream?”
“For a thirsty man, the sound of the splash is like the music that raises the
dead on Judgment Day!” he replied to no one in particular. “It also reminds
me of the sound of thunder, which announces the arrival of rain to a scorched
garden; or the gracefulness of alms to the darvish; or even a prisoner’s hope
for freedom.”
Almost forgetting his thirst, the man continued to flip mud into the

stream, enjoying the enchanting sound of the splash.
“Oh, and there’s something else that’s just as important!” he seemed to
remember. “I’m no engineer, but I can see that with every handful that I dig,
the wall gets lower, allowing me to get closer to the water! Slowly but surely,
this tall, sturdy wall is going down, and in no time, I’ll be only a stone’s throw
away from the object of my desire, namely that stream of fresh, running water,
which is my life!”

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